Writing Expectations for 1st Grade Boy

[thegeyser]

I am a little concerned about my DS 6 and his writing and handwriting skills. I don't know if my expectations are too high, too low, or just about right. He has NEVER liked the physical act of writing - and we don't seem to have made much progress this year. I am not sure what I need to change, but I am beginning to doubt our current course.

 

We started the year working on copying Bible verses for handwriting. In the beginning we would work on writing a few words each day for two to three days and then split the entire verse over another two days. He would take forever, and this put the start of our school day off on a bad foot. So this semester we sing our Bible verses, and I introduced WWE to address writing/handwriting.

 

He takes over 20 minutes to write his ONE SENTENCE for WWE. I sit there the entire time encouraging/cajoling/begging him to stay focused and keep writing. If I leave for a minute, he either leaves the table and joins his brother playing or ends up just sitting there (and maybe drawing things around the edges of the page). He doesn't seem to have a problem with narrating the answers back from my questions, nor does he seem to have a problem forming a sentence. He is an avid reader, and so we've checked out and he's read several of the books from WWE. He wants to know what happens next. Other than him refusing to write his sentence because he doesn't like the picture (Charlotte didn't look like Charlotte from the MOVIE he's seen), he seems to enjoy the curriculum. We've only made it through 10 weeks worth of WWE, so I know we won't finish it even if we continue all summer. Do I just keep chugging along?

 

He has mostly narrated history and science back to me, although I found some great copywork pages correlating with SOTW. We've done these since chapter 20. We do our spelling words daily either on a magnadoodle or a white board.

 

His actual handwriting is not bad - or so I've been told by other home schooling moms.

 

I am just concerned that he will never become proficient at the physical act of writing if he doesn't do enough of it. He doesn't like writing letters. I make him write thank you letters for gifts, etc., but the process is very similar to our other writing assignments. I have to stay on top of him or nothing happens. I've never really asked him to do a creative writing assignment before, and he's never just sat down and started writing for the fun of it.

 

I am going to have another child to school next fall (DS in K) and am expecting an infant (child #4) in September. Something has got to change. I don't know if I have a behavioral issue, a boy issue, a physical limitation issue (although he works those legos with excellent fine-motor skills), or general lack of patience. I need insight and advice from people who have been there and done that. Thank you for your time and help.

[Little Nyssa]

We hit the same situation with DS6 last October. After consulting the Hive, I decided to cut way back on what I'd ask him to do: instead of a whole sentence I had him draw a picture with a one-word label. That went over well. It was so much less painful for everyone concerned!

Then gradually I added in two-word labels, then later short copywork, and "choose a sentence from your book you're reading right now" to copy and illustrate. I heard that the drawing and writing muscles are the same, so that drawing would be helpful too.

 

At the end of the year, DS writes much more easily and happily. Looking back at the beginning of the year, though, I'm not sure his letters have improved that much. But, this was all we could do.

[Diana B]

DS 7.5 hates to write, still. He was much like your DS at 6. We ended up using HWOT which was the the right amount of writing at that age.

 

Even at 7.5 he still only writes one sentence, maybe two on a good day. Also, DS requests that it be done at the end of the day, because he dislikes it so much. This helps us get through the rest of the day without as much whining. (I did consult the hive about his 'fatigue' and from their suggestions I backed off. I was trying to get him to write 4+ sentences a day and it was just causing a lot of issues.)

 

I have figured out that his stamina is slowly growing. Just don't push him too hard. He'll get there.

[sarahv]

We had some struggles with writing this year, too. My son (6y/o 1st) was doing a small amount of handwriting and was not forming his letters neatly or fluidly. I had started the year with a pre-cursive modern type of script, which was pretty, but not producing the nice handwriting that I wanted. At first, I thought he just needed to write more to improve his handwriting, but this just turned into sloppy writing, so I scrapped the modern manuscript, bought Getty Dubay Italics A and B and quit requiring writing in every other subject except for spelling and math. I then read about Skittle School somewhere on these boards and implemented one skittle for every perfect letter. And the letters had to be absolutely perfect to earn a skittle, too. I did that for a couple or three weeks, and went from skittles to stars on a chart (to earn a toy after 100), and did that for a little while. By the time he was 1/3 of the way through book B, he was writing neatly and quickly. I found the progression of amount of writing in the Getty Dubay books plus his growing maturity did the trick. About a 1/3 of the way through the Italics book, I started requiring more writing in his other subjects, and 1/2 way through Book B, I just went with requiring all the writing in all his other subjects (and dropped Book B) and kept on him to be neat. Everyday I circle letters that are not neat, and make him redo everything that is not absolutely beautiful. :) If I let him write sloppy ONE DAY, it goes downhill so quickly. So I stay on him. But he no longer complains about his writing and I'm finally ready to add WWE 1 in the next couple of weeks. I did put this off because of his writing skills. We have done oral narration all year.

 

There's our 1st grade writing story. :)

[Critterfixer]

I am a little concerned about my DS 6 and his writing and handwriting skills.

It is noted in WWE and TWTM that little boys and handwriting are not always compatible. It takes much, much longer for a boys fine-motor skills to catch up to the pace of a girls fine-motor skills. I suspect it is because gross motor skills are taking up so much time. Little girls are often inside drawing pictures and boys are out up the nearest tree. The act of writing can be quite painful for them.

 

He takes over 20 minutes to write his ONE SENTENCE for WWE. I sit there the entire time encouraging/cajoling/begging him to stay focused and keep writing. If I leave for a minute, he either leaves the table and joins his brother playing or ends up just sitting there (and maybe drawing things around the edges of the page).

If it is just for 20 minutes I would brew myself a good cup of tea and sit there with him the whole time. So many times it is tempting to get up and put the laundry on when the boys are engaged in handwriting, but it isn't a good idea. It takes only a few letters to start a bad habit in handwriting and months and tears to correct it. Better to be proactive. My boys have been at it for two years now (we started penmanship practice daily in K) and it still takes them a while to do it right. BTW, taking a long time to do perfect handwriting is actually a good thing. Do it right and you won't have to do it twice, that's my philosophy. I also make a point of telling both of my boys to go "slow as a slug" on new letters.

The illustration of his writing is actually just more work with his fine-motor skills, but you might tell him that if he is going to illuminate his manuscript that he should do it in colors, and after he is done with the copywork he can have the artists pencils to illustrate his work.

 

I don't know if I have a behavioral issue, a boy issue, a physical limitation issue (although he works those legos with excellent fine-motor skills), or general lack of patience.

Behavior issue. Yes, but not unexpected. And from your post, being off your feet to watch his penmanship while the rising K child traces his letters on paper or in a pan of cornmeal might not be a bad thing, eh?

Physical limitation-yes. It takes longer for a boy to write and it literally can be painful. However, if he complains a great deal of pain, and he's not just being whiny, make sure he's not squeezing the life out of the pencil and cramping his hand. Watch his pencil grip too. A bad grip can cause a lot of discomfort and fatigue.

 

PS-Make sure that you praise, praise, praise the neatness of his handwriting! I don't know why, but it seems that little boys are just wired to need lots of encouragement and praise to do their best. Of course, I expect little girls may be wired the same way--but I don't have any to test the theory on.

Also, after his writing it is a good time to go outside and play. No fine motor activity or sitting still for at least twenty to thirty minutes after writing.

Edited May 3, 2011 by Critterfixer

[twoforjoy]

I'm having the same issue with my son, who'll be seven next week. He'll happily compose sentence after sentence of text at the computer, but if you ask him to handwrite anything, he balks.

 

He does do handwriting practice each day, but I'm thinking that at this point I'm going to hold off on having him write his own narrations, even partially. I'm trying to keep it to one handwritten sentence or less per day.

 

Part of the issue is that he was in a preschool when he was 2 and 3 that introduced handwriting at that age. He picked up SO many bad handwriting habits, including only writing capital letters. I so wish he hadn't had handwriting introduced to him until he was 5 or 6, so there wasn't so much unlearning to do. We've been at it for over a year, and it's still slow-going.

 

It's very frustrating because his language skills are way, way ahead of his handwriting ability. Language arts programs that he can handle in terms of the physical writing load tend to be much too easy for him, whereas programs that would be challenging-but-doable for him have far more writing than he'd be able to physically manage at this point. For a lot of his language arts work, instead of having him write out sentences and exercises like the instructions say, I type up worksheets so he only needs to fill in a blank or circle a word or otherwise do less writing.

[Penelope]

I had to sit with my son while he did copywork for a long time. SWB says that you should be doing this anyway, so you can correct any mistakes right away, watch letter formation, and I think that she's right. We invest the time now and keep plugging away, and it will pay off in the end.

 

He is a very little boy. You said he can read and has nice handwriting, and I'm assuming after doing copywork all year he remembers how to form his letters correctly. He sounds normal. :)

 

I think encouraging them to enjoy writing in other contexts is good, too. When my children ask me for something, I tell them I need them to write it down so I will remember it. ;) I write them notes a lot, and sometimes they write back. An incentive for my ds at 6 or 7 was telling him that if he wrote a nice note to his grandma, I would let him type it to her in an email. If they draw a picture, I ask them to label it and help them with any spelling. You can have modelling clay, beeswax, putty, or sculpey to have out as a reward to play with after he is done with copywork. This is great for fine motor, too.

[meggie]

I had gotten WWE for my son to start in the fall (1st grade). After looking it over, I realized we'd probably be no where close to that. After trying to instruct him on how to form letters (and being extremely frustrated with it) I bought Handwriting Without Tears. It fulfills its promise of no tears (for me at least, DS never cried, just tried his hardest to please me).

 

I don't think WWE is meant to be a handwriting instruction program. I think it's supposed to be used after they can write their letters without having to think about it. In one of the books, maybe WTM or WWE, SWB talks about how writing is actually two steps, putting an inarticulate idea into words and then putting those words onto paper. That's why WWE separates the two steps, so children can focus on only one at a time. If he is trying to remember how to form the letters while he's doing copywork, I think it's too much for him now. If I were you, I'd look into HWT first. It makes writing very very easy for little boys. Plus, the books are very cheap. I didn't get the wooden letters, the teacher's manual has a template you can copy. I just cut out my own letters from foam sheets.

[boscopup]

Some things to double check:

 

- Pencil grip - holding it properly, not doing a death grip, etc.

- Chair/table height - Is he sitting up high enough so his hand isn't above his elbow when writing? I use a kitchen table for school, and I had to buy a chair that would raise my son up - helped *immensely* with arm pain when writing.

 

Other than that, what I did:

 

- Do a small amount every day, and work up bit by bit. If adding extra writing in a day, do it at a different time of day, so it's not back to back.

- Alternate subjects that require writing with subjects that don't. Don't forget that math requires writing! So don't do math and then WWE. ;)

- Draw Write Now with color pencils gives good hand strengthening while still being fun. Start with just the picture, then slowly add some of the copywork. We do one sentence of copywork with it. I do the drawing as well, plus the copywork (all 4 sentences for me), so it's something fun to do together.

- Sit with him for ALL writing for a good long while. Do not get up during copywork. Sit right there and talk him through the writing if you need to (I'd say "Magic c!" to remind him to do his 'd' the right way, for example).

- Do spelling on the white board. It's easier to write on the white board, and then we are reserving our "writing" muscles for copywork/WWE.

 

I do not yet do copywork in other subjects. We're doing one sentence of copywork in WWE, sometimes one sentence in FLL, and the sentence and words in spelling (on the white board). Last week, I added in some written cards a couple times (I wrote down what he wanted to write, then he copied onto the card). We do Draw Write Now once a week, so that's another sentence of copywork. So he's writing probably 2-3 sentences most days, and we've worked up to this.

 

One thing SWB mentioned in one of her lectures (perhaps the writing one? I can't remember) was that if a child is still having arm pain while writing by time they're 7, it's time to get an evaluation. So that's something else to consider. If writing a single sentence still hurts and he's closing in on 7 or has already turned 7, he might need some therapy of some sort.

[EJCMom]

My son hated the physical act of writing also. Your son may feel like he's a little old for this, but what I did with my son was give him playdough mats with letters (or you could do words) and had him make the letters with playdough. It strengthened the muscles in his hands so that writing didn't physically hurt so much. If he would resist playdough because he is too old, you might look for other things that would strengthen his hand muscles and see if that helps. It could just be that his hand hurts so he doesn't like it.

[Brooketopia]

My daughter just turned 7 in February, but she sounds very similar to your boy. She does not like to write. At all. For the first year of penmanship she would complain that it hurt her hand...I would gently remind her to not hold the pencil so hard and I haven't heard any complaining for a few months now. She also didn't like to color because it hurt her hand...but she colors much more now. I guess that was just fine-motor skills. She's never been big into fine-motor stuff; she likes running around and being loud.

 

We didn't start WWE until about three or four months ago, halfway through her first grade year. It did not go well for the first few weeks. She's only just gotten to the point of not complaining and being able to write a little faster now. Penmanship-time is a time of forced patience and faked cheerfulness for me.

 

We've started with a new system now: There's a list of what needs to be accomplished during the hours set aside for school and if it's not done by the time school is "over," then she doesn't get to participate in whatever the reward for getting school done is. It sounds horrifically mean, but she would sit and complain and grumble and drive me insane because I'd have to sit next to her for EVERYTHING to make sure she kept on-task. Now the responsibilty is on her shoulders.

 

After one day of her usual antics making it so she couldn't do sand painting with her sisters, she became very good at getting through her work. When she cut out all the complaining, school only took 2/3 of the time it was originally taking to complete! (And I wonder why I was feeling a little nutty after each day of school...so much time listening to all that grumpiness!)

 

I think your boy sounds normal. In offering advice, I would suggest splitting up your penmanship practice into two different times of the day...once we started writing more, my daughter become more comfortable with it. But writing more all at once would have driven her to a complete emotional breakdown. Do writing twice a day for very short amounts of time and gradually increase those times...and maybe only do this twice a week for a while. Let those hand muscles build up and give them rest to repair themselves as well. Tracing is a great way to practice writing without all the stress of forming the letters all by one's self.

[mamachanse]

My son hated writing anything more than his name at 6. We didn't do WWE1 at all and moved very slowly through HWT and FLL1 that year. Then at 7 something kicked in and he started to write. We picked up WWE2 at 8yo and he is right on task. He just wasn't ready before. I wouldn't be worried yet. :001_smile:

[thegeyser]

We didn't do any writing with a pencil when he was 4-just sand drawing and air-writing. We did HWT in Kindergarten (still with some tears). I'll ask him if writing hurts. I used to have him use a stool, but haven't pulled it out in a while (and he hasn't asked). I think he fell off of it a few times, so we retired it. Maybe we'll just have to pull it out again or buy a stool with a back. :)

 

His letter formation is okay. We switched to D'Nelian after he got the hang of HWT, because the HWT manuscript is so ugly. He only adds the "tails" on some of the letters, and he has his own way of making a d. Other than that, I really do demand he form them correctly and print as neatly as possible.

 

He doesn't really like to draw either. I started How Great Thou Art in the beginning of the year but soon dropped it because I was tired of fighting him. Most of his drawing on the page is scribble and jagged lines. We do Meet the Masters once a week with 3 other same-age boys. That may be part of my frustration. I try not to compare, but the other 6 year old boys write much more/better/faster than my son.

 

The kid plays with microscopic Legos all day. In my opinion, he has awesome fine motor skills. I could be wrong though!

 

I just asked him why he doesn't like it and he said he "gets tired and he just doesn't like it." He also doesn't like hard work or trying things that are in any way difficult or less than perfect. Reading lessons were painful (lots of tears) for a year, but now he reads fluently and will read on his own accord for 2-3 hours at a time. I guess I was hoping for similar progress this year in the writing department.

 

My 4 y.o. is so different. He just sits there and happily forms letters. Because I my first, I have been hesitant to ask 2nd son to do much of anything. His happiness and willingness is a breath of fresh air.

[mamachanse]

My 4 y.o. is so different. He just sits there and happily forms letters. Because I my first, I have been hesitant to ask 2nd son to do much of anything. His happiness and willingness is a breath of fresh air.

:lol: My first took the better part of the year to get through the K HWT book. My second sat down and did the entire thing in one evening. He also loves to draw and color. Ds1 is just started to sketch at 8yo. He still hates coloring. It bores him to tears.

[boscopup]

My 4 y.o. is so different. He just sits there and happily forms letters. Because I my first, I have been hesitant to ask 2nd son to do much of anything. His happiness and willingness is a breath of fresh air.

 

My 4 year old is likewise willing to write already! And he's actually pretty good at it (for a 4 year old boy). It's a breath of fresh air, isn't it? :D We haven't started a formal writing program yet. He just copies letters on the white board - at his insistence.

[RootAnn]

He has NEVER liked the physical act of writing ... He takes over 20 minutes to write his ONE SENTENCE for WWE. I sit there the entire time encouraging/cajoling/begging him to stay focused and keep writing. If I leave for a minute, he either leaves the table and joins his brother playing or ends up just sitting there ...

 

Just don't push him too hard. He'll get there.

 

I had to sit with my son while he did copywork for a long time. ... He sounds normal. :)

 

- Do a small amount every day, and work up bit by bit. If adding extra writing in a day, do it at a different time of day, so it's not back to back.

- Alternate subjects that require writing with subjects that don't. Don't forget that math requires writing! So don't do math and then WWE. ;)

- Sit with him for ALL writing for a good long while. Do not get up during copywork.

 

She does not like to write. At all. ...

I think your boy sounds normal.

 

:iagree: This all sounds like my dd#1 used to be. I still say she's "allergic to the pencil." I had to sit there ALL THE TIME. She would complain about EVERYTHING - the noise the pencil made on the paper, that her fingers hurt, that the paper was moving, that the eraser wasn't new enough, that her sister (two years younger) wasn't writing the same amount she was, etc.

 

We've slowly moved up the amount of writing she's done. She was DEFINITELY behind in her writing amount/skills vs. her PS peers. I knew where I wanted to be by the end of her 4th grade year. Here we are ... and we're here! At times, I wanted to pull out my hair. She completed Writing Tales I this year & it was a great way to increase her amount of writing. She doesn't need me to sit there anymore and she now *gasp* sometimes writes for fun. Absolutely amazing!

 

The advice in previous posts was "write" on. (Pun intended.)

 

My advice:

- Lower the amount of writing (for now).

- Require excellent hand-writing when he's doing the work for you.

- Sit there with him The Entire Time. Cheer him on.

- Write Every Day (even Saturdays/Sundays, but don't make it "schoolwork")

- Continue writing over the summer. (Have him make a card for one of his friends that only needs 4 or 5 words on it + his name. Have him write with sidewalk chalk.)

- Use fun colored pens or pencils/crayons/markers for non-schoolwork writing.

- Use whiteboards for other "writing" subjects when possible

- Gradually increase your hand-writing requirements.

- Have a vision of where you want to be by the time he's X years old. Move toward it. Always keep in mind how long you have to get there & don't rush it, but don't neglect the goal.

 

Good luck!

[janainaz]

My ds6 is in K, but he will be in 1st in August. He turns 7 in December. I make him write his name and full date on his Saxon math paper. I make him write 3 or 4 words from his OPGTR book (I choose the words - usually a few new ones he's learned). I also have him copy one short sentence. That is pretty much it. I gave my older ds a lot more writing to do in first grade, but he never complained. I give my younger one what I believe he can handle. But whatever he writes, he has to write neatly and I always tell him that.

 

I would not worry about it. Just keep it short and sweet! He will gradually be able to do more, but just praise him for what he IS doing.

[Critterfixer]

He also doesn't like hard work or trying things that are in any way difficult or less than perfect.

 

I don't know many children who sign up for hard work and things that are difficult. And bless them, there are a fair number out there that expect to do perfect work all the time. If he struggles with having his writing not looking perfect to him try having him trace over the copywork instead of copying it for a while.

 

The kid plays with microscopic Legos all day. In my opinion, he has awesome fine motor skills. I could be wrong though!

 

It's not quite the same.

 

He doesn't really like to draw either. I started How Great Thou Art in the beginning of the year but soon dropped it because I was tired of fighting him. Most of his drawing on the page is scribble and jagged lines. We do Meet the Masters once a week with 3 other same-age boys. That may be part of my frustration. I try not to compare, but the other 6 year old boys write much more/better/faster than my son.

 

One of my ds7 can build anything. He will design bridges and build roads with intricate detail in sand. He hated to draw. He didn't much like writing either. But he really "gets" spacial concepts. I am able to assist him with his writing by showing him the spacial relationships between the lines, not by focusing on the lines themselves so much. The same technique would drive his twin brother to tears. He's always been a prolific artist (great artist if you ask him) and handwriting is an issue for him because he struggles with trying to make it perfect from the first. With him I have to remind him that it is by practicing the form that he will get better.

Sometimes I feel like I'd be better off with two heads!

Children can be very different when it comes to how they mature.

BTW, both of them are turning out to be pretty good little writers with practice, but I am always careful not to tax them too much. Lots of breaks. Never writing after other writing. Never write a narration until they are very, very comfortable with writing.