MeganW Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 My kids had Woodcock-Johnson testing yesterday. Overall it went well, and I was pleased with the results. No big surprises. One area that I knew was a problem but was worse than I expected - punctuation. My kids just don't seem to notice it or bother with it. Copywork has not done it. FLL1 and the first 2/3 of FLL2 haven't done it. Is there something quick & easy, and hopefully NON-parent intensive that I can do this summer that is effective at teaching them proper use of punctuation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SilverMoon Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 So this is a rising third grader? If so, that's completely normal, and in my experience there is no summertime quick-fix. Repeatedly asking them to double-check their pages to make sure every sentence starts with a capital and ends with punctuation before they give it to you, and time for it to sink in deeply, will get it through. :) Fwiw, my rising 4th grader, who was practically born with a pencil in her hand and is "advanced" across the board, just started remembering capitals and punctuation in her sentences about 3-4 months ago. :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crimson Wife Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Evan-Moor Daily Language Review is quick & easy and has helped DS tremendously. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murrayshire Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I have been testing my my dd 2nd grader this week with Terra Nova and have had the same issue with punctuation/capitalization. We use FLL and did the editing exercises in LOE this year. I wouldn't worry too much about it.... Evan Moore that is mentioned above is pretty quick! OR go the free route and come up with 3 sentences for him to edit each day throughout the summer. This is what we plan to do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 I also wouldn't worry about it for a rising 3rd grader. My oldest didn't do that great with punctuation until 4th grade, and he got almost all the punctuation exercises correct on the SAT-10, without me hounding him on punctuation. I just casually pointed out out in his writing and had him correct it. In second grade, he wasn't writing enough to have punctuation down pat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 And even if you do work on it... I think the way that most standardized tests test this is just crazy because they have kids read incorrect things over and over. My kids aren't that bad in their own work, but they missed nearly every one on the test because it's just a totally different way of approaching the subject than something like copywork. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 And even if you do work on it... I think the way that most standardized tests test this is just crazy because they have kids read incorrect things over and over. My kids aren't that bad in their own work, but they missed nearly every one on the test because it's just a totally different way of approaching the subject than something like copywork. My son was the opposite. He did really well in both spelling and punctuation on the test, but his own writing is not that great in either area. Basically, that test was worthless. :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 We used Editor in Chief, which ds liked. It's very non-parent intensive and took just a bit of time each day. I also like Lynne Truss (author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves) series of cartoon books for kids that illustrate some of the same points in her book. It helped ds to understand WHY punctuation matters and why they aren't just arbitrary rules. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Good to know that others have run into this and not been ruined for life. I will check into the recommended items above - THANKS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zarabellesmom Posted June 11, 2014 Share Posted June 11, 2014 We used Editor in Chief, which ds liked. It's very non-parent intensive and took just a bit of time each day. I also like Lynne Truss (author of Eats, Shoots and Leaves) series of cartoon books for kids that illustrate some of the same points in her book. It helped ds to understand WHY punctuation matters and why they aren't just arbitrary rules. I loved that book! (Eats, Shoots and Leaves) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IfIOnly Posted June 12, 2014 Share Posted June 12, 2014 I noticed as my kids started doing more original writing and revising rather than copy work or grammar exercises that their punctuation application improved significantly. I think grammar is so abstract and actually applying it in writing helps drive it home. Around fourth grade is when we begin focusing some on composition. GWG 4 actually has the perfect amount of writing assignments in it for us and covers writing sentences, paragraphs (they write maybe 20 or so over the year including narrative and descriptive), giving directions, book reports, friendly and business letters, invitations, postcards, and thank you cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom@shiloh Posted June 13, 2014 Share Posted June 13, 2014 We've used this before: http://www.educationworld.com/ We've used the Everyday Edits here. I'm not always a fan of this since for some kids I think it's not helpful to see mistakes and then correct them. Some of my kids have liked these and benefitted from them. And.... Free is good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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