How much writing does you 1st and/or 2nd grader do?

[momsuz123]

I still feel like my dc may not be writing enough. This is what they do in a typical week. I did just start back in WWE this week too.

 

2nd grader (who doesn't love or hate writing): AAS3, she does 2 lessons a day with the dictations and writing exercise (she is a natural speller, so doing 2 lessons for her is not too much, I am doing it to fill any gaps); WWE; sometimes I have her write in her journal for 5-10 minutes, I set the timer; handwriting program - currently learning cursive with HWOT; FLL2

 

1st grader (who really doesn't like writing at all): WWE (just started again); writing journal for 5-10 minutes (after 3 days of this, she still has only done 1/2 page of a notebook, some of that was tally marks :tongue_smilie:); I have her normally use letter tiles for her AAS, sometimes sand, sometimes white board; FLL2; HWOT and Alphabet Beats for handwriting

 

That's it, just doesn't feel like enough. Be honest. Here is the thing though, I know in ps they do tons more writing. BUT, my dd's 1st grade teacher last year commented that at her school the first graders leave first grade doing a "good" job getting words done on paper. When the fifth graders were evaluated though, they could still just put words on the paper. No grammar, at all. My dd's first grade teacher was mad about the gaps that are in the system. She said that she did her job but somewhere between 2-4th grade, the teachers failed. So...I get the importance of SWB theory. I dont' just want a bunch of words on paper. I am glad my girls love grammar. They do Mad Libs for fun (not the junior libs either). Still, I want your opinion. Just need to know what others do.

Thanks.

Edited December 14, 2011 by momsuz123
forgot to add HWOT and Alphabet beats

[matrips]

It sounds fine to me. I think we're doing something similar; mine are first graders.

 

Daily- WWE1 (though some days are just narration)

Daily- dictation of spelling words or sentences (using AAS3); we just do one lesson a week though. They'd probably throw a fit if I made them write all the words and all the sentences in one day! I'll dictate 10-15 words, or 5 sentences a day.

Once a week - Essentials in Writing lesson and worksheet

Once a week - Sonlight LA1 Lesson/Worksheet

Once a week - Descriptive writing (I give them a picture)

 

And then I try to fit in regular letters/cards to family etc. Lately they're getting lots of thank-you letter writing in due to their birthday!

[nicholsonhomeschool]

Your first grade plan is similar to mine -- we don't journal, but we are working our way through HWT. This is mostly because I need something for him to do quietly and independantly while I work with my 3rd grader. I also encourage him to write notes/letters to grandparents and friends. And I ask him to write out more from FLL then is prescribed. I've had similar concerns about writing enough...

[Embassy]

I don't know if we are typical, but this is what my 2nd grader does on average per week:

 

 

• One sentence copywork as well as handwriting practice per day.
   
  
• He writes about 3-5 sentences once or twice a week. This in on his blog, in a penpal letter, or a paragraph/sentences about some predetermined topic.
   
  
• Completes written exercises from R&S English a couple times a week.
   
  
• His phonics program has a few sentences a week too (i.e. write a sentence when given a word).
   
  
• Handwriting practice related to foreign language a couple times a week.
  

 

 

He has stamina and doesn't mind writing.

[FairProspects]

That is way more writing than my 1st grader does and he is an older 1st grader.

 

Our daily writing:

 

2 pages of a phonics workbook - maybe 20 words

WWE 1/FLL 1 - usually a sentence of copywork, FLL on WWE's narration days

New American Cursive - page or 2 of cursive on 1 letter

AAS 2 - Actual paper to pencil writing is usually 2 phrases and 2 sentences per day

 

That is just our LA work but I think the amount doesn't stress me out because we are also writing across the curriculum. Whenever ds does science or history or math, he is also writing narrations and problems, which altogether is actually quite a bit of writing. Maybe a shift in thinking is required? I bet if you add up all that your dc are doing in other subjects besides just "writing" you'd be surprised at how much they are doing.

Edited December 14, 2011 by FairProspects

[LindaOz]

My first grader (almost finished 1st) does:

 

Copywork daily - letter practice and then a sentence or two from literature, Bible, poem, or history.

 

Dictation - once or twice a week, words and simple sentence using some of the words.

 

Every now and then he writes a letter or a bit of a story freewrite with his siblings.

 

Oh, and he also has writing in ETC.

[mom2abunch]

I have a second grader and we do something very similar to what you have listed.

 

I have found that slow and steady will win this race. As I add in a little more and a little more, my kiddos gain the necessary skills to become great writers.

 

The thing about ps is that you have to put blinders on. Don't worry about what they are doing. Even though the kids can get words on paper, it doesn't always translate into the desired results in the long run.

 

You are doing just fine!

[boscopup]

Let's see... my oldest did/does:

 

1st grade (last year):

 

WWE1 (3 copywork sentences per week)

AAS1-2 at the white board (10 words, plus 2-3 sentences - he was willing to do more because of the white board, and that in turn majorly upped his writing ability on paper)

other copywork 1 sentence 2x per week (the days he didn't have copywork in WWE)

 

2nd grade (this year):

 

WWE2 (2 sentences copywork, 2 sentences dictation, then one of his own sentences dictation - total for the week)

notebooking in history (1 original sentence twice per week)

spelling words in R&S (16 words about 3 times per week)

I'm going to add in HTTS to get more dictation (similar to AAS), doing that at the white board again... we'll probably do that a couple times per week.

FLL3 diagramming - roughly 4-5 short sentences (4-6 words) 3 days per week

 

I'm trying to increase his writing right now. I do not do journaling, as he had to do that at school and came home with a bunch of empty prompts (and looking at the prompts, I'd leave them empty too - I HATE journaling, and it'd be torture for me if I was a kid being forced to do that daily... I would only recommend it for a kid who likes journaling). I recently added the history notebooking, and I'll soon add in science notebooking, and eventually add in literature notebooking. I'm working him up to all that. I think doing the spelling dictation at the white board again will be very helpful. I think it gave his perfectionist self some confidence and practice with letter formation without physically straining him. That then carried over to his paper and pencil writing, where he needed to develop the muscles, but at least he had the confidence and ability worked up.

[Halcyon]

My first grader:

• WWE daily-he does his own narrations so that's a fair amount of writing.
  
• Writing in journal whenever he wants to, which is usually daily.
  
• Blog posts on his blog (not HANDwriting, but they're creative ;))
  
• HWT 3x a week
  
• Spelling words 3x a week
  
• Freewriting 3x a week a la Bravewriter, often with prompts from Unjournaling--usually 3-4 sentences, sometimes much more.
  

 

 

FWIW, I saw some work by 1st graders at our local school. It may be that they require a fair amount of writing....but it's not of the highest quality, if I may say so without sounding rude.

 

ETA: Forgot to say--grammar (KISS and GWG)!

Edited December 14, 2011 by Halcyon

[Critterfixer]

My second graders write

 

Their spelling lesson, which is sometimes words which are copied, but also may include a few lines of poetry for copywork.

Aesop writing program-A lot of oral prep for writing, with the sequence of narration on day 1, vocab and spelling on day 2, grammar on day 3 and revision/ with writing of the polished narration on the fourth day. I’m sort of a stickler about this: I have the mantra established “If you haven’t got something good to say, don’t write it down.†I type their rough drafts, help them edit and they write out the finished work (usually pared down to summary).

Penmanship-we are starting Getty-Dubay (the DH wanted to pick some curriculum and I let him have handwriting) but we usually write down a sentence from the board. This month we are using and discussing George Washington’s Rules of Civility.

Grammar-usually not much writing but every now and then we are doing actual sentence composition. I want to increase this to a few times a week.

Dictation-has always been associated with spelling. I’d like to increase it in the coming year.

Science and History-I will always pick a sentence from their narration and have them copy it.

All told we are probably at a five to six sentences per day rate.

 

I will say this: There is something to the idea of teaching the child to have something to say before they 1) say it, or 2) write it. I get much better narrations when we discuss the story, and I get less resistance to writing when we’ve literally ripped the rough copy apart, revised, condensed and worked it over. I used to hate this process in college, but the boys actually seem to enjoy it.

[Mrs Twain]

I probably err on the side of overdoing writing, but I feel better that way. I do a lot of writing with my kids just because I want to try to develop their writing abilities as much as possible (without burning them out of course).

 

My first grader does WWE once or twice per week, copywork once per week for science, and journal once or twice per week. I also started the year having her do IEW (SWI-A) along with her older brother. She is doing fine with it, but I decided that I am going to only do half of the IEW program this year and fill in the rest of the weeks with WWW.

 

I just got three levels of WWW, and I really like the program so far. It can work very well as a supplement to other writing programs from what I have seen. I started my first grader in level 2. She is a good reader and can write fairly well, so level 2 is a good fit. You may want to look at WWW if you just need something solid to add to your other writing programs.

 

About the public schools, I withdrew my kids from one and have seen some of what they do. They may require a high volume of writing, but (in my experience) most teachers don't give much instruction. Grammar is taught very little. "Creative spelling" is encouraged for some reason I can't figure out. I have not been impressed with the writing abilities of the public school kids I know. In other words, I think it is good to work on developing your children's writing skills, but don't worry about trying to copy or "keep up with" the public schools. I don't think there is much to keep up with, at least in my school district.

[TKDmom]

It sounds like your kids are doing quite a bit more writing than mine.

 

My 2nd grader (who hates to write) does:

WWE2 most days

PR1 at an accelerated rate. This translates to about 8 spelling words a day and one original sentence every day.

 

My 1st grader (who likes writing) does:

WWE 1 most days

PR 1 (4-6 spelling words a day plus 2 original sentences every week).

He also volunteers to do a page out of his GDI handwriting book most days and occasionally picks up an ETC workbook for more fun writing.

 

 

FWIW, my oldest was very resistant to writing in 2nd grade. WWE2 was too much for her. I felt like she was way behind in 3rd grade because she just wouldn't write as much as her ps peers were. Near the end of 4th grade she turned a corner and she can now write a multi page story in one sitting with no complaints. I now have more confidence is SWB's ideas of what is developmentally appropriate. There really is a shift in their abilities around 9 or 10.

[chepyl]

Every other week we do dictation for three to five days. We just started paragraphs. Other than that, he does R&S orally and writes his spelling words two days in non-dictation weeks. He writes cards and notes to friends and family on his own. He is a young first grader amd his stamina for writing is low.

[Julie Smith]

To be honest. (This should help others feel better)

 

My second grader does two to three pages out of HWT second grade book.

[momsuz123]

Thanks all, I know the quality of what the ps is turning out. I should have made it clearer before but I was told my dd's 5th grade class last year could not write. at. all. All they had were words on paper with no grammar at all. This was across the board. So, like I said, I totally agree with SWB theory, I just want to make sure I am incorporating it the right way.

Thanks for all the advice. It is tricky for me to because I have one that is older and loves school, and one that is younger, and would rather play all day.

[Sahamamama]

My 1st Grader (almost 7) does this:

 

• Spelling (AAS Level 2) -- writes words, dictation phrases, and sentences
  
• Handwriting (ZB Cursive 2) -- practices letter and word formation (we started cursive because her printing could not get any better)
  
• Writing (WWE 1) -- copies sentences (2-3/week) + narrates passages (2/week)
  
• Grammar (FLL 2) -- this is mostly oral, but sometimes there is a written component (e.g., address an envelop, write a letter to a relative)
  
• Vocabulary (Wordly Wise 1) -- mostly oral/pictorial, but sometimes she writes a sentence to caption her illustration ("journal page")
  
• Dictionary & Reference Skills (various) -- weekly looks up something in a reference source (dictionary, atlas, index, glossary, table of contents, concordance, graph, chart) and writes the answer to my question
  
• Reading Program (Story Time Treasure/More Story Time Treasures) -- this involves a surprising amount of writing, including copywork, defining words in context, answering questions, and captioning illustrations
  

Here's what we'll do for 2nd Grade:

 

• Spelling: AAS Levels __ & __ (whatever she needs)
  
• Handwriting: New American Cursive
  
• Copywork: MP's NAC Copybooks
  
• Narration: 1-2x/week from any subjects (Bible, Literature, History, Geography, Science)
  
• Writing (Keep It Simple Plan): WWE 2 (all of it) + WWW 2 (all of it) OR Writing (Let Her Be Creative Plan): WWE 2 (all of it) + WWW 2 (1/2 of it) + her own writing folder (she writes on a topic, we edit gently) -- STILL UNDECIDED :bigear:
  
• Grammar: Rod & Staff English 2 (all) + GWG 3 (complete 3 out of 5 chapters)
  
• Vocabulary: English from the Roots Up (oral only, with pre-made flashcards)
  
• Dictionary & Reference Skills: continue with Bible study tools for this year
  
• Reading Program: MP 2nd Grade Literature Guides (tons of writing)
  
• Other than written work for Math, everything else will be Reading, Read Alouds, and/or done orally
  

HTH. It isn't easy to know what's "enough" or "too much," is it?

Edited December 14, 2011 by Sahamamama

[alpidarkomama]

I have a DD5 and DS6 who are doing their subjects mostly together. Their writing activities include:

 

Handwriting w/o Tears (1 page/day)

Explode the Code (1 page/day DD5; 2 pages/day DD6 [usually 1 page that involves writing and 1 that involves box-checking])

Writing With Ease (1 unit per week)

 

They also do FLL, but without any writing.

 

I really think it's plenty. DD8 has really thrived with a similar past, and I feel no need to keep up with the greater quantities of "writing" that get churned out in school. Their writing is short, precise, and just the exact next thing they need to learn.

[didadeewiththree]

My young (late April) 2nd grade daughter's day today

 

Shurley Grammar- which consisted of having her write three sentences, labeling each adverb, adjective, noun, verb, and underlining complete suubject/predicate part of the sentence(which was kind of a hard concept to grasp), plus she wrote four vocab words and looked them up in the dictionary, then writing their definitions. She also did two short student activity sections, where she just underlined subject/predicate part of the sentence.

 

In The Phonics Road 1(which we are accelerating through quickly, doing 1 weeks worth of words in a day) we are doing about 20 words a day and underlining the phonograms and doing other markings. Spelling is her favorite subject so I don't get any complaints.

 

Handwriting- She does 1 page of cursive handwriting in 2nd gr Zaner Bloser workbook

 

Today she didn't, but usually she spends time writing to her Penpal or her journal about 3 times a week for about a 1/2 half each time.

[boscopup]

Aesop writing program-A lot of oral prep for writing, with the sequence of narration on day 1, vocab and spelling on day 2, grammar on day 3 and revision/ with writing of the polished narration on the fourth day. I’m sort of a stickler about this: I have the mantra established “If you haven’t got something good to say, don’t write it down.†I type their rough drafts, help them edit and they write out the finished work (usually pared down to summary).

 

Silly question... Do they dictate to you the narrations and then just write the final copy? Or do they write the rough draft also? I'm not completely clear with what you said, and this has been something I have wondered about programs like CW Aesop, CC Fable, WT, etc. They all involve fairly lengthy retellings (not the summary that WWE involves), and I just can't imagine my son being able to do that in 3rd grade. :001_huh: So are they meant to be done orally (which he could easily do) and then just the final work copied? Or are they really supposed to write down their original retelling of a fable that could be 15-20 sentences long? :lurk5:

 

I think by the end of 3rd grade, my son will probably be able to write his own WWE-style summary narration. And maybe he'll surprise me and be able to write more than that, but at the beginning of 3rd grade, just 6 months away, I don't see him being able to write a long retelling on his own.

 

I get less resistance to writing when we’ve literally ripped the rough copy apart, revised, condensed and worked it over. I used to hate this process in college, but the boys actually seem to enjoy it.

 

We recently started editing DS's oral WWE narrations, and he is really enjoying that process also. Hopefully that enthusiasm will carry over to physical writing when we get there!

 

FWIW, my oldest was very resistant to writing in 2nd grade. WWE2 was too much for her. I felt like she was way behind in 3rd grade because she just wouldn't write as much as her ps peers were. Near the end of 4th grade she turned a corner and she can now write a multi page story in one sitting with no complaints. I now have more confidence is SWB's ideas of what is developmentally appropriate. There really is a shift in their abilities around 9 or 10.

 

Thank you for this, Bonnie! It is good to get that reassurance. I know SWB's ideas are appropriate for my son, and I know he will get to where I want him to be. I'm sure he'll be able to do WWS by 5th grade, and WWE will well prepare him for that. He's been at or slightly ahead of what is expected of WWE all along the way, so I know it's working well. Last year, if I had asked what something was about, he would have said, "I don't know." This year, he can give me a pretty good 3-4 sentence oral narration about whatever topic I've had him read. And he went from his hand hurting when writing just one sentence, to being able to take 2 sentences from dictation or copy 3 sentences or even write one original sentence about what he's read. He's made huge improvement in the last year, thanks to SWB's methods. I just have to keep my eye on the goal... WWS in 5th grade.

[mytwomonkeys]

My son will be 8 in late March and he is in grade 2. Currently for writing he uses:

 

All About Spelling 2

Winning with Writing 2

[2_girls_mommy]

Typical day for my 2nd grader (today)

 

She did 1 and a half spelling workbook pages (which is actually more like phonics work)

 

1 and a half pages in her phonics workbook. She should have done the full 2 pages, but it was a tough lesson for her. She was working hard. But we had to move on.

 

1 English test.

 

Then for history she gave me an oral narration which I wrote down. Tomorrow she will copy it in her own writing.

 

1 handwriting sheet.

[Mommy22alyns]

It looks fine to me, but the only writing Sylvia does is WWE and things in workbooks (like CLE LA). We're not even using a handwriting curriculum this year because her writing stamina is just not that great. We'll use one next year.

[Bloggermom]

My 1st grader is only doing copywork right now. I create my own page of 3 sentences a day. He also writes in his CLE workbook. I plan to add in AAS1 and WWE1 on alternating days when he turns 7 in February. He is high on the autism spectrum so I am taking things a bit slower with him in order to not overwhelm him too much. Slow and steady is what I am going for. I should also add that we are homeschooling year round, he cannot have too big of a break or he loses his skills.

[MinivanMom]

I have both a 1st grader and a 2nd grader. Their daily writing consists of:

 

10 min - journal writing or copywork (alternating days) - in cursive for the 2nd grader

20 min - composition (self-chosen independent writing using the writing process)

 

My 2nd grader just finished a report on ancient Egypt for composition. She is now starting a personal narrative about our trip to Disney World. She did the prewrite yesterday and started her first rough draft today. My 1st grader is just finishing the final draft of a personal narrative on our last trip to the beach.