Need to remediate writing...suggestions?

[cseitter]

My 17 year old son was just tested and found to be in the "slow learner" category. He has weaknesses in reading comprehension, writing and math. He was in PS until 8th.

 

We have been doing IEW for 2 years. He can not create an original complete sentence that makes sense if it is longer than 5 words. I have been modeling, suggested, been his scribe etc and am having a hard time.

 

On the testing he could not come up with any sentences with a given word (he scored on the .01 percentile). I need some ideas on how to help him understand word relations and creating a complete sentences and then move on to paragraphs. He is to the point of shutting down when faced with writing (came home from PS like that).

 

I need to remediate back to creating sentence I suppose. Any suggestions? Narration & dictation? Start with Writing with Ease??

 

Thanks

[jhschool]

Maybe the Interactive Reader Plus series? They have nice literature that

would capture his interest. The 10th grade one has really cool short stories by

Kurt Vonnegut, Ray Bradbury, Isaac Asimov, O'Henry, it has some Shakespeare,

and I think it has Sophocles (Antigone).

 

Then it has really cool little easy exercises after each story/play. They have vocabulary

games with poetry in it, and the right answer is the one that rhymes and fits. The literature

is captivating. I thought the exercises were below grade level although they are

very fun! But--this might be just what you need--fun, easy exercises that are like games

and help with vocabulary and comprehension.

[Julie in MN]

If he is really shutting down like that, maybe it would help to find something that really doesn't look like ps? I would guess that typical programs with worksheets, or blank sheets of paper asking for 500 words, would bring up old feelings or cause him to zone out? I haven't seen the one that jhschool mentioned, but it sounds potentially very different from ps. A couple others that I might look at are Michael Clay Thompson, where it sounds like he would start with the sentence level, but is very quirky and the assignments can be quite unique

http://www.rfwp.com/pages/michael-clay-thompson/

and another is Writing Strands which has pretty small assignments that sort-of sneak in some real skills, especially if you can be flexible with them.

 

I wouldn't recommend either of those unless you can do them directly with your student.

Julie

[Abbeygurl4]

I don't know what your budget is but Bravewriter.com has some awesome online classes. The classes are around 6 weeks or less so it's not a huge commitment. Julie gives wonderful feedback and is available by text, phone call or email. It's a really different approach to writing and took some time for me to get my head around it but it seems to work for my son. You could email Julie to see if she has any suggestions, she is very helpful. Check it out!

 

http://www.bravewriter.com/about/why-brave-writer-works/

[1Togo]

When I read your post, I also thought about Julie Bogart, and I see that someone has already recommended her. I would call Julie, explain your situation, and see what she suggests. Our sons took several of her classes, and Julie helped them in ways I could not.

[Abbeygurl4]

When I read your post, I also thought about Julie Bogart, and I see that someone has already recommended her. I would call Julie, explain your situation, and see what she suggests. Our sons took several of her classes, and Julie helped them in ways I could not.

 

 

 

:thumbup: