My Thoughts on Getting Kids to Write

My sweet 11-year-old son has never liked to write.  I’ve never quite figured out whether it’s the physical act of writing or trying to come up with ideas, or both.  I’ve tried several different programs, including K-5 Journal and Language Arts (Love to Learn), Daily 6-Trait Writing (Grade 4), and WriteShop C.  Out of all of those, WriteShop was definitely the favorite (mine and his).  I’ve tried stapling pages together for him to make his own books, along with illustrations (he loves to draw).  I’ve tried teaching him different types of writing (poetry, fiction, topical, etc.).  This year, he’s learning to write outlines and summaries in history, so I decided not to get a writing program.  However, every other Friday I have asked him write a story using WriteShop’s World of People StoryBuilders.  He dreads it.

I’ve occasionally allowed him to dictate to me.  I’ve had him practice typing so he can learn to type out his own stories.  I’ve allowed him to publish stories in different ways (power points, posters, letters, comic strips, etc.).  No matter what I’ve tried, it’s been like pulling teeth to get him to do it.

He will write, however reluctantly.  The problem is that he does only what he must do to get by (even with his summaries in history).  Maybe I’m too easy on him, but I don’t want him to get too frustrated.  I just keep trying to encourage him and to come up with different ideas.  His writing has been sloppy, weak, and grossly lacking in detail.  If I tell him he must write 5-7 sentences, they will be the shortest, choppiest sentences he can muster…and often they won’t even make sense.  I’ve tried showing him how to write, but he doesn’t care.

Then I discovered something I didn’t know.  I was totally unprepared for it.  My son actually CAN write!  I was stressing about his poor writing skills (and feeling like a bad homeschool mom because my 6th grade son couldn’t write as well as I thought he should).  He proved me wrong this past week.

Before I tell you what happened, let me give you a few samples of his more recent “assigned” writing using the World of People Storybuilders (he had to use the words chef, amusing and warehouse):

A Chef

There once was an amusing chef named Jeff.  Who was always spilling Boniezefff (a drink).  He found an abandoned warehouse.  The next day whilst searching in the warehouse for some pizza he found a secret staircase with gold and jewelry.  So he became rich and famous.  The end.

Okay, so he rhymed 3 words and invented a vague type of drink.  Oh, and he used the word “whilst” (result of living in England for 8 years).  We know the chef was searching an abandoned warehouse for pizza.  In the end, he finds a secret staircase with gold and jewelry and became rich and famous.  Before I pressed Isaac for details, the chef had found just the staircase, and that made him rich and famous.  We don’t know why he was amusing.  We don’t know what spilling his drink had to do with anything.  Why on earth would he search an abandoned warehouse for pizza?  How did he find the secret staircase?  How did gold and jewelry get there?  These are questions I asked Isaac, in an attempt to help him improve his writing, and he just moaned and groaned and begged his way out of writing anything else.

Here’s another sample.  This one it a bit better, but it’s still not what I’d expect from a 6th-grader who has had writing as part of his curriculum since 2nd grade.  It’s very much like his writing of 2-3 years ago.  His story words were angry, actor, and avalanche.

Angry Actor

Once there was an angry actor.  He lived in South Africa.  He was so noisy!  He was so noisy that one day, he caused a rock avalanche!  After the avalanche, he and other people noticed he wasn’t angry anymore!  The avalanche had knocked all the anger out of him!  The end.

Again, there is nothing to indicate why the actor was angry or what being an actor living in South Africa had to do with anything that followed.  I’m certain that if a rock avalanche hit me, I would be either dead or more angry.  I didn’t tell Isaac that, though.  I felt lucky to get 6 sentences out of him.

One night last week, I had just put the girls to bed.  Isaac is allowed to stay up a little later, and I knew he was downstairs in the living room.  I had assumed he would be playing Wii or looking over his Star Wars lego models.  I walked into the silent living room and found him writing in his notebook.  When he saw me, he put down the notebook, gave me a sheepish grin, and asked if I’d like to read his story.  He told me he had just felt like writing a story and that it made him feel really strange (because of the urge to write).  It was only one paragraph, just the beginning of a story.  Immediately interested, I picked it up, and here is what I read:

Shipwrecked

Sixty-nine years ago, I was stranded on this desolate island.  I was hungry, thirsty, wet, and cold.  I felt practically naked as the wind whipped through my skin and sent a chill through my bones.  I searched in vain for shelter but found none.  So I dashed toward the mountains, hoping at least to find one small cave to lie in for the night.

Here’s hoping he’ll keep working on this to the end!  He was very pleased with all the praise we gave him. 

My conclusion?  I will continue to teach Isaac spelling and grammar (we use All About Spelling and Easy Grammar, both which he uses willingly).  I will continue to have him practice writing his outlines and summaries for history.  I will strongly encourage him to read good books, since he loves to read.  Other than that, I will encourage, but not force, him to write as he feels inspired to write.  He is learning the tools he needs to write well, he is reading excellent examples of writing, and I’m confident he will write well when he does choose to.

So far, Moriah loves to write in her journal.  Maybe the girls will be different when it comes to creative writing.  Each child has different strengths and weaknesses.  Each child is different in their learning styles.  I have determined that I will be satisfied with what my son is producing in his spare-time writing, and I am convinced that he will turn out to be a writer yet, despite all my worries!

Oh, and in case anyone is wondering, Isaac freely gave me permission to publish his writing samples in this post. He’s getting old enough to make me feel like I should ask.

Do you use a writing curriculum?  What have you found that works well for your older child who doesn’t like to write?

Homeschool Tools: Mad Libs

I’m certain most of you are familiar with Mad Libs.  If not, I’ll give you a brief description, and then you can check out the links below.  Mad Libs are stories with key words left out.  Usually played at parties or with a friend or two, one person asks the others to supply the needed words (noun, plural noun, adjective, verb, adverb, number, person, etc.), and then he/she reads the story aloud, using the words supplied.  The results are hilarious!

I’ve loved Mad Libs since I was a kid, and I was born in the 70s.  Apparently, Mad Libs were invented in 1953 and first published in 1958.  I didn’t know that.  Anyway, believe it or not, I still have ALL of my original Mad Lib books, complete with stories my childhood friends and I completed.  My kids get a kick out of seeing Mom’s childish handwriting in these books and reading the words my friends and I used in the early 80s (like “Gag me with a spoon!” for exclamation).

I’ve use Mad Libs in our homeschool several times, spreading the hilarity to my own children.  It’s a good supplement when you’re studying the different parts of speech in language.  My kids still sometimes forget what an adjective or past tense verb is, so Mad Libs provide good practice.  Just recently, I found a Star Wars Mad Libs and ordered it.  My son, a HUGE Star Wars fan, was absolutely thrilled.  I’m kind of looking forward to watching him use it with his Star Wars-loving buddies.  (Too bad I didn’t have this for his Star Wars-themed birthday party!)

Here are a few links you might enjoy:

Mad Libs--the official Mad Libs website where you can find out about their products, apps, downloads, history, and more.

It’s a Mad Libs World is basically Mad Libs online, so you can play right now!  There are currently 286 stories you can choose from.

I’m hoping to write a series of posts on “tools” we use in our homeschool—not curriculum, but things we use to supplement our curriculum, or other “things” we find indispensable (such as my long-arm stapler) in our classroom.  Do you have a favorite homeschool tool?

5th Grade Language Dilemma

Here’s my dilemma.  I have three different Language Arts programs I could use next year when Isaac is in 5th grade, and I don’t know which to choose…or whether to use 2 or 3 of them at once.

Last year, we began using Language Lessons for the Elementary Child 1 (Sandi Queen).  I used it 3x a week, and we did not finish it.  I like this program a lot, as it’s Charlotte Mason style.  Because I liked it, I went ahead and ordered book 2 for this year.  Of course I’ve ended up trying to finish book 1 this year, and we’re due to complete it in a few weeks. 

I can tell you why we didn’t finish it.  I blame the copywork.  I think copywork is a great idea, but I feel this program gives students too much at a time, well at least students like my son.  After studying a painting (which I love), students move on to copywork…several lessons in a row...several days with LOTS of writing.  Then you have several regular language lessons before you have another picture and several more days of copywork.  This may work well for some students, but for Isaac it became drudgery because, well…he absolutely DETESTS copywork.  He’s painstakingly slow at it and gets very frustrated when he makes a mistake.  I personally would have preferred very short amounts of copywork to be spread throughout the book more often instead of long amounts over several days.  It would have worked much better with Isaac.  This year, I ditched the copywork sections so we could get through the book.

We will continue on with Language Lessons 2 in a few weeks, but we won’t be able to finish it this year, even if I skip copywork, or shorten it.  So one option is to continue using it next year until we finish.  However, I have 2 other options, and I don’t know what to do.

When we were back in the US this past summer/early fall, another homeschool mother blessed me with several books she had finished using.  Included were the two books you see pictured above:  Simply Grammar: An Illustrated Primer (Karen Andreola), which is another program based on Charlotte Mason, and Learning Language Arts Through Literature (Debbie Strayer and Susan Simpson), which happens to be a 5th grade book.  Simply  Grammar could probably be used in any grade, so I could wait on it...I think.  Learning Language Arts Through Literature has longer lessons, so I’m not sure that Isaac will enjoy it at all, even though he loves to read.  If I continue with Language Lessons 2 next year, I could start but wouldn’t complete either Learning Language Arts or Simply Grammar next year.  I do like the idea of Learning Language Arts, and I have nearly all the books required.  I’m just not sure how Isaac will like it.

So…my question for all my readers is:  Have any of you used any of the above books?  I would love to hear your feedback on these programs…positives, negatives, etc.  I’ve even considered taking parts of all the programs and rotating through them for the next few years.  What do you think?