3rd grade writing?

[Jenkins]

My incoming 3rd grader hates writing - any type - Handwriting, journaling, Copywork. Should I push him to work through it or just take a light year? He is a smart kid but writing causes us trouble almost everyday. He is a great reader and is advanced in math. 

Any ideas on what curriculum might work for him? Or maybe a different route? 

We tried bju, spelling you see, a reason for handwriting and the good and he beautiful this past year. Not all everyday. Nothing really clicked. 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Jenkins

[Momto6inIN]

Do you mean you're looking for composition or handwriting or spelling suggestions? Or just ideas on how to make the physical act of writing easier for him?

[Jenkins]

My main concerns are that these issues will continue. I don’t know how hard I should push him. Should I push him to finish his work or let him take it easy and hope that as he matures it will be easier. Or would easing up cause more problems. I have never run into this problem before and I am feeling lost. 

He is a lefty and his penmanship is not very good. He can be really stubborn, too. I don’t want our decisions to backfire on us!

Are we using a curriculum that isn’t a good fit for a child who doesn’t like to write. Would something else work better? 

Hopefully that explains my concerns a little better! 

Edited June 21, 2019 by Jenkins

[hollyhock2]

Sounds like a good candidate for Writing With Ease. It's narration and copywork/dictation, so only writing about a sentence or two at a time, and not every day. If he's never done it before, you might want to drop back to level 2 to begin, but you can speed it up later and catch up if he's able. I think at this age that a little bit of writing at a time but done consistently is the way to go.

[HomeAgain]

14 minutes ago, hollyhock2 said:

Sounds like a good candidate for Writing With Ease. It's narration and copywork/dictation, so only writing about a sentence or two at a time, and not every day. If he's never done it before, you might want to drop back to level 2 to begin, but you can speed it up later and catch up if he's able. I think at this age that a little bit of writing at a time but done consistently is the way to go.

This.  For kids who are reluctant, start them at a comfortable spot.  And by comfortable, I mean easy.  So painlessly easy that it's habit building instead of work. A few other programs you might want to look at are:
English Lessons Through Literature, level 2 (you can cut the copywork down, but it's very gentle)
Writing Tales (level 1 is for grades 3-4 and intersperses writing exercise with hands on or active games)
Treasured Conversations (....possibly.  Section 1 is short and painless, but section 2 ramps up the work slowly)

 

[WahM]

I agree with the above posters, WWE is not a lot of writing. We also use/used AAS and used the tiles for some of the days of the week, so it’s only physically writing 1-2 days per week. For grammar we like FLL, no writing in the early levels.  

[BusyMom5]

I'm in the same boat- left handed kid, ahead in msth and reading.... atrocious handwriting!   I do feel like I've let it go the last 3 years, been gentle, encouraging,  and not pushed her.  This year I've already been letting her know she's going to have to step up.  I'm planning to fo daily handwriting with her- starting cursive bc it helped my other lefthanded kid.  I'm making it one of my main priorities this year.  I'm using Growing with Grammar and Soaring with Spelling - she likes this program, but it's just fill in the blank.  We've done copywork every year, but I haven't pushed back on the sloppiness bc I thought she would outgrow it.  I've also got Writing and Rhetoricand WWE 3 if I need to pull some other assignments together.  I don't plan to do anything consistently- skip around and keep it interesting,  but keep a focus on the handwriting!

[almondbutterandjelly]

My dd was a reluctant (and lefty) writer.  I would start with Writing With Ease 1, and also do Handwriting without Tears.  Get the little chalkboard and such that go with it.  It's great for lefties!

[MerryAtHope]

For a reluctant writer, you may want to shore up spelling and handwriting a bit more before trying a writing program (or use "oral writing" if you find a composition program that you like but he's not ready for all the writing yet). Sometimes those individual skills really hold a student back. All About Spelling has a gradual writing progression that's really helpful for struggling writers--it starts with words and dictation phrases, moves on to dictation sentences, and then adds in a sentence-writing component by the third level (the levels are not the same as grade levels.) The tiles can help scaffold kids who aren't ready for a lot of writing at first too. Hang in there, third grade is still young--it's not unusual for third graders to not like writing much yet!