How old were you kids when you starting report writing?

[Tree House Academy]

I don't mean pretend report writing or just getting the feel or report writing, but an actual comprehensive report?

 

I think I was in 7th grade in ps when I wrote my first report and it was definitely NOT good, but I did do it. My oldest ds is doing 4th grade level work and not really doing a good amount of writing. He thinks a paragraph is good enough for about anything. We are getting ready to start the preparation for research unit in LLATL orange and I am looking at it wondering if there is any way in hades he can pull it off and not just be totally flustered by the whole thing. I think they have three weeks to gather info and write the report.

 

So...just curious - how old were your dc when they wrote their first real report and what did you expect of them at that point? I am thinking that it will need to be typed, double spaced, and have some type of citation. I wouldn't expect over 1-2 pages. Am I being harsh or too soft?

[Liz CA]

I don't mean pretend report writing or just getting the feel or report writing, but an actual comprehensive report?

 

 

So...just curious - how old were your dc when they wrote their first real report and what did you expect of them at that point? I am thinking that it will need to be typed, double spaced, and have some type of citation. I wouldn't expect over 1-2 pages. Am I being harsh or too soft?

 

 

I cannot really remember what grade ds turned out "real" reports. But I think it may have been around 5-6th grade. And it was a process I helped along. First step, the topic selection, then the research, organizing the material, discarding unimportant information, etc, finally getting to the rough draft and then editing and fine-tuning. He never enjoyed writing that much but after many assignments, he at least knows now where to start.

 

One or two pages should be fine and you can right away get started with a cover page and a little bibliography so they learn the correct format.

Don't worry. It will happen one step at a time.

[Carol in Cal.]

WTM and the writing CD do not recommend this, but we did it anyway.

 

I think that DD's first report was a social studies presentation, and was about 2-3 pages, single spaced. She researched it for a long time before writing it. It was part of a triptych presentation with illustrations and maps.

 

I have not taught citations to her, and need to get to that. Any ideas for an on-line resource to just cover that?

[Renee in NC]

My older ds wrote his first real report in the 5th grade at his school.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

My dd is in 7th grade, and she has yet to do a research report. I'm not sure when we'll get into that. We're doing Classical Writing, Homer, and she's an excellent writer. I'm certain that when we get to report writing, she'll have the maturity and the organizational skills to do well at it. I don't see that pushing a child to think in such a logical fashion before their mind thinks that way naturally is doing them a service. I'm glad she won't have a super frustrating time with her first report. All the writing practice she has done, along with her skills in organizing other parts of her academics and her life (and her room) will come together to make her first report writing experience smooth and pain free.

 

At least, that's what I'm telling myself, based on my own research of writing approaches.

[Plucky]

It really depends on the kid. My dd has been writing reports since 4th grade but she does them for fun and has a whole binder full of them. She's also a natural writer. Both my boys would not have done this. Writing for my oldest was hit and miss until about 7th grade. By 8th I put my ds in an online writing class. Now he can spit out essays, fiction, reports, etc and do it really well. I am only sharing this so you won't worry too much. If you have him doing some kind of writing and getting words on paper I think that is good. Some kids need a little longer to develop their writing muscles and I'd rather not push so hard so they won't hate writing. Teaching a kid to write that hates it is real work. So no, I don't think you need to worry about report writing right now.