Help w/ written sample

[LivinNandByHim]

I have really struggled w/ placement, even after a wonderful board conversation with Julie. I thought it might be a good idea to post a sample of ds written work. This was not a school assignment, it was a disciplinary assignment after some undesirable behavior. He told me he had written a 3 page essay in PS this year. (to clarify, I see practically NO work from him, in any subject, and his math grades on report cards are C, D, & F, which he cannot explain, and re: which the teacher never returned my email. Also, LA grades are C, D, F grades.) He rarely brings home homework and states he understands what he is learning just fine. With all that said, I am only seeking reassurance based on a sample of his writing that we should place him, (as an upcoming 7th grader) in CTC, and ideas how to assess and assist him (i.e., math, spelling, writing) over the summer. Ok, his instructions were to write a 3 page essay regarding Love, Respect, and Self-Control (I meant to address proper attitude and behavior in treating others, esp. elders / authority figures, but he took off on paths of his own.)
Hello first off i want to say im sorry becaus of the way i have been acting. Love love is an expresin that can be shown with your body or with intiment contact like kissing. You don't half to be boyfireng and Girlefirend to express love and you don't half to be a movie star to get it ether a Person can bea firend or Accquantans for you to express love. Love can also be very strong that's when People have a very strong binding love and choos to get engaiged then eventually married. Love dose wonderful things it can save you like when you go to niagra falls and your mom says don't go to close to the river Jhonathin and you say oh moooom but listen to her anyway and think about what could have happened what if you fell in foooooooooo splat! Oops. love can also bind just think if your mom and dad weren't hear you wouldn't be eather and some of you are thinking well my life stinks Yeah Well wait till your an adult you wake up the next morning go to work whitch is only a block away so you walk and your almost late then you trip over a stray dog and then bing you hit a stop sighn you get to work "Your fired"! ....... Love is a very strog feeling and can bring light to the darkest Places like jail you can show a jail bird love and they will knoh that he is worth something. Now resect respect is one of the most important virtus in life you can still show respect with your body and expresions. respect Can also give you friends becaus if you respect some one they will respect you back and your relation ship will eventualy grow and then you will have two people that have enterest and knowledge of each other and you have friendsip ooooh. Respect is also when you go to someone's house and you don't drink and eat them out of house and home no you respect their property and ask if you can have one or two things and if they ofer you something say yes or no politely and respectfully. You should also respect your elders becous they are older but don't listen to them if they are in a mentel hospital but you should respect all elders and in the bible it says Honor your father and mother You will have many years on earth and your father and mother are your elders so when your mom and dad tell you to do something and you think it's stupid Just do it its good for you especualy if you want to live long....... Now onto Self controle and yes this is a very valubal vertu as well becous well your controlled and not wiald and pouncing all over the place. Self controle also goes along with respect becaous you are respecting your self becous if you go wiald you could get hurt......... Self controle is so important that i just cant espress on paper how mutch it is and i just found this out pay atention be aware becous if you don't you could be in some deep trouble and thats not good you will half to learn this quality in time becous it is very important. In conclusion all of theas things are grate things to have and keep in minde they will give you friends,life, ???????? (unreadable word), and countless other things becous they are all good virtues love, respect, and self controle are very good to you and very good to your life. This is his only draft. Definitely need spelling review. Punctuation should be easiest to fix. Planned R&S 5, and WWTB in CTC. So grateful for any thoughtful comments and the time it would take to read over and consider our little plight. Blessings!

[LynnH]

I would not place him higher than CTC. I think CTC will be a challenge for him. I would start studied dictation over the summer which will help with spelling and punctuation. When he wrote this did he indent for paragraphs or did he write it all as one paragraph? Does he understand nouns, verbs, adverbs etc? I know at my dc public school they didn't do any formal grammar until 7th grade. They just told them to write without too much concern for spelling, punctuation, grammar etc. This looks like how he has also been taught. You might want to start Rod and Staff over the summer also or do some other type of grammar review or WWTB might overwhelm him some.

[LivinNandByHim]

There were no paragraph indentations, only 2 3/4 pages of sentences. I believe he does know parts of speech. However, subject /verb agreement is lacking, and he wrote just like his boy mind thinks, jumping from one idea to another unrelated idea. Focus and task completion are hard for him, unless it regards a.book he enjoys. Most of the time he is doing two or three things at once, i.e. comes in, turns on the tv, grabs a book or starts something on the computer, or he may be eating or playing with his little parakeet. I've been told this is normal boy and that it could be ADD. Either way, I do finally allow myself to stop stressing about placement. He needs to be where he can gain success with skills not age / grade matched stereotypes. Thank you for replying.

[LynnH]

I think Rod and Staff 5 and WWTB will help him start at the basic paragraph level. He needs to learn to write one good paragraph before trying to write anything longer. That is my biggest complaint with writing programs in ps. They don't teach them to do that. My dd was in Honors English all the way up through 9th grade and she had much to learn as far as writing a good paper. After being home for 3 years she is now a good writer, but she had many bad habits to break.

The other thing that should help is the written narrations. That seems to have helped my ds learn to stay on topic. I think I would make sure that he sticks to only the number of sentences the guide calls for in the written narrations. Have him work through the written narration checklist one step at a time. Once he consistently indents the paragraph (I think that is #1 on the checklist) then move to #2 and work on that until he is consistent with that skill.

[LivinNandByHim]

I have the Bigger manual , but will this be too low a bar for starting studied dictation? I won't have the CTC manual until sometime in June. I'd prefer to get him started reviewing before end of Aug.