heartofdakota.com

I haven't been on here often in the last year or so, but I just wanted to share a breakthrough we had lately. My oldest, Caroline (turned 9 in September, 4th grader), has really struggled with writing in general. Copywork, writing original thoughts, just anything has been a real struggle with her. But we have persevered in trying to teach writing, doing a little bit less than what is recommended in Preparing and slowly working up. For the written narrations, we started by her narrating orally, me writing it on a whiteboard, and her copying. Then we went to where I would write key words during our discussion of the reading, and then she would write the narration from that. We were on that stage for about 6 weeks. I have to tell you all that this week she wrote her own narration! And it was really well done, in my opinion! It took her about 25 minutes to write, but she worked (mostly) diligently that entire time.

I share this because, I have to be honest, I've had my moments of doubt in trusting that the writing instruction in HOD would really work , especially when my sister, a ps 3rd grade teacher, started to tell me that we were behind. I have looked into adding writing programs several times, but decided to just wait, trusting that Carrie knows what she's doing. And you know what, I do FULLY believe that the writing in HOD works. Caroline has just made huge strides on all of her written work. Her answers to science questions are fantastic, as are her conclusions and "guesses" for the science labs. I just see such a level of thinking involved in her written work, all in the past few weeks.

Are the mechanics of writing still difficult? Undeniably, yes. They are. And they may be for a long time. She has ADHD and sometimes the process of getting letters onto paper is just exhausting for her. As are the drawing activities. But I see that everything in HOD is working together and I have no doubt that by the time she really NEEDS to be, she will be a fantastic writer.

That is wonderful!

Don't you think then, if you had "forced" her to write MORE, she would have jusr learned to hate it more? A daily struggle?

In ps, the learning involves a lot of writing. It has to, really. The teacher doesn't have one on one time to listen and ask questions of each child individually. It is a different environment, how can we eeally compare the 2? She says your child is "behind" in writing... but think of all the things dd is "ahead" in. And the writing is coming easier now, in its own time. With this new confidence she'll no doubt blossom even more in this area?

I wanted to read her narration. LOL.

Congratulations to you and dd for persevering and making huge strides! I was a doubter about the writing too and many times thought about adding in extra writing practice, but probably more from my laziness , I didn't. I have seen my own dc blossom into excellent writers over time. It is a different thought process than the way ps does it. With them, they basically throw them in the water and make them start swimming even if they don't know the basic strokes. Then over the years, they try to unlearn or refine whatever (bad) habits they develop. So they are writing volumes early on, but often it is bad writing that has to be corrected later. With HOD, we start by learning the basics then slowly start putting them together in excellent writing. It's a slower process but in my opinion produces a better writer in the end.

pjdobro wrote:Congratulations to you and dd for persevering and making huge strides! I was a doubter about the writing too and many times thought about adding in extra writing practice, but probably more from my laziness , I didn't. I have seen my own dc blossom into excellent writers over time. It is a different thought process than the way ps does it. With them, they basically throw them in the water and make them start swimming even if they don't know the basic strokes. Then over the years, they try to unlearn or refine whatever (bad) habits they develop. So they are writing volumes early on, but often it is bad writing that has to be corrected later. With HOD, we start by learning the basics then slowly start putting them together in excellent writing. It's a slower process but in my opinion produces a better writer in the end.

Exactly! That's what I tried to explain (only very tactfully) to my sister.

I will see if I can get ahold of her narration later to post on here. It is nothing fancy, but I sure am proud that she was able to do it without help.

I just loved reading about dear Caroline here, Mommamo! This is a breakthrough worth celebrating! I really applaud you for your patience, as I know it can be difficult to wait for skills like these to reach the "blossoming" stage. I too have had to be patient with our sons for both written and oral narration skills to develop. It is not easy for us as teachers of our dc to wait sometimes. However, just because something is difficult, does not mean it should be dropped, added to, or changed. Many times, it is the very most difficult things we work through in life that help us to be refined like silver - and they are often the things of most worth. I am so proud of your Caroline! She has learned to persevere through a skill that is new and more difficult, and the two of you are now reaping the rewards of that diligence. Thank you so much for sharing this!

In Christ,
Julie

Thanks, all! I was so very excited!

I am finally getting around to posting her narration. Here is what she wrote (and she did the punctuation and everything on her own for the most part, with just minimal guidance from me):

The legend of Rome's starting begins with Aeneas marrying Lavinia. Generations later twins were born named Romulus and Remus. Someone tried to kill them by putting them in a basket in the river, but it hit shore, and a mother wolf fed them. Later, Romulus killed Remus and started Rome with robbers who stole wives from another city.

Please tell your dd that I think she did a great job!!!

Yes, wonderful job!

I love how she covers the main points so succinctly. Great job!

pjdobro wrote:I love how she covers the main points so succinctly. Great job!

She is always looking for the quickest way to write something. Cracks me up. Seriously--her oral narrations are very detailed. Her written ones are very succinct. Good word.

What killed me about this was her use of vocabulary. Like "generations."