So, I'm about at the end of my rope with my son and his writing skills...or lack there of. Ask the boy to summarize a science article verbally and an insightful speech comes out of his mouth. Ask him to write that summary and you'll get a few vague sentences with less than lustery spelling.
I do blame early school curriculums. Curriculums such as "Writing Workshop," which do seem to work well for so many children (including my daughter) are just not meant for my son. He's a literal sort of kid with an excellent memory when it comes to information. So, when in kindergarten and first grade, you tell him to spell words as they sound, he will and they will forever be embedded in his neurons spelled that way. Both my children are crazy, above-grade-level readers. However, my daughter with the photographic memory can be told, "picture the word on a page" and then she will spell it properly. That doesn't work so well for my son. It all goes back to the "different learning styles" factor, and I really don't know how well your average public school can tackle that. I'm sure it's not for lack of trying. Although, I can remember doing a book report of some sort at least once a month from the third grade. My kids rarely have something like that to do at home. I truly don't think they get enough writing practice at their school. But, then, it's my job to pick up the slack. I guess I'm just feeling a bit overwhelmed. We just did some work in the New Jersey ASK workbook for language arts. He's still not registering the finer instruction details and I'm ready to pull my hair out. The kid can create stop-motion videos, builds incredible Lego structures, can explain the differences between the colonists and puritans, and knows a wealth of information about Singapore, but he can't back up a persuasive essay statement with reasons on paper. Now I'm having some coffee on this snow day and venting to whoever reads this blog. Sorry!
His language arts grades with writing come out as average...which, I can't understand, since I find them terrible. However, I know he has the potential to do so much better. It's the rush to "just get it over with" when it comes to writing. I know this because he will spell a word wrong in an answer that is clearly available in the question! It's a bit of laziness and a strong desire to move on to something he is passionate about. I understand that. But, I also understand that no matter what he does in the future, he should be able to express himself in writing to come off as an intelligent person. He accuses me of wanting him to be a writer because I'm a writer. I had a good laugh over that. I don't want him to be a writer one day. Who wants to struggle with that? I do, however, want him to be whatever he wants to be and be able to express himself well at whatever career, vocation, or passion he pursues. He doesn't need to head up a news department....just be able to use a bit of deductive reasoning on paper.
So...I'm on a mission to improve his writing skills. In the past, I have taken misspelled words in homework and made him write them 5 x each. I have given him articles to read on topics he enjoys and asked him to answer a question or two in full, detailed sentences. However, we still have a lot of work to do. So, I'm on the prowl for good (and possibly fun) resources to help. If anyone has any ideas, I would LOVE to hear from you!
In the meantime, I have some sites I just started exploring:
EduGuide This site is free and sets up a personal plan for achieving educational goals. Haven't completely reviewed it yet. But, will be doing so more tonight.
Again...if you have any ideas, I'm open!
