Question about using RTR.

[gca123]

Hi. We have been using HOD since LHFHG. My son is 12 and is finishing up CTC. He really struggles with writing and I am concerned because it seems like the writing really increases in RtR and that it might be hard for him to keep up. Is there anybody using or that has used RtR in the past with a struggling writer? Any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[LynnH]

Is it the physical act of writing he struggles with or the just formulating his thoughts and getting them down on paper?

[gca123]

It's the formulating his thoughts and putting them on paper. We are using CTC and we do the I boxes together. We alternate reading paragraph to paragraph. He's a good reader but tends to read fast and misses things which is why I feel more comfortable doing it together.

[rumkimom]

My daughter is doing RTR and she struggles with writing due to her having expressive-receptive language disorder. I just have her write less than what is suggested. I have also taught her how to take note as remembering is her part of her problem. Then using the notes she has taken, she writes a short narrative. For writing this year she used Write With the Best (the one from CTC) as we did not do CTC the previous year. We have taken RTR slow and have completed only 19 units this past year.

If he can narrate orally well, you might want him to do that, tape it and then have him write it from that. ??

[LynnH]

I don't know if any of this applies or not, but I will throw it out there in case it does. Sometimes reluctant writers are afraid of failing or messing up, or they get used to us stepping in and helping them. How much help are you giving on the written narrations? If at this point you are giving a lot then I would make your goal to slowly back off and allow him to write his written narration on his own. If he gets any of it down at all then really praise that. Don't point out all the things he could have included, or rewrite his sentences etc. Pick one thing you want him to improve and leave it at that. Once he is successfully doing that one thing then pick another thing you want him to work on. One thing I have seen people do that can cause issues is they expect their dc to include every detail from the reading and if the student leaves out something that the parent thinks is important the parent feels like it isn't done well. If you gave 10 students the same passage and had them all write a written narration they would all look very different. Some would emphasize one thing and others would emphasize something else, neither one is "wrong". If he leaves out some details that is ok. I had to learn that with my son. He is a summary kind of guy and likes to hit just the high points. As he has gotten older and writing comes easier for him then I am able to push him to include more details.

I also would encourage you to let him do all the Independent reading in RTR. It reads easier than the reading in CTC so that should help. I use to help my son with the reading in CTC also, but it became a crutch for him because he knew that I would help him understand it. The problem was then he wasn't working to understand it himself, he was just taking what I said. He didn't remember it near as well as when he would have to work to understand it. I hope that makes sense.

[raceNzanesmom]

My 12 y/o has started using a talk to text app. We outline key ideas on the board, then he narrates into his app. We've mostly just played with it this summer, but our plan is to use it for written narrations this fall. His oral narrations are excellent, so it's just transferring it to written. There are several out there, many are free or very low cost.