How do I use ETC best in this scenario?

[eloquacious]

My wee man will be four in a few weeks, and is reading at a mid 2nd grade reading level. His handwriting is ... well, on par with what a 4 year-old boy's handwriting should look like. ;) He can "draw," as he calls it, Ts and Ls and sometimes an H or an I. He likes to draw an S, too, so he'll "draw" (in giant letters) the word "is," and declare said fact proudly to the whole house. He definitely wants to learn how to write, and I suspect that by next fall he'll be at the beginning writing stage. (We've got a ton of prewriting and drawing planned until then, as well as working through the Kumon workbooks.)

 

I think, tentatively, that by next fall he'd be ready to do the small amount of writing required by the ETC 1 or 1.5 workbooks. As far as his reading/phonics goes, though, he'd be in the upper levels. Even if I wanted to use the workbooks as review a few steps behind, it seems silly to go THAT far behind. Looking at books 3 and 3.5, though, that seems like too much writing to ask of him at that stage.

 

(I should mention that in a fit of excitement about homeschooling curriculum, I bought almost all of the books over a year ago.)

 

So...do I do the books orally and not ask him to write anything? Do I skip them altogether, or hold on to them until his younger brother is ready to learn? Or do I sell them?

 

I think if we were to start Book 1 in the fall, we could maybe work through books as a spelling curriculum, and do the first few that year, then finish the series over the course of the following year (when he'd be starting his official "Kindergarten" year).

[matilda]

I would skip them as save them for his younger brother or do the end levels orally. But you might be better finding a phonics curriculum that doesn't require writing like Phonics Pathways. That way his grade-level writing abilities wouldn't hold him back.

[kalanamak]

 

So...do I do the books orally and not ask him to write anything? Do I skip them altogether, or hold on to them until his younger brother is ready to learn? Or do I sell them?

 

 

I did what I could verbally to reduce frustration (still do). As long as you have writing practice also, I dont see why you couldn't benefit from ETC verbally. I liked the books. I'd keep them for younger brother. For your already-reading fellow you could do simple dictation a la SWR.

[eloquacious]

One other thought I had was making it fun / using fine motor skills by using those tiny label stickers and writing letters on them, then letting him glue them in the appropriate places. We also have letter stamps that he could use in the spaces where he is meant to print.

[Ellesmere]

I did what I could verbally to reduce frustration (still do). As long as you have writing practice also, I dont see why you couldn't benefit from ETC verbally. I liked the books. I'd keep them for younger brother. For your already-reading fellow you could do simple dictation a la SWR.

:iagree:

 

My 4 y.o. didn't do any of the writing sections in writing (we modified them) until she got to book four. I will say that reading was one thing that came so easily for her and I know that may have made a difference.

 

Anyway, OP, I'd consider using them. And I totally understand your fit of excitement.

 

One other thought I had was making it fun / using fine motor skills by using those tiny label stickers and writing letters on them, then letting him glue them in the appropriate places. We also have letter stamps that he could use in the spaces where he is meant to print.

Somehow we were able to make a game out of having my child spell out the words instead of writing them. I know that doesn't always work, but mine is easy-going.

 

Now, what you've suggested sounds much more fun :)

[pitterpatter]

We've used stickers and letter stamps, but that can be tediously for more than a couple of dozen letters at a time.

[WeeBeaks]

My oldest was in that situation. I waited until he was writing and then just used the books appropriate for him, skipping all the early ones.

[5Bmom]

My 4.5 year old is on ETC 1 right now. If he wants to do the writing, great, I let him. Most of the time it is too much... we we use the alphabet stamps (got that idea from another mom on her) or skip it all together. Either way, he is retaining fully without doing all the writing.

[acurtis75]

We did a lot orally also. I would go ahead with the books if he is capable of doing the work and the handwriting is the only hang up. There are enough activities that are just circling or drawing lines and the rest can be done orally with you writing.

 

Also, I would check out handwriting without tears. My daughter could read well at that age and was frustrates with her inability to write. I tried several things but HWOT really turned things around for her and reduced frustration.

[HeatherL]

My 4 and a half year old is finishing book 2. We take turns with the handwriting part. He writes one, I write the next, but the deal is that he must tell me the answer and point to the word (if the words are given) or tell me how to spell it if it is one of the blank pages. So far it has worked well for us. I like that he is getting some handwritng practice and then sees me modeling good writing as well.

[BigMamaBird]

A magnetic white board with magnet letters would be easy to manage.