Gingerbread Mama Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I'm looking at what I want to use for homeschooling next year. We brought our children home from PS in December, so we have been "schooling lite" as we attempt to adjust to homeschooling. I've also used this time as a chance to really see what areas they need some intensive help. For DS(almost)13, one of these areas would be writing. I simply do not understand what is going on with him. If I hand him a worksheet with sentences and sentence fragments, he can correctly identify them. If I ask him to WRITE something, it is an absolute mess. He puts periods in the middle of sentences. It looks like this: I walked home today. It was late. in the afternoon. So my mother was home. I can't get across to him that he is writing fragmented sentences. I have tried having him read it and he can't see the issue. How can you identify a sentence fragment on a worksheet, but not see one on your own work? Anyway, clearly we need to back up and start over. I'm utterly unsure of WHERE to start over. Should I use something like WWE, starting from book 1? Our PS really does a "fly by" with this sort of thing. I know the concept was introduced, but I don't think much time was spent on it after the inital introduction. Is there a better program to try? FWIW, online would be GREAT. For whatever reason, this is one thing that he will not "just take my word for it." He will let me show him where a math problem went wrong, he will not admit that he has written something incorrectly. I was hoping that, if I found something online, it would take the confrontation (or whatever the heck it is LOL) out of making him go back and try again. I know WWE isn't online, is there anything that is? I just see WWE mentioned so often... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pen Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I'm looking at what I want to use for homeschooling next year. We brought our children home from PS in December, so we have been "schooling lite" as we attempt to adjust to homeschooling. I've also used this time as a chance to really see what areas they need some intensive help. For DS(almost)13, one of these areas would be writing. I simply do not understand what is going on with him. If I hand him a worksheet with sentences and sentence fragments, he can correctly identify them. If I ask him to WRITE something, it is an absolute mess. He puts periods in the middle of sentences. It looks like this: I walked home today. It was late. in the afternoon. So my mother was home. I can't get across to him that he is writing fragmented sentences. I have tried having him read it and he can't see the issue. How can you identify a sentence fragment on a worksheet, but not see one on your own work? Anyway, clearly we need to back up and start over. I'm utterly unsure of WHERE to start over. Should I use something like WWE, starting from book 1? Our PS really does a "fly by" with this sort of thing. I know the concept was introduced, but I don't think much time was spent on it after the inital introduction. Is there a better program to try? FWIW, online would be GREAT. For whatever reason, this is one thing that he will not "just take my word for it." He will let me show him where a math problem went wrong, he will not admit that he has written something incorrectly. I was hoping that, if I found something online, it would take the confrontation (or whatever the heck it is LOL) out of making him go back and try again. I know WWE isn't online, is there anything that is? I just see WWE mentioned so often... I know there are online programs, but I haven't tried them, so cannot help you there. However, I wanted to suggest that you try noticing the sentences he does get right and commenting favorably on those. In the example you give, let him know that he got 3 sentences correctly written as full sentences, and challenge him to go on from there. Some word processing programs can also pick up some basic grammar errors and underline them, sort of like spell checks work. They are not always perfect, but perhaps that could be someone other than you to point things out. You might also want to post a full actual thing he has written, perhaps on the writing workshop section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jilly Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 You might look into Time4Writing. They have a middle school writing program, and it starts with the basics. It might be a good fit for your son. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I've not used these, but take a look at the free Scott-Foresman graded grammar and writing books. There is also the Treasures set of graded grammar practice books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloggermom Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I recommend Killgallon - Sentence Composing for Elementary School: A Worktext to Build Better Sentences Story Grammar for Elementary School: A Sentence-Composing Approach: A Student Worktext Grammar for Middle School: A Sentence-Composing Approach--A Student Worktext Sentence Composing for Middle School: A Worktext on Sentence Variety and Maturity Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momling Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 I recommend Killgallon -Sentence Composing for Elementary School: A Worktext to Build Better Sentences Story Grammar for Elementary School: A Sentence-Composing Approach: A Student Worktext Grammar for Middle School: A Sentence-Composing Approach--A Student Worktext Sentence Composing for Middle School: A Worktext on Sentence Variety and Maturity :iagree: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gingerbread Mama Posted April 27, 2012 Author Share Posted April 27, 2012 You might look into Time4Writing. They have a middle school writing program, and it starts with the basics. It might be a good fit for your son. :001_smile: I've actually looked at that. I had never heard of it, so I didn't know if it was good. I'm going to revisit the site. Is it part of Time4Learning, somehow? I recommend Killgallon -Sentence Composing for Elementary School: A Worktext to Build Better Sentences Story Grammar for Elementary School: A Sentence-Composing Approach: A Student Worktext Grammar for Middle School: A Sentence-Composing Approach--A Student Worktext Sentence Composing for Middle School: A Worktext on Sentence Variety and Maturity I will look at these, as well. Thank you for the ideas. This is about. To drive me crazy. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanikit Posted April 27, 2012 Share Posted April 27, 2012 KISS grammar gets them very early on to analyse their own writing (and it is free). If he is able to analyse a sentence grammatically and correctly then he should be able to do it for his own sentences. If he is given something incorrectly written by someone else - can he fix it? Maybe start there by typing out things that are wrong and getting him to fix it - then he is not having to criticise his own work. I agree that you should praise what is correct too. In the piece he wrote he really just needs to remove one spot on the page. WWE would be a good place to start so you can see if he can narrate correctly - does he give ideas in full sentences. At his age I would probably move much faster through it than normal and I would also possibly do the evaluation to see where to place him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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