What to use-my ds hates to write

[haysmommy]

I need suggestions as to what type of curriculum to use with my son. We will begin our first try at homeschool in the fall-6th grade.

 

I am looking for something that will boost his writing skills. His pensmanship is quite awful. He prefers to print as his cursive is almost unreadable. I also want him to be able to write a paper using paragraphs & correct punctuation.

 

He seems to excel in science, social studies, & math and also reads well above grade level-he just doesn't like to write.

[Sunshine State Sue]

We are using Write Shop. It has worked well for us. Most of the writing assignments in Write Shop 1 are just 1 paragraph long. But, they learn how to write a very good paragraph. You may read my review in this thread.

 

I have also heard good things about IEW and Classical Writing.

[calandalsmom]

Im sold on IEW after doing a seminar with Mr Pudewa this month!

 

My "hates to write" 11 yo did a great job! And he felt so much more confident after the seminar. He is excited to start IEW at home.

 

He struggles with handwriting as well. I have used the Handwriting Without Tears books called Can Do Cursive and Can Do Print to help with that. I believe those also helped with encouraging him to put pen to paper and write!

 

We used Wordsmith Apprentice this past year and my ds liked it very much. It was a fun self directed approach for him and it incorporated a littl grammar and other skills which needed reinforcing. its also very reasonably priced.

[clementine]

My 6th grader has really improved with JumpIn! Apologia writing - it has been a good fit for us.

[LanaTron]

He struggles with handwriting as well. I have used the Handwriting Without Tears books called Can Do Cursive and Can Do Print to help with that. I believe those also helped with encouraging him to put pen to paper and write!

 

 

 

:iagree:

[JennW in SoCal]

Have you read the Well Trained Mind? Or read some of the articles on the main WTM site about writing? When my oldest son was in 6th and 7th grades we did nothing but dictations then short narrations as is outlined in the WTM. The idea of dictations, and copy work for that matter, is to give kids a chance to get used to the mechanics of writing -- the grammar and punctuation, without having to worry about content. Once that is getting easier you move to dictations, or short summaries of short writing assignments. Using these methods, all my ds's writing assignments could be tied into history, science and literature. We eased into other writing as the years went by and he now writes well though we are doing some fine tuning through IEW this, his senior, year.

 

My son also learned to type at an early age and has done all his writing assignments on the computer. He has worked on his handwriting separately and has a decent print manuscript, but the words flow best at the keyboard.

[mktkcb]

I have a son just like this. But what do you mean by "write" when you say your son "hates to write"? Do you mean the physical act of writing, specifically, or putting thoughts on paper? I think you really need to separate these things out. If he doesn't yet know keyboarding, he needs to. I require a certain level of penmanship in his day to day assignments, but for composition or writing paragraphs, it is typing all the way. There is NO way my ds could a)put thoughts together, and b)physically (painfully) transcribe them simultaneously. We are working towards that, but we are certainly not there yet. He doesn't love compostion greatly, but at least with being able to type, he can get out a paragraph or narration if he has to. For *composition* I've used a lot of different things at one time or another. Many of those responding to your post have named them. For penmanship, he uses BJU. Early on he wanted to learn loops, so I let him. His cursive is somewhat painful, but for him it is neater than his printing. Since 3rd grade I've upped the ante gradually so that I now require him to write everything in cursive. If at some point when he is grown he wants to revert to his chicken scratching print, he can. He literally prints like a 1st grader....sigh....and his numbers are bad also. I feel your pain :o(.

Kayleen

[motherdear]

First I like to respond to your sons sloppy writing. I was having a problem with my son when I discovered that Handwriting without Tears has some wonderful paper that help guide children in writing; especially with the sizing of the letters (tall letters, letters that dip). This helped him tremendously!

 

Remember that being able to tell a story is a precursor to writing. If your son is that opposed to writing, perhaps he could start by dictating his stories to you. Then he can copy them into a notebook and illustrate them.

 

At a certain point, however, you will expect him to write his own stories. Try brainstorming with him some neat topics about experiences and things he likes that he could write about. It's much easier to write about things already familiar with. Then, write the topics on little slips of paper and put them in a jar. He can choose a paper randomly and write about it. Once you have him actually enjoying it to a certain extent, you can focus on the particulars (punctuation, sentence structure etc.)

 

One year, I went through my sons magazines (skateboarding, biking, karate) and pasted the pictures onto notebook pages. I would let him pick any page and write a story about it.

 

There also many books out there chock-full of story starters and topics. You can get them at your local teacher materials store. Have fun!

[Colleen in NS]

Have you read the Well Trained Mind? Or read some of the articles on the main WTM site about writing? When my oldest son was in 6th and 7th grades we did nothing but dictations then short narrations as is outlined in the WTM. The idea of dictations, and copy work for that matter, is to give kids a chance to get used to the mechanics of writing -- the grammar and punctuation, without having to worry about content. Once that is getting easier you move to dictations, or short summaries of short writing assignments. Using these methods, all my ds's writing assignments could be tied into history, science and literature.

 

And check out Writing With Ease to see how this is all worked out on a daily/weekly/yearly basis.

[jensway]

I have an 11yr. DS that abhors writing. We had some friends that were in the same boat and they have used Jump In with very good success. We are going to be doing Jump In next year along with a poetry curriculum in hopes that I can get him to start writing something.

[mcconnellboys]

Some things I've used with my more reluctant writer include Draw Write Now and WordSmith Apprentice.

 

I also used Getty Dubay Italic style of cursive for both my boys and even the reluctant writer has nice cursive using it, when he takes his time and tries a little. It's a much simpler style of cursive writing and I've heard that it seems to be easier for boys, in particular.

 

Also, I've read that many revert to printing when they get into heavy notetaking in high school or college, but with italic style writing, they can continue to write in cursive and do it more quickly and efficiently (due to the way the letters are joined, etc.) This has proven true thus for for my older son, who is completing his junior year of high school now.

[Mesa]

I would get a handwriting workbook, a grammar curricula, and a writing program.

 

Handwriting: I like the idea of having him do Italic writing at this age.

 

Grammar: Rod and Staff, at 1-2 grade levels below his current grade level. (It is a very advanced curriculum.)

 

Writing: Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW) is a great program. You can even get the dvd lessons to help with the teaching.