|
Ebenezer
Aug. 19, 2006
Teaching writing
So, I'm a writer. I mean, it's not just a hobby; it's my bread and butter -- well, it was before I scaled back work significantly in order to homeschool, having already been scaled back some after Dancer arrived four years ago. I haven't wanted to say anything about it here because now you all (all three of you) are looking more critically at my syntax and notice my overuse of dashes and parentheses. Let me just say that I don't edit my posts much; they're mostly stream-of-consciousness.
Having said all that, I don't think I teach writing very well to my son. I have a master's in journalism. I taught college students (a fact worthy of a few blog entries in itself). I've written for several newspapers and magazines and served as an editor not infrequently. But writing isn't really something I think about. It's reflexive. I've always written well, and I've always been curmudgeonly about spelling and punctuation (again, don't gloat if you see a typo nearby). It comes from having read incessantly and widely since before I was out of crib and into a big-girl bed. So I don't always know how to show someone else how to write. I also don't know what expectations are fair for my son.
He reads voraciously and above grade level. He's not even 8 yet and has read every Redwall book he's been able to find. We read aloud at a level far above what he might read himself. He has a huge vocabulary. But writing just...isn't his thing.
Aside: If you've read previous entries, you may think that I'm coming down awfully hard on him. True, I haven't spent much or any time telling you all the things he does beautifully. But my hope is that I can work out trouble areas with help from other homeschoolers, so that's what I write about.
Anyway, he does write fantastic sentences. Well structured, vivid verbs, fun adjectives without overdoing it. But if you ask him to make up a story with a story starter, the ideas won't flow. I don't think it's a mechanical problem, because I'll allow him to narrate sometimes. It'sjust that he'll have one good idea and then clunk to a halt.
And when we do imitation (we use Classical Writing - Aesop), he'll leave out chunks of information without which the story doesn't make sense. For example: The first story out of the gate this year was The Princess and the Pea. In his retelling, the pea didn't make an appearance until the last paragraph. Once he writes a draft, I will write questions for him to answer. But he still struggles with structuring or ordering the information.
Again, I know, he's a third grader. I know writing is hard. Will it suddenly click if I continue to ask questions? What will help with imagination?
I think I'll have him outline next time, maybe that will help.
|
| • Post A Comment! • Send to a Friend!
|
Comments
|
|
|
|
Aug. 20, 2006 - I think people read...
Blessings, Jessica