Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp |
Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp. All rights reserved. |
The Homeschool Diner's Guide to Homeschooling by Subject Language Arts Homeschooling Reluctant Writers and Children Who Hate to Write by Julie Shepherd knapp, copyright 2006, 2008 Pre-expressive writing activities and strategies to help reluctant writers become interested in words and writing... Some children are naturals at writing -- the words practically flow from their pencils as they write lengthy stories, create poetry, and enthusiastically write book reports and research reports. They write frequently (because they enjoy it), even choosing to write in their spare time, and enjoy sharing what they have written with others. If you are reading this article, however, you are dealing with the opposite end of the spectrum --a reluctant writer. Reluctant writers come in two varieties -- those who enjoy writing projects of their own choosing, but need to be persuaded to do assigned writing... and those who are reluctant to write at all, because they have very real difficulties with writing. Children who enjoy writing, but balk at writing assignments are the easier to help of the two types. Often, a change in the type of writing you assign will gain their cooperation and inspire them to write. Children who have difficulty with all types of writing are much more challenging because they may actually have a developmental issue or a learning disability that interferes with their writing. These children will need a great deal of help with the writing process. If your child doesn't mind some types of writing, but is reluctant to do assigned writing, maybe a change in writing programs would help -- take a look at the Creative Ideas for Writing section where you will find assignments that are more fun and more interesting than the writing prompts included in most writing programs. Remember that children (like everyone else!) are more willing to write about topics that interest them, and are happiest when they have several choices and a real say in what they write about. Also, keep in mind that some children prefer creative writing while others prefer factual writing, so keep your child's preferences in mind as you look thru the many options for writing activities. Some reluctant writers just need help to become comfortable with writing. They need to be eased into the idea, need help finding inspiration, and benefit from the chance to do fun writing projects. Parents should take care with such a child not to make too big a deal of writing-- or they may end up with a student who decides they hate to write and who resists all writing assignments. Some reluctant writers are actually just late-bloomers who will become quite good at writing when the time is right for them. As homeschoolers we can afford to give them the time they need. Some 4 to 6 year olds may just be too young or too immature to manage the whole writing process. Luckily, homeschoolers have the luxury of waiting another year or two to begin writing lessons with a child who just doesn't seem ready for formal writing instruction. Explore pre-writing activities that may help develop the muscles and dexterity that will be needed for the act of handwriting. Sometimes a child's learning style makes writing a struggle. Take a look at the Visual-Spatial Learner page if you suspect that your child has a very visual way of thinking that may make working with words a challenge. However, if you have a child who seriously struggles with handwriting and also with composition it is possible that he or she has a disability of written expression, called dysgraphia. You can read more about dysgraphia and other learning disabilities in the Special Needs section. Children who have very real difficulties with writing -- difficulties that lead to tears and tantrums, and writing that seems to be way below the level you believe they should be capable of -- need special attention and, probably, at some point, professional assistance to overcome their troubles with writing. There are a lot of different reasons for a child to have such a hard time with writing. Expressive writing requires a lot of different skills and kids can have trouble with any one or more of them! Just think about it -- in order to write a paragraph -- children need to choose what to write about, decide what details to include, organize their thoughts into a logical sequence, think of what to say and how to say it and what words to use, hold the thoughts for each sentence in short term memory as they write, try to remember proper spelling, spacing, grammar, and punctuation, all while using their fine motor skills to form each letter! Writing is a very complicated process, but most children gradually get better at writing as each year passes. If your child doesn't seem to be doing any better there may be a medical reason behind the difficulties. If you haven't already, you should bring up the writing trouble with your child's pediatrician and ask for his or her input. If your pediatrician thinks it may be more than a matter of age or immaturity he or she will likely provide a referral to a specialist who can help identify the issues. You might be referred to an Occupational Therapist who can assess your child's motor development and prescribe exercises and treatment routines to help with hand dexterity and muscle strength. You might want to make an appointment with a Developmental Optometrist to see if your child has any unusual visual problems (more than just fuzzy eyesight) that might affect his or her writing. You might be referred to a Speech-Language Pathologist who can help your child with word retrieval (thinking of what to say), organizing thoughts, and planning out what to put on paper. Maybe you'll be referred to a Developmental Pediatrician or Pediatric Neurologist or Pediatric Neuropsychologist who can medically evaluate your child for signs of a learning disability or other disorder. Perhaps you will also see an Educational Psychologist, who can give your child educational assessments to pinpoint exactly what your child's strong and weak areas are. Any of these visits may lead to a diagnosis of a learning disability in your child or they may just reveal isolated weak areas that your child needs help with. For more information on possible learning disabilities that might affect your child's ability to write, check out the Homeschooling Special Needs page and take a look at the information on learning disabilities, beginning with Dysgraphia. Also known as "disability of written expression", dysgraphia can be a component of several other common learning disabilities and disorders, such as Dyslexia, ADD/ADHD, NVLD, Aspergers, Tourettes, and others. If you'd like to work on your child's writing skills at home, in addition to whatever other avenues you decide to pursue, take a look at the activities in the following sections. I'm not a professional -- just a mom who's done some research and detective work. I've tried to figure out some ways to get kids more in tune with words and begin to enjoy using words -- two things that certainly help set the stage for effective written expression. My approach is to try to "grow" an interest in verbal expression, written expression... and eventually in writing, but without much (if any) actual writing, until your particular child seems ready to write. I also encourage teaching your child to use the keyboard as soon as he or she is wiling and able -- to reduce the stress and discomfort of the writing process (by typing, instead). You may still want to continue with handwriting practice... but keeping it separate from the composition process may help free up your child's ability to get thoughts on paper. Here is a review of typing software for kids Do check that the older software will work on your computer, though -- for example Mario Teaches Typing 2 is a great choice for video game loving kids... if it will work on your system. To work on writing at home... I'd suggest making one or two of the following activities a part of your normal daily life, and work thru the activity lists over a period of several months to several years, depending on how your child responds to them. Keep playing the basic activities until your child outgrows them, then add new ones. Be on the lookout for new word games that might grab your child's interest. :-) Having fun with words is the key. Strategies and activities to exercise word skills in reluctant writers, kids who hate to write, and late bloomers: Help for Kids Who Hate to Write: Word Retrieval and Narrative Activities Narrative Activities to Exercise Your Child's Storytelling and Writing Skills Related Resources Scored Writing Samples -- for grades 3, 5, 6, and 8 -- four types of writing are analyzed for various elements and scored from low quality to high quality, with explanations and comments, useful as a sample of typical work at different grade levels. The English Assignment that Ate the American Economy by Margot Carmichael Lester -- how teaching the 5 paragraph essay is ruining the development of real-world writing skills in American children |
(back to) writing resources |
(back to) visual-spatial learners |
(back to) special needs |
If writing were easy, everybody would be doing it. ~ Andy Rooney |
Copyright 2006 Julie Shepherd Knapp. All rights reserved. |