Help my son cannot write..going into 7th and barely can write.where do I start?

[Heatherdistasio]

My son is homeschooled but going into 7th grade and barely is writing sentences .He  barely spells and is very frustrated that he cannot.He reads extremely well but was never taught writing while attending public schools,he was taught to talk to text only or copy text written for him.i barely have started the homeschooling process at the end of 6th grade and don’t know where I should start.Could someone at least point me in the right direction please…….

[desertflower]

Hi!

You may get more responses on the Learning Challenges Board.  There they talk about how to help children like your son.

It sounds like you may want to get him evaluated and then go from there.  Hope you find some help soon.

[freesia]

I agree with getting him evaluated. If he is struggling with the mechanics of writing, he may need OT. At any rate, the evaluation will give you an insight into how to do text your support. For spelling look at All About Spelling. It is geared toward children who have trouble learning to spell. It can also build fluency  of Sentence writing through dictation of sentences. 

[HomeAgain]

I've worked with kids like this.  If all is normal, I might suggest looking into Write By Number.  It's a program that is set in leveled stages rather than grade level spans, so a kid doesn't feel bad starting at the beginning and working through.  The grammar included is sufficient for daily work.  You can try it for 2 weeks before making a decision, which is nice because it is expensive.  A cheaper program would be Killgallon, but I worry that the Middle School level might be beyond his starting point. 

I would also suggest Reading & Spelling Through Literature.  Not for the reading part - your son sounds like he has that down.  The rule based spelling lessons are great for the older student that was never taught why we spell words the way we do and don't need the slower lessons that a younger child might require.  I would do a 10 word/day study ALONG WITH Dictation Day By Day year 2, a free older program where a student is given the new words of the day (they're written in front of him) and then is expected to listen to the dictation and write it out, using proper punctuation, capitalization, and a blend of the newer and older words.  You can get through the first 200 words in R&STL Primer/Level 1, bring in Dictation DBD with the same word study, and teach the new words with the rules.

Doing this, you'd get through 1 level of DBD and 2 levels of R&STL in a year.  The second year, I'd assess how things were and do level 3 of R&STL and Word Roots, a Greek and Latin prefix/suffix/root study book that is more independent.

 

You really need an assessment, though, to see if there are other issues that are preventing him from writing at a base level for his age group.

[Ausmumof3]

I’d be looking at checking if he has dysgraphia or something. Regardless of diagnosis though, if this was me I’d start from the ground up. I tutor kids with dysgraphia and we’re expected to try and work at grade level but it would be so much better for the kids to go back, get letter formations down pat, words, basic punctuation. You can still work on composition skills with speech to text alongside but for handwriting go back to basics.

[Ausmumof3]

So basically step one - get him to write the alphabet while you watch and make sure formations are correct. If there’s any that need work note them down and do a couple each week - not masses just a few at a time with a focus on correct process. (If you’re unsure Handwriting Without Tears is great). Try to group letters that start alike - c, a, d, g then r, m, n then h, b etc.

Next thing is how is his phonemic awareness etc. when he’s spelling is he misspelling in a way that makes sense but picking wrong spelling for sounds or is he spelling by memory with random letters. If letter/vowel team correspondence is weak I’d work there. (We have used Spelling Power, I hear good things about Logic of English as well).  I will say here some of the kids I work with, particularly with autism or suspected autism never fully go over to thinking in terms of sounds - they always tend to rely on visual memory. That’s not bad for some of them as a lot of them have a phenomenal memory but it is much harder cognitively to have to memorise the shape of every word than being able to spell regular words then only memorise the odd ones out.

If he has dysgraphia using a lot of speech to text is not a bad option for his grade level work while you work on foundational skills.

Also there’s a forum member here from NZ who I had a total mental blank on who has a kid with I think dysgraphia who has some very inspirational stuff. I’m going to see if I can link to some of it for examples of how it can all work out!

[Ausmumof3]

@lewelma is the poster I am thinking of - maybe if you search dysgraphia and her username you might get something helpful 🙂 

[seemesew]

I'd look at write shop and start there. They walk you through every step. 

[SilverMoon]

Here's a thread with a fabulous lewelma collection of posts. I keep rereading it this summer while making plans for next year. https://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/734417-high-school-writing-w-dysgraphia/

I'd also get an evaluation for learning disabilities. Beyond struggling with spelling and writing my dysgraphic kid also struggled with fine motor tasks like tying shoes (it's still slow), reversed letters longer than normal, and his penmanship has always been rough. His reading and comprehension have always been amazing. 

For the kid you describe I'd start Megawords spelling at level 1. That's a level, not a grade. It starts with syllabication and rules within syllables. Mine started this series doing just one page a day. While he could complete more worksheets than that in a sitting, he needed more time to absorb the concepts.

I'd get a lighter grammar book that goes through sentences, subjects & verbs, etc. Maybe First Language Lessons 4 or Growing With Grammar 5. It sounds like he could use some basics but too much or too deep won't give time or brain space for writing. 

Then actual writing. We do as much out loud as we can, so all his endurance is spent on the actual writing project. Lots and lots of discussions. For 7th grade mine rotated through a few books, as it seems to help his frustration level. Winning With Writing (behind level), 6 Trait Writing, Nonfiction Writing, an outlining workbook, etc. 

[Clemsondana]

You've gotten (and will continue to get) good advice about possible learning challenges and ways to remediate them.  I don't have much to add, other than my observation with kids in the afterschool program where I volunteer.  Some of them were never taught basics - pencil grip, letter and number formation, etc, so they don't write their letters and numbers in the same way every time.  With my own kids, I found that they struggled when asked to do 2 things that they had to think about at once.  If they were learning to write letters, they struggled to DO anything with writing letters, like spelling.  So we spelled out loud until writing letters was automatic.  When they struggled with 'writing endurance' it was hard for them to compose a paragraph and write it down because both the writing and the composing were a struggle.  They dictated for a while until either their endurance or their composition skills became a bit more automatic.  It's possible that your student is struggling with all of the above, but it's also possible that, with nothing automatic, it's too much to manage the act of writing while also working on spelling and writing a sentence.  You might have some success with doing parts of it orally to separate out some of the skills. 

[macmacmoo]

Stone Soup Press just came out with their writing skills for older beginners. I think Write By number is a solid suggestion but it's very pricey. We have used Write By Number off and on over the past years works great with one of my kids not so great with another (the one that struggles did well with the process that is Write By Number but had a hard time because it lack direction on what to write about.) Said kid is enjoying Writing Skills for Older beginners.