Best writing strategy for a 6yo who HATES writing??

[threelilbirds]

What do you do for a DS who hates to write??? Workbooks? Copywork? I have tried copywork, and he gets bored 2 words in..any good tricks or strategies you can share?? thanks!

[meggie]

Based on advice I got on these boards I

 

1) Started Handwriting Without Tears

2) Had him start coloring. He alternates each day with crayons and colored pencils (there was a bit of a debate as to which was better; I settled it by doing both). He didn't like coloring to begin with, but he can now color longer and better than he did when we started. We went to the dollar store and HE got to pick out the coloring books. And HE gets to pick which picture he colors.

 

That's all I've got. Lol, probably not very helpful.

[threelilbirds]

No No, very helpful!!:001_smile: Ive heard of HWT, but wanst sure if it was for us. He loves to color, and I know thats a great start, but the thing is, he knew how to form all of his letters over a year ago, and now seems to be kinda losing it, becasue I cant get him to write anything..:confused:

[meggie]

Ohhhhhh, so it's probably a matter of finding something he wants to write, not teaching him how. Right? Well, then I am of absolutely no use. Some brainstorming ideas (because remember, I have no experience with this): letters to grandparents or other relatives and friends, copying silly poems (boys do seem to get a kick out of gross things and bodily functions). DH suggests copying the words from a comic strip (my son is obsessed with Calvin and Hobbes right now) or jokes. Whatever it is, you'll probably have to work at it so he can write for longer periods of time.

[Osmosis Mom]

For a 6 yo who doesn't want to write -don't let him write.

 

Sorry, but that's my piece of advice. Kids develop differently. Some young kids love to write and draw, others don't until suddenly they settle a bit and crave drawing and writing. Don't make a developmental thing into a fight. A lot can happen over the next 6 months and he might decide to pick up a pencil or colors on his own and show a real interest in starting some book work (written school work). If you force it upon him at this early stage, then you could be setting yourself up for a sad battle and a dislike to school/learning.

 

Just my opinion, of course.

[eewaggie99]

Do you have relatives that he can write? My kids hated writing, but after reading WTM, I set up letter writing sessions every week this summer. For my oldest (8), I guide him through the goals: number of sentences, topics to discuss, etc. We usually brainstorm together, then he writes a rough draft on a dry erase board while I work with his younger sibling. I approve the final draft, pointing out convention errors and only correcting confusing sentence fluency or word choices.

 

For my youngest (5), I ask: what do you want to say? If she's at a loss, I'll include prompts: what about the book we read? Describe the bug you found. What did you learn in swim lessons? Anything to get the conversation going. I jot down what she says. Working with her, I shorten and modify the sentences for ease of writing; once we're agreed on each sentence, I write it down on a dry erase board. After the letter is complete (at most two to three sentences with three to six words each), I work with her to complete the letter. My dd hates workbooks but when it comes to telling relatives about her life, she will sit and write for a long time. Now that she understands the process, she gets angry when I limit her sentences. She wants everything she says to go down on paper!

 

I stay with her the whole time to make sure she's forming her letters correctly. Then the kids take turns putting stamps and labels on the envelope after I address it. We've started getting letters back which has made the letter writing even more enjoyable. They aren't writing essays, but I've found they write better since this process began. My oldest starts WWE in the fall so I'll have a better idea if the summer letter writing has increased his enthusiasm for copywork and dictation.

[raceNzanesmom]

I wouldn't push it.

 

Writing for him might help. Let him dictate to you as you write. Perhaps in the beginning just have him sign his name. Then add to it. Perhaps adding "I love you" at the bottom of a letter. That sort of thing. Filling in the blanks can be fun too, and not too overwhelming. Write something like "Joey likes to fly airplanes. ______ likes to _________. Have him fill in his name and something he likes. Use a highlighter and have him write over it, if needed. Make sure to show off his work.

 

Non-pencil writing can be fun too. Use shaving cream on a table, rice on a cookie sheet, roll play-doh, etc.

 

Have fun with it. No pressure.

[nansk]

I agree with previous posters who suggested - 1. waiting, 2. copying text he is interested in and 3. non-pencil writing. My dd will readily write on the whiteboard but is reluctant to write more than 4 words on paper.

 

You can get lots of writing ideas from these books:

1. Games for Writing by Peggy Kaye

2. Any Child Can Write

 

HTH

[boscopup]

White board writing helped here. I've also found that DS does better with non-copywork or with copywork that requires he do something - fill in the blank, underline the noun, etc. I think copywork by itself wasn't challenging enough, yet he wasn't ready for longer sentences.

 

I had to work up to writing more. We kept it at about one short sentence per day when we started halfway through the year. By the end of first grade, he was able to write spelling words and 4 dictation sentences (also spelling) on the white board, and he could copy 3 sentences from an English textbook onto paper and put them in paragraph form. What a difference a few months made!

 

I also had us doing Draw Write Now once a week with color pencils. He would do one copywork sentence. I did all 4. :) He will draw and color if I join him.

 

Oh, one more thing that helped writing was getting him a school desk that was the correct height. Their feet should be on the floor or on a platform/stool, and they need to be high enough that their arm isn't angling upward to write.

[Deniseibase]

OK, I know I'm going against other advice here, but - I would be very very careful about letting him wait, make sure you know when to step in & say, OK, I know you don't like it but you are ABLE to do it so do it. Don't wait until he WANTS to write, that day may well never come.

 

I got a lot of that 'wait until she wants to' advice with my DD when she was younger - she HATED writing, hated coloring, hated anything that involved picking up a writing utensil in any way. She is smart enough, and very talented at math, so I figured, well, some kids just have talents in different areas, no biggie. I don't want to be a pushy mom & make her do something she isn't developmentally ready for, right? So we did all our work orally, and every few months I'd try to introduce a little writing to see if she was ready to be more receptive to it yet.

 

She never was. I got resistance - crying, whining, tantrums when she was younger, pouting and sullenness when she was older, every single time I tried to re-introduce writing. We tried every writing program out there and a few homemade ones! We tried coloring, creative writing, copywork, workbooks, you name it. EVERYTHING made her cry. She was ABLE to do a small amount of the work, but simply hated it. I kept thinking surely she will grow out of this and it will get better. It never did.

 

Now she is heading into sixth grade & it is simply impossible to continue doing everything orally. She is capable of writing a technically correct sentence, but not a paragraph, let alone any sort of essay or report. We have years and years of catch-up to do and I have warned her that she will not like it, but sixth grade will be the year that she has to learn to do written work. I'm not trying to bury her, but I'm going to make her write out her math problems, fill in worksheets for grammar, write short answers for questions in other subjects, etc. I'm also putting her in a class for reluctant writers with a local woman who is supposedly brilliant with kids who hate to write.

 

I am getting JUST AS MUCH resistance to this idea now as I did in first grade. If anything it is worse because the resistance is entrenched and she has puberty on top of it! I really strongly feel that if I had just pushed and made her do what she was ABLE to do starting in first grade, I would have LESS resistance now. Writing is never ever going to be her favorite subject, but good heavens! It's a core skill, she HAS to learn to do a certain amount of it, like it or not, and I wish I had gotten her used to it earlier.

 

If I could go back and change anything in my homeschool, this would be it. I wish WWE had been available when she was that age, I would have made her go through that twice, first grade with the 3-4 word sentences and second grade with the slightly longer ones. She still would not have liked it, but she would have been capable of it and we would be much further along now, without the entrenched resistance.

 

I'm not saying push him to do something he's truly not ready for. If he can't make his letters or they swim around on the page for him, that's one thing. But if he just hates it (and that's what I'm guessing from your original post), make him do it anyway. Keep it light and short - like I said, I wish I had gone with the easiest stuff in WWE1, but anything that you can do in a short amount of time will be fine. 5 minutes a day at age 6 is plenty, you can increase it a little each year. Make him do SOME written work in other subjects, even if you do 90% of his work orally, make him write a little bit in all subjects. Don't put yourself in the position I'm in, stuck with a sixth grader who writes on a second grade level and now needs to spend most of a school year to play catch-up in hopes of getting her capable of fifth grade work by her seventh grade year.

 

He's not going to like it, and neither are you. But it's going to be much easier now than if you wait.

[nov05mama]

I agree with a lot of the previous posters! I do think that 'waiting' (or limiting, at least) is a good idea. My DS isn't particularly FOND of writing, but he will do it now without much complaint. I keep it fairly minimal and when possible, let him use a dry erase board instead of paper/pencil.

My DS loves to draw, but hates to write ;) so go figure, LOL! He HATES coloring however...he will stay in the lines and such but it's still a chore to him so I just don't ask him to do it much at all.

So, I definitely agree that he may NEVER "like" writing, but keep it age/level appropriate, and it should be fine :D

[Snickerdoodle]

OK, I know I'm going against other advice here, but - I would be very very careful about letting him wait, make sure you know when to step in & say, OK, I know you don't like it but you are ABLE to do it so do it. Don't wait until he WANTS to write, that day may well never come.

 

I totally agree with this. My 10yo still hates writing with a fiery passion, but persistent work, little by little has increased his stamina. He sometimes even writes without melting down into a puddle of tears.

[Snickerdoodle]

I have tried copywork, and he gets bored 2 words in

 

Erm, is this a hand fatigue (or similar) issue or an attitude issue?

[boscopup]

OK, I know I'm going against other advice here, but - I would be very very careful about letting him wait, make sure you know when to step in & say, OK, I know you don't like it but you are ABLE to do it so do it. Don't wait until he WANTS to write, that day may well never come.

 

Completely agree with this!!!

 

I know people were saying to do a lot of stuff orally, but I instead looked at how much my son was capable of doing, and then gradually pushed him a tiny bit past that so he could develop his muscles. Because of that, writing isn't SO bad now. ;) I really think doing everything orally can backfire. If you aren't using the muscles, they're not likely to get any stronger. :tongue_smilie: But just keep it age appropriate. One short sentence a day for a new first grader is fine, then gradually increased it over the course of a year.

[kirstenhill]

This may sound a little strange, but have you tried different kinds of paper? My DD always disliked and stressed out a lot about anything written when she needed to write in "typical" kids writing paper (with the dotted line in the middle) or in smallish workbook spaces. As soon as I gave her either wide-ruled notebook paper or paper with no lines, she was a lot less stressed out about it, and was a lot more willing to write. Is her handwriting perfectly proportioned? No, but I would rather have her willing to write and have some letters the wrong size than sitting with a DD who refuses to write or gets totally stressed out about it!

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

For ds at that age who hated writing, we did a lot of tracing of fun words for him such as spooky, Jupiter, Mars, slime, etc. etc. as well as fun short sentences with those words. We used a chalkboard with handwriting lines on it with colored chalk, white boards with different colored markers, and paper with crayons.

 

I made the mistake of trying to have him practice words that I thought he should practice. I learned that using his interests helped at that age. Of course, now that he is older we use and his interests as well as what I think is appropriate.

 

Also, if pencil grip is an issue, use very short pieces of crayon or chalk or short pencils which will only allow proper hand grip. I also use a gripper for his pencils for proper hand placement. Also, try short practice sessions spread out during the day instead of long practice sessions.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

Also, for HWT, they use a very small chalkboard to practice individual letter which is a great tool IMHO and ds liked this as well. The chalkboard is about 5 by 7 inches.

[meggie]

I agree with the not waiting. My son never liked writing or coloring. Advice on the board was "don't wait." I kept thinking it was like reading: when he's ready it will just "click." Turns out writing is a skill that must be built up. The hand muscles need to get stronger. A little at a time should be sufficient, the better he gets, the more you can do.

[Ellie]

I would expect a 6yo to "hate" writing, but I wouldn't ever use the word "hate." Much of it has to do with the development of fine motor skills and hand-to-eye coordination, and the actual ability to write letters on paper.

 

Rather than look for writing strategies for a child who "hates to write," I would just consider his age and gently help him to write, a little more each year than he did the last. If you are saying in your head that he "hates to write," you're setting up a self-fulfilling prophesy. JMHO.

[Tracy]

When my dd was learning how to write, I made copywork for her from her favorite books. At the time we were doing FIAR, and she absolutely adored those books. Copying something she recognized and loved was very motivational for her.

 

And if all you can get out of him is 2 words at a time, then so be it. Have him to 2 words in the morning and 2 in the afternoon. You could also do writing using gross motor skills for now (white/chalkboard, salt box, bathtub crayons, shaving cream, etc.) Meanwhile, spend time doing other things that strengthen his hands (play-dough, coloring, etc.).

[kalanamak]

 

Coloring and other hand strength things, like zoobs and tinker toys.

 

Amazingly, my un-arty child like the challenge of copying the warm-ups in Drawing with Children, and doodling on the Ed Emberley thumb-print books.

[LittleIzumi]

My dd is also not a fan of writing. What helps?

 

HWoT.

 

Having her write about something she loves. I have never seen faster copywork than when I set her a sentence about He-man. :D (The girls watch with dh on Netflix.) Sometimes I have her write a sentence & then illustrate it, and she likes that, too.

[LMD]

1. I try to make the copywork relevent - usually a bible verse we read that morning.

 

2. If DD is feeling resistant, I let her do it in whatever colour/pencil/crayon combination she likes. We've got some very pretty copywork in her folder!

 

3. I keep in mind how much other writing/fine motor skill work she's done that day, so I don't overwhelm her. Sometimes she really is plain tired.

 

4. Begin with one copywork project a week - a couple of words (or letters) a day.

 

good luck!