Teaching writing...is this right?

[truebluexf]

I've been spending too much time on here lately, and realized I hadn't thought much yet about writing. DS isn't a writer, but eventually he needs to learn. ;) We are doing FLL3 and WWE2 at the moment. Should he be doing more? I keep seeing people doing CW, MCT, IEW...and that worries me! I feel like on the one hand, people follow SWB's stuff, but then on the other we have kids writing essays lol. What should he really be doing? When are we supposed to switch from copywork to original work? I was thinking 5th grade, but now I'm not so sure.

 

ETA ok now I'm looking at her writing lecture sample slides, and on there it says spelling should be 2 days a week?? Am I missing something? LOL I mean, that would certainly open up our schedule if I didn't have to do AAS 4 days a week. Just curious. I really need to get the new WTM!!!

Edited September 17, 2010 by truebluexf

[kwickimom]

:bigear: I have been doing nothing but worrying about writing for a few weeks now. I know everyone says to get SWB's lectures on writing, but if I spend another penny on writing I may not have a husband anymore :lol:

 

I probably should listen to them and quiet my fears, but I get anxious when I see the same things you are....with 3rd and 4th graders writing original essays. I get that she wants a good foundation in writing before having them also thinking about what to write, so I understand the basic methods....and heres the BUT....I just cant shake the "I want her to know paragraph structure and main ideas and be able to write a story on her own"

 

Maybe I need to de-school myself a little more because some of that "public school" mentality sneaks back in.

[Sweetest]

You need to listen to SWB's audio lecture... it will definitely reassure you!

 

My biggest battles in homeschooling my dd have been over writing! I couldn't figure out why it was so difficult for her. She is a very bright girl but getting her to write an original essay or even re-writing from a model was torture.

 

Then I listened to SWB's lecture last spring and a lightbulb went off! This year I started my DD (5th grade) on WWE 3 and am thrilled. I feel like we are making progress and working towards a goal, where before I just felt like we were floundering.

 

We do very little writing other than WWE. We use Rod & Staff for grammar and they also cover writing topics but I skip any original writing they require and just have her do only the re-writing type assignments. I'm not worried about how little writing we are doing because I know original writing is the ultimate goal, not the means to achieve the goal. I have really embraced SWB's writing philosopy :001_smile:

[Colleen in NS]

What should he really be doing? When are we supposed to switch from copywork to original work? I was thinking 5th grade, but now I'm not so sure.

 

I know everyone says to get SWB's lectures on writing, but if I spend another penny on writing I may not have a husband anymore :lol:

 

I just cant shake the "I want her to know paragraph structure and main ideas and be able to write a story on her own"

 

The three writing lectures (grammar, logic, and rhetoric stages) plus the lit. analysis lectures cost $16. That $16 will be a tiny investment in getting an entire picture of the writing process, from grade 1 to grade 12! OP, it will answer your questions about exactly what to do, when to switch to different skills, how to make that switch, etc.. kiwickimom, if you implement her suggestions, your dd *will* learn paragraph structure and all about main ideas very thoroughly (outlining teaches this). Writing a story on her own - you may want a separate creative writing program for that, but all the other stuff is covered under these lectures. Even if still you feel you need to use a "program" afterwards for whatever reason, the lectures do give an excellent, thorough understanding of the whole process. Then you can more easily choose a program, too, IF you want to - but you don't have to.

[Colleen in NS]

We do very little writing other than WWE. We use Rod & Staff for grammar and they also cover writing topics but I skip any original writing they require and just have her do only the re-writing type assignments. I'm not worried about how little writing we are doing because I know original writing is the ultimate goal, not the means to achieve the goal. I have really embraced SWB's writing philosopy :001_smile:

 

Me too, on everything you said! :D Ds12 is in grade 7 now, and he is learning how to do three-level outlines. I have been quietly excited these past couple of weeks, because thanks to SWB's advice in those lectures, he is GETTING IT. This is my child who struggled and struggled when he was younger, with doing narrations and dictations, because I didn't really know how to go about it all or how to switch into outlines or even WHY. WWE helped us with that, and then I flew to the conf. where she did those lectures - it was my investment in the (then) next 10 years of homeschooling. So $16 for a complete, effective writing plan is a huge bargain! Anyway, I finally understood what to do and how to transition from one stage to the next and one skill to the next. And the past couple of weeks ds has been doing these outlines, which are building up to about 3/4 page, so when he's ready for rewriting from them, he'll automatically be writing almost full page compositions! It's so different from the pressure I was putting on myself when he was younger, to somehow come up with material to write several paragraphs. Not happening. And I can see now that when he gets into high school, to write original compositions will start off just requiring reading, taking notes, forming those notes into an outline, and rewriting. Then we get into the opinionated essays, which, while requiring learning about rhetoric, will still follow the same idea - read, take notes, make an outline, rewrite. I just love how SWB has broken down the whole process and arranged it so that we can succeed in teaching and our kids can succeed in learning how to get thoughts down nicely.

[MerryAtHope]

ETA ok now I'm looking at her writing lecture sample slides, and on there it says spelling should be 2 days a week?? Am I missing something? LOL I mean, that would certainly open up our schedule if I didn't have to do AAS 4 days a week. Just curious. I really need to get the new WTM!!!

 

If your 8 yo struggles with spelling, AAS recommends short daily lessons (15-20 minutes), 4-5 days a week.

 

However, it will also help with writing. It's not a writing program, but has a great incremental approach to writing. In level 1, kids do about 6 dictation phrases per step (after step 11). In level 2, this gets bumped up to 6 phrases and 6 sentences per step. For level 3 they do 12 sentences, and then halfway through the book they introduce the Writing Station. For that, kids write their own sentences using some of their spelling words. So gradually you are increasing their confidence and ability to use spelling words in phrases and sentences, and eventually in their own original writing. It's a great transtion to writing outside of spelling class.

 

You may want to add a writing program on, though for an 8 yo who is struggling with writing, I might wait and get farther along in AAS first. I would continue with a handwriting program though, and casual things like occasional notes to others, journal writing, some oral writing (he tells a story and you write it down for him--you can even have him copy it for additional practice).

 

HTH! Merry :-)