writing and how to know if something is right

[Tess in the Burbs]

So writing is not my area of expertise. I can get through the grammar stuff okay, but the writing is so open to interpretation. I can tell if it's a sentence or a run on sentence. But this week my son wrote a sentence for his Writing Tales and I honestly didn't know if it was ok or not. I read it aloud. I had him read it to me. It was obviously a lot of words being put together but I questioned if his comma was enough to combine them. A semicolon wouldn't work, I could tell that much. In the end we broke it apart, but it wasn't as smooth as he had hoped. But the sentence just didn't sound right the way he had it. I cannot say for sure if it was right or wrong.

 

I can't be the only one who has sat there wondering if what the child wrote was right or not. And there isn't any answer book for this subject area!! :001_huh::lol::tongue_smilie:

 

How do I avoid that in the future? My son tends to put too much into a sentence, but this one may have been ok. I just had no clue. And I felt like an awful teacher that day unable to verify his sentence.

 

I wish there was a website I could input and it would tell me :lol:

 

So any answers/help/advice in this writing dilemma? I suspect it will happen again in the future. This is not his favorite subject and mom not knowing if his sentence is right doesn't help us get through it any easier.

[MerryAtHope]

 

I wish there was a website I could input and it would tell me :lol:

 

 

 

Ummmm....isn't that what this board is? :lol: Post it & ask away!

 

If it sounded like too many words, it probably was. Sometimes it's not just about "right" or "wrong," but about clarity and how it sounds. If it's a tough sentence for an audience to read, then it's probably worth rewriting even if it's technically correct. Trust your instincts & don't be afraid to encourage your son to play with words. OTOH, don't feel you must correct everything either. It's ok to let some things go, especially for a 9 yo. Focus mainly on things to encourage and just a few things to correct at this stage.

 

Merry :-)

[texasmama]

I am an adjunct professor part-time at a local university, and some of my students recommend this site.

 

http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/

 

I have not personally used it or even looked at it, but I wanted to pass it on. It might help answer some of your questions.:001_smile:

[sassenach]

First off, I know EXACTLY how you feel. My dd13 homeschooled from 4th-7th grade. In 4th grade, we did dictation and a little bit of writing strands. She hated writing. If 5th, we did just dictation. She still hated writing. In 6th grade we did writing tales 2. She kinda thought writing was ok, but she wouldn't do the creative writing 2nd draft. In 7th grade, we did IEW ancients, and her writing started to take off. Things became more comfortable for her, and she liked the formulaic style of IEW. At no point along the way was I really sure of what I was doing writing wise. I even posted one of her essays on this board once, to mixed reviews. This year she went back to PS. She loves writing, and has an A in english. She even considered enrolling in a high school program that is focused on creative writing (we decided against that, but that's how much she likes writing now). If I had continued to home school her, I think I would have found her a language arts class just to save my sanity.

 

All that to say, just keep swimming. Come here for advice. Keep him writing, one way or the other. Just because he dislikes writing now, doesn't mean he always will.

[hmschooln]

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