Why do boys dislike writing?

[boscopup]

For my oldest son, I think it was a fine motor skills issue to begin with (and he was a 29 weeker preemie, so some things may have taken longer to develop, even though he was never identified as needing OT or anything). He also zoomed way ahead in both reading and math, so I suspect his brain energy went into those things, leaving the writing stuff behind a bit. Now that he's 9, the writing is catching up to grade level. He can physically write. He still doesn't LIKE to write, but he can write. I avoid touchy-feely type writing (I can't stand that either - like journaling about how you feel... blech). He can write from a keyword outline, and he can rewrite a story, amplifying details. He can also write a narration.

 

My middle son has better fine motor skills and is less resistant to writing, but he doesn't like writing for school because it's boring and is work. He doesn't like to work. He also is the active type of boy, plus he's right brained. He can write more than my oldest could at the same age. I just make his writing amount consistent, so he knows what to expect.

 

My third son loves to write! He's only 4, and he can write about 10 words on the white board (spelling them correctly!). He'll also do workbooks for a solid HOUR, including tracing, drawing, copying, etc. He's crazy. He's also the still-ambidextrous-but-leaning-strongly-lefthanded child. :D This child's brain has put a lot of work into language - speaking, reading, and writing. It hasn't worked as much on math, so he's not as ahead in math as his big brothers were. He can count to 200, but he doesn't really understand the concept of addition yet (my oldest figured that out at age 3, to give a comparison). Chances are good that he'll be good at math (both parents are good at math, and 3 of the 4 grandparents are good at math), but as happened with the other kids - the brain put energy into some areas more than other areas. By time he's 8 or 9, he'll probably be in a similar place as the other two are/were at that age.

 

I do think there is probably something to the fact that homeschoolers tend to not make their kids write as much. I don't think we need to have our kids write as much as the public schools do, but I think going to the other extreme and scribing everything until 4th grade may also be detrimental. Writing uses muscles, and muscles need to be trained through use. If they don't practice writing, they're not going to suddenly start writing easily. So I have gradually added more and more writing, and it has paid off here. I keep the writing developmentally appropriate, but I don't do much orally anymore unless the program is designed to be oral (like 1st grade grammar - it's fine that FLL1 is oral). Sure, my oldest could go through R&S English faster if we did it orally, but I think the writing aspect of the exercises is beneficial, both for practice writing (correctly spelled words, using correct grammar) and for working with the grammar concept (getting concepts into the brain via both oral AND written practice). I think we homeschoolers (and I have been included in this) often call practice "busywork" when it really would be good to practice things. If your child is learning piano, they will probably practice scales and Hanon exercises no matter how advanced they get. Is it "busywork" to practice scales and Hanon exercises? I doubt any professional pianist would say so. Likewise, I've been changing some things in my homeschool, doing more written practice, doing more math drill (*gasp!*), etc. I want my children to have practiced these basic things enough that they are automatic and they don't have to think about letter formation, spelling, math facts, etc.

[boscopup]

I think when I went to school it was the opposite.  We spent a lot of time with busy work writing.  Write each spelling word 10 times.  Write a sentence for each word.  Copy the sentences out of the book and do XYZ to them.  Copy the entire history question out of the book and answer each one in a complete sentence.  Oh brother!  Good thing I didn't mind writing.  Geesh

 

I remember doing all that too! I didn't mind it really. I would have freaked out if someone had told me to journal or write other touchy-feely stuff though.

 

Now I should use this on my son: "When *I* was in school, we had to write out the entire history question from the textbook and then answer it in a complete sentence. Aren't you glad you just have to write a 2-3 sentence narration? Or would you rather copy and answer 5+ questions?" :)

 

[Kalmia]

I am not sure about the word "sissified" but this is my take on it.

 

I lived on a farm for part of my childhood. I milked the animals, gathered eggs, made homemade bread daily. When my chores were done, I would run through the uneven pasture land down to the creek where I would play barefoot in the water, toes digging in to the mud.

When we lived in the city, I roamed for miles on my bike, helped my grandparents garden, mowed the lawn, did the dishes.

In kindergarten, our time was spent in active play, marching around in circles to music, walking with bean bags balanced on our heads, doing finger plays to children's music.

Through fifth grade, we had two recesses a day where we were able climb wicked high slides, bounce our partners on a teeter-totter, spin around and around on the merry-go-round. In class, we sat in hard wooden chairs, uncomfortable as they were. We were required to sit up for hours every day.

There are dozens of things that go in to "writing" - both the mechanics of it and composition.

Balance, vestibular, bilateral coordination, core strength, gross and fine motor skills, spatial awareness, sensory awareness. All of those are built by the childhood described above.

No you don't need to be out chopping wood to build core strength, but the popular image (Sonlight and Five in a Row, in particular) of a mom and child on the couch reading does nothing to build up the body and prepare it for writing.

How many moms ask, "Why can't my child sit still? They want to roll around on the floor and play while I read." I say, "Let them. It is far better for them to be active than sitting on the couch."

 

I had been hesitant to post to this thread because my son has  c e r e b r a l   p a l s y  so is anything but typical. (Sorry for the spacing, I didn't want this post to pull up on a general internet search.)

 

A year ago we were told repeatedly by doctors and therapist that he would never physically be able to hold a pen and write. Ten months of intensive therapy to work on the issues listed above and he is now writing. Not beautifully, but it is awesome in my eyes.

 

As for the composition side: He does have to have a purpose. He prefers to write non-fiction, just state the facts type of writing. I do allow him to use Dragon (speak recognition software) or type for school writing assignments. He just recently started writing a bit on his own.

 

 

 

To go back to the original question - do more boys hate to write than girls? I would take my experience and research back all the way to birth.  

 

Our son was premature. We were told daily that boys in NICU fare so much worse than girls. Girls were admitted to NICU, only to be discharged home a day or two later. Our boy - and the other boys around him - lingered in NICU, unable to warm themselves, unable to nurse or take a bottle, unable to regulate their breathing.

 

Fast forward to today. There is a fairly new study out that says that premature boys now 10-15 years old (like my boy) are now being diagnosed with learning issues at a much higher rate than their peers.

 

C e r e b r a l  p a l s y  is defined as a brain injury that causes a neuromuscular movement disorder. Scale that back and remove the movement issue and you are left with a slight brain issue - rewiring, maybe?

 

New research in autism, dyslexia and dysgraphia are looking at brain abnormalities. What is the cause? It just took a blip, a few missed breaths, to cause our son's CP. The neuroscience behind learning issues and autism will be interesting to follow over the next decade.

 

 

 

There is also a lot of research now on retained primitive reflexes. The specialists stopped counting when my son tested for his 5th retained (un-integrated) reflex. (At that point, they just work on all of his reflexes.)

 

Now pediatricians test for retained reflexes, but - in our quest to find a new pediatrician - I cannot find a single doctor that knows or understands the importance of retained reflexes or tests past newborn stage. The last pediatrician we went to said the ATNR reflex is just a "cool trick to show new moms." I almost fell over. A child with an un-integrated ATNR will struggle with writing as it hinders his/her ability to move the fingers freely from the eyes. (This is not nearly as noticeable as it sounds.)

 

When I asked this pediatrician what he did with an infant that still displayed the ATNR reflex at three months, he said, "Nothing. We never recheck, but assume it has integrated."

 

Checking for retained reflexes takes just a few minutes and doesn't take any special equipment. The internet is full of information on how the average person can check. Why are children not checked before entering kindergarten? I think it would greatly reduced learning issues down the road if ALL children were checked before being required to sit and write.

 

 

My son, despite his CP, is a good example of how specific fine motor skills and brain issues can be. He has been rocking out his electric guitar since he was eight, but didn't learn to tie his shoes until nearly 11. He loves to solder and is quite good at it, but struggles with holding a toothbrush to brush his teeth. He can run and mountain bike, but cannot walk a balance beam. He can build detailed Lego sets, but cutting his own food is challenging. He can memorize long passages of poetry on the first reading, but can't recall math facts. He reads and understand his dad's computer/electronics book from college, but can't remember how write contractions.

 

 

All that to say - I think people can speculate why boys hate to write all they want, but there are so many sub-skills that make up writing it is hard to grasp each and every portion. I do feel that doctors and parents need to be more aware of the issue and not brush it off or rush to put a child to typing. A good example - the therapy facility my child attends recently started seeing a 16-year-old girl. In talking with the mom, this girl has had problems sitting and writing all of her school life. It wasn't until she wasn't able to pass her driving exam that they were sent to a specialist who diagnosed the girl with a retained ATNR reflex. What had affected this girl's writing ability all of her life was now preventing her from being able to turn her head properly to drive. So it isn't 'just' writing and can't or shouldn't be blown over so easily. The skills that go into writing are needed for every day life, now and in the child's future.

 

Looked up a definition of retained ATNR and writing. Found a nice one on "The Learning CLinic" page. Posting it for others here.

 

"There are 70 known primary reflexes â€“ We concentrate on the primary reflexes that are known to affect educational progress. It is due to the retention of these reflexes that a person’s automatic natural skills and control are prevented from developing properly.

 

The following section explains briefly what these reflexes do and how they cause interference when they are retained beyond their normal time span :

 

Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex (ATNR)

 

 

We can see the ATNR reflex at work when when a baby turns its head to one side and the limbs on that side straighten. The limbs on the other side bend or flex.

ATNR should be switched off at six months of age

The retention of this reflex causes the most interference with a child’s learning process. It is responsible for problems with:

• Handwriting -problems with handwriting is the most obvious casualty of the retained ATNR –  each time a child turns his head to look at the page, his arm will want to extend and the fingers will want to open. Holding and working a pen or pencil for any length of time will require enormous effort. This leads to very heavy pencil grip and tension in the body. All the energy is now going into the writing and distracts attention from the writing content. Some children learn to compensate with an immature pencil grip. Writing may slope in different directions from one side of the page to the other so the child may rotate the page as much as 90 degrees when writing in an attempt to “accommodate†the effect of ATNR. Fluent expression of ideas in written form may show a marked discrepancy from the child’s ability to express themselves orally"