Want to place DS in WWE, but handwriting issues

[summerreading]

I am did the evaluations to place ds11 in WWE. At first, I wanted to place him in WWSkill 1 , but he was not able to do the year-end assessment for WWE 3. He has slow and forgetful summing up the passage and forgot half the dictation. End of year WWE 2 assessment is ok, if I ignore his handwriting and spelling. I still have to remind him to put spaces in between words, his spelling is off and his letters are not the exact size they should be.

 

I know the handwritring is its own issue I am trying to figure out. I honestly have been letting him type more or do things orally b/c his handwriting was like this. In math, his numbers have improved so much b/c I keep telling him to make them neater and smaller. So I am hoping to work on the handwriting and see how practice improves. He knows cursive, but chooses not to use it.

 

Would you do WWE 3 or 2 with a child like this?

[mymommy1]

How many times did you repeat the dictation?  I think SWB says in her newest remarks that 3 times is probably necessary and okay.  At 11, I'd at least WWE 3 or something else.  What are you hoping he gets out of WWE?

[redsquirrel]

How does he do if you let him use a keyboard?  My  10 yr old son isn't great with handwriting, to the point that he has been working with an OT for years. He did skill out of OT this year, but the OT strongly suggested that I transition him to a keyboard.  I allow him to do his dictations on the computer.  There are lots of free keyboarding instruction sites on line. I like this one:

 

http://www.typeonline.co.uk/

But I am sure there are others.  It is making the time on a consistent basis that is the pain.  But it really does add up if you keep doing it every day.

 

However...the spelling... well, dictation isn't a spelling test. It says right in the book to help with all spelling issues, you are supposed to watch and gently correct spelling errors as they happen.  On the computer is is better to turn the spell check off or it becomes a crutch. I also found that turning off the spell check leads to more careful typing.

 

What spelling program do you use?  DS2 was a very insecure speller. He had a hard time remembering the easiest words and would often second guess himself. But after years of R&S spelling he is so much better. I don't make it hard on him. I break a lesson into parts so we take a whole week to get through that week's exercises. I don't give spelling tests. If I pressure him it will have the opposite response I am looking for. So we use R&S every single school day, but we keep it low pressure. Slow and steady is winning the race. Now, when he asks 'how do I spell..." I respond with 'how do you think you spell it?" and he is almost always correct. That is a huge change. DH and I also made a commitment to be very patient when he asks for spelling help. It's not always easy. But, like I said, with this kid, if we pressure him on this issue things fall apart. And it is going better now than I ever hoped.

 

and FWIW, my older boy didn't do WWS1 until 6th grade and it was a very good decision. He is in 9th grade now and is a fine writer. I would consider either starting with WWE3 for this year OR start halfway through WWE2 and do it double time (2 lessons a day) and then move to WWE3.

 

But, if you read the directions from SWB she says to provide help with spelling in a dictation and that it is fine to repeat the selection more than 3 times.  Have you looked at the Youtube video of her doing a dictation with her kid?  It is very helpful.  You can find it at you tube, just  search for her name + dictation.

 

What you want to avoid is feeding the dictation word by word to your kid.  You can say it again, but ask them to say it back to you and you pick up where they falter or you read it again but start from the beginning etc. You just want to avoid spoon feeding the dictation.  You are building his ability to hold words, hold a thought, in his head long enough to put it on paper. It is a very valuable skill.

 

Turning unorganized thoughts into words and putting words onto paper. Those are the skills he needs to master before moving along. WWE can really help with that.

[summerreading]

But, if you read the directions from SWB she says to provide help with spelling in a dictation and that it is fine to repeat the selection more than 3 times.  Have you looked at the Youtube video of her doing a dictation with her kid?  It is very helpful.  You can find it at you tube, just  search for her name + dictation.

 

What you want to avoid is feeding the dictation word by word to your kid.  You can say it again, but ask them to say it back to you and you pick up where they falter or you read it again but start from the beginning etc. You just want to avoid spoon feeding the dictation.  You are building his ability to hold words, hold a thought, in his head long enough to put it on paper. It is a very valuable skill.

 

Turning unorganized thoughts into words and putting words onto paper. Those are the skills he needs to master before moving along. WWE can really help with that.

 

Thanks your reply is helpful. He is ok if typing. I haven't thought to check YT, I'll look for that one.

 

Did you buy both the TM and workbooks? I see some saying to not buy both.

[umsami]

I don't know if your DS is printing or writing cursive.  DS1 (who is now 11) had horrific printing, but things improved dramatically when at the beginning of last year, I taught him cursive in 4th grade and then required it for all assignments.  After about a month, he didn't even want to print.  He found it much easier to write in cursive and it's 1000x more legible.