If your child was (possibly) going to ps next year....

[houseofkids&pets]

what writing program would you use this year to improve writing skills?

 

Ds10 is in fifth grade, but below grade level academically. I purchased IEW, but we haven't even started it yet :o . I am not sure if I should jump in and start this program, or look for something that just teaches the basics prior to returning to ps. Also, he does attend a co-op one day a week and the writing teacher there is using a combination of Write Source (Writer's Express) and Brave Writer (free writes).

 

Basically, I am looking for something to help improve his writing skills so that they are closer to what ps would consider to be on grade level. Any suggestions?

[boscopup]

First, if he's working below grade level, I'd think about bumping him down a grade officially, to make the transition easier on him. It isn't unusual for kids to be a year older than their grade suggests, because red shirting (especially boys) is so common these days. So a 10 year old in 4th grade would not be at all unusual.

 

IEW is fabulous for getting kids to write. I'd suggest watching the videos yourself and learning the program, then jump in! No, it won't be like public school writing, but it will help him more in the long run.

 

Is your son writing phobic, or does he do fine writing large amounts? The biggest thing about public school writing is that they do a LOT of writing. Oh, just looked at your sig... Will he have an IEP? That might help with writing expectations if he can't physically write a lot.

[mom2bee]

You should see what writing looks like in the 4th, 5th and 6th grades at your local B&M schools. It will probably vary widely. But take a look and target your goals toward that end. Do you mean next year (2014, after xmas) or next year 6th grade?

 

ETA: He is receiving OT, can he type yet? PS is probably using keyboards/expecting some things type, depending on where you live.

 

 

[duckens]

ETA:  Sorry!  This is basically a take-off on Mom2bee's idea.  She should get the credit!

 

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Another crazy idea, but I would do it:

 

I would also go to the B&M school, and talk with writing teachers of next year.  I would take my child, so he can hear, too.  I would ask, "What does an incoming student need to be competent to do for writing on the first day of school for grade X?"

 

The public schoolteachers I know are very willing to direct you and your son to be where he needs to be next year. Most do it because they are good human beings and good teachers, but even the most selfish and lazy should realize that it makes more work for them to have a student that is behind or weak in a key area.  Ask more than one teacher if the first one gives you guff.

 

I know that doesn't help you decide on a curriculum, but

--it may focus you and your son as you choose a curriculum

--it may focus you as you decide which parts of the curriculum to touch on, and which parts to be merciless about implementing. 

--it may help you to know what holes need to be filled in whatever curriculum you choose.  (Every curriculum has holes.  No one curriculum, public school or homeschool, does it all.  I don't know a single public school teacher that doesn't supplement).

[houseofkids&pets]

Thanks for the responses. When I said next year, I meant next school year, which would be September around here.

 

I started looking at the school website and it gave me an idea of what their expectations would be. I think they do more writing than we do at home, so we need to ramp it up.

 

If I decide to use IEW for the remainder of this school year, do you think my ds would be able to easily transition to the "public school" style of writing (a lot of talk about the traits of writing on the school website)? My thinking was that I should use a more traditional type of program since that is what he will use in ps.  IEW just seems like a very different approach.  BTW, I struggle more with teaching writing than anything else. It just terrrifies me and ds does not handle revisions well. He takes corrections way too personally.

 

We are still deciding about next school year. I want to see how well he handles the work load in the co-op that we joined. We may decide to keep him home for sixth grade too, depending on his overall progress this year.

[mom2bee]

I would still recommend talking to some of the teachers,face to face because websites and written goals/objectives are one thing and whats happening in the classroom can be another.

 

I would still see about talking to 4th, 5th and 6th grade teachers to get an idea of what the range of writing abilities look like and see what are the key skills being worked on. I would be sure that he was working on 4th and 5th grade skills mostly, but how we worked on them would depend on where he needed to be for first day of 6th grade. Are there any community tutoring/homework help programs in your area? I volunteered with a homework help group before and they'd help kids with all their work, including write papers and essays so even having him take some of his work there could really provide some outside feedback etc and then you could discuss his status with people who see lots of kids in the primary grades so you'd have an idea of how he's performing and the feedback might not be taken as personally if it isn't coming from Mom.

 

Based on my observations and what I've read around the internet and even on these boards, PS kids are expected to write a lot but much of what they write tends to be higher quantity and not always higher quality than what a HS student is usually directed/expected to write. (I'm not saying that PS kids write a lot of junk and HS kids write little, but every work is a jewel, just that just because 2nd graders are writing research papers in some districts doesn't mean that those research papers are worthy of being termed "Research Papers".)

 

I can't speak to any one writing curriculum because I've never investigated any of them closely enough to have an opinion.

[...................]

Writing would be the main area that I would focus on.  My nephews in public school by 5th grade were expected to sit down and, in one sitting, church out a 5 paragraph essay with interesting opening, 3 supporting paragraphs, a good closing.  To improve their grade they were also scored on a point scale for things like exciting verbs, exciting adjectives, not repeating themselves, etc.  I was amazed at how much they could sit down and write.

 

Of course, the inherent problem with that is that the writing isn't necessarily from the heart, and the quality may be lower than what we might expect...but the student really was supposed to grasp how to sit down, plan it and churn it out without a lot of time.  

 

Even with my Calvert course, my 4th grader, by the end of the year will be expected to write a 5 paragraph composition but she will not be expected to do it at one sitting.  

 

I would try really really hard to talk to the public school teachers in your district to get an idea of where they are at with Writing, and with Math.  Those would be my big questions.

[houseofkids&pets]

Yikes, that is about four paragraphs too many! :ohmy:

[Tidbits of Learning]

I would pick a traditional writing program.  I am going to recommend a writing program that Sonlight sells called Diamond Notes.  It is based off setting up a paragraph using a graphic organizer shaped like a baseball field.  It is perfect for a 10 yr old boy.  http://www.sonlight.com/RL67.html

It is more traditional in setting up your writing and organizing your writing.  

[houseofkids&pets]

Thanks for the recommendation Tidbits. I will check it out.

[fourisenough]

I would use this: http://www.curriculumassociates.com/products/detail.aspx?title=write

 

It is inexpensive and thorough, by PS standards (by that, I mean it teaches a Writer's Workshop style of writing and the essential grammar needed to write well). It contains graphic organizers and rubrics hew will use in PS to structure his writing.

 

I'm using IEW (in CC) and WWE, but I still draw on some activities from this very schooly, but solid curriculum. I think it would work especially well for a reluctant or 'below grade level' writer.

[boscopup]

Writing would be the main area that I would focus on.  My nephews in public school by 5th grade were expected to sit down and, in one sitting, church out a 5 paragraph essay with interesting opening, 3 supporting paragraphs, a good closing.  To improve their grade they were also scored on a point scale for things like exciting verbs, exciting adjectives, not repeating themselves, etc.  I was amazed at how much they could sit down and write.

 

IEW would get him ready for that. It works on all of those things.

 

[threeofakind]

I would also look at Essentials In Writing- it is a bit more traditional and the author was a LA teacher so I believe he follows a more typical PS approach in his writing program!  :001_smile:

[La Texican]

If it was me I would focus on teaching how to write single paragraphs because next years teacher can build on that foundation however they want.