Mom2pandc Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I've been having a hard time finding something that will work for my 3rd grader. I think I've looked at every curricula out there. I tried journaling with prompts...ha! Not feeling the love. Then I tried a book from the teaching store that used prompts and graphic organizers and an outline of how to get the ball rolling. Not as bad, but I felt like it took a lot of MY time to get him to write. So I went with Writing with Ease. I bought level 1 for my dd6 and level 2 for ds9. I felt it was a good starting place and if it proved too easy, we'd skip ahead a bit as needed. Well, shut the kid down! He crosses his arms, puts his head down and just freezes up. Totally out of character for him. After 5 weeks of this I'm ready to throw in the towel. It's making him miserable and making me miserable too. (My 1st grader however is thriving with it, so it's not a loss by any means) So my last resort yesterday was I made up 5 questions about Legos. When and by whom they were invented, where are they manufactured, what is your favorite and why? My expectations were he write the answers in complete sentences and it make sense to anyone who didn't know what the questions were. Lo and behold it worked. He jumped on his laptop and googled the answers. He brought me his notebook with 5 complete and grammatically correct sentences. I knew he could write, and he's very strong at grammar. Today I gave him 5 questions on shel Silverstein. He again went and found the answers and wrote a paragraph. So how can I build on this to improve his writing? More questions? Have him help write the questions eventually? I have to take advantage of this opportunity since its the only thing that has worked so far. I never noticed a problem with this when he was in public school, so he either faked it, or I'm not doing something right. Thanks for any suggestions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
................... Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 I would try PLL and just do the dictation passages as copywork if necessary. It's gentler than WWE. You could finish the whole book in less than one year and then try ILL. It has some creative writing early on which WWE doesn't have at all. It's a little more fun in that sense. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mom2pandc Posted January 16, 2013 Author Share Posted January 16, 2013 Forgive my ignorance, but what is PLL? :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heidi Posted January 16, 2013 Share Posted January 16, 2013 PLL is Primary Language Lessons. I think that getting him to enjoy writing is the best thing you can do right now. It sounds like it is working! Brave Writer Lifestyle has some ideas for writing as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs. Lilac Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Take a look at these http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/search?author=Sharon%20Watson&detailed_search=1&action=Search or http://www.kid-friendly-homeschool-curriculum.com/homeschool-writing-curriculum.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmom2011 Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Essentials in Writing is working well for my 2nd grader, plus it includes grammar. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmac Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 I would definitely continue what you are doing and if he's ready, let him come up with the questions. I am still working on writing with my 3rd grader. As for the writing prompts, are you brainstorming with him on topics he is familiar with? I know they did that when my son was in public school. My son just used a best invention writing prompt to write about his xbox. I usually have to give him some suggestions he's familiar with when finding a topic to write about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 i totally feel your pain. we went through the same thing at separate points in time with both kids. so a few months back, i just stopped using a writing curriculum. i'm tired of them & we accomplish so much more on our own. i now use kathryn stout's comprehensive composition as a spine (you can buy it used for a penny at amazon). to teach the paragraph, i've successfully used the 123 ABC method. my daughter writes very well & i feel like we are really free to focus on so much more now. my son is in grade 3 & we are currently working on the paragraph. we do both written and "oral" paragraphs (basically, anything we read, we review on his hand what a topic sentence could be, 3 supporting sentences, and a closing sentence). my goal is by the end of the year; he will be able to write a strong paragraph about anything. next year, my goal will be 2 paragraphs. 5th grade, we will move into multiple paragraph papers. creative writing is not taught until middle school though. anyway. all this to say, i think what you are doing sounds great! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Another vote for Bravewriter. Read The Writer's Jungle (you can get it at a better price at HSBC) and see what you think. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChicoryChick Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 You may want to check out Story Starters by Karen Andreola, same idea as what you did already done for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Down_the_Rabbit_Hole Posted January 17, 2013 Share Posted January 17, 2013 Wordsmith Apprentice http://www.commonsensepress.com/wordsmith/wsapp.htm It says it is for grades 4-6th but I am sure a 3rd grader could do it if you move slow. It is one of my favorite writing curriculums. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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