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I read the thread about free writing, so I understand why a child should be doing copywork instead, but I wasn't sure how I should approach this. DD is in LHFHG. She is not doing any spelling or copywork in her HOD, other than a few words now and then in an ETC book or some Sunday School papers where a word bank is given. She normally doesn't do much writing except for her work in A Reason For Handwriting. Occasionally, though, she will get the notion to write a note to someone. She will just start writing things on her own and then shows me what she did. It usually ends up that 90% of the words are spelled incorrectly. Sometimes she wants to give it to someone immediately, so I don't really have an opportunity to correct. But, I end up translating it for the person she gave it to. It makes her feel good to do this for others, so how do I approach it? I get concerned because she is learning to spell words the wrong way, but there are so many of them that she would basically be rewriting the whole thing. When she is playing independently, I am not always there to see what she is writing. Should I be concerned about her spelling like this? What would be a good way to approach it if I should be correcting? Due to her special needs, DD gets frustrated very easily and when she needs to correct things a lot, she melts down and then refuses to do it. Any suggestions?

When dc are beginning to write, I see the goal as proper letter formation, as well as an attempt to spell things correctly. Dc getting excited to write at this point is a good thing, even though they start by misspelling many/most things. If dd is at that stage, then the occasional writing she does such as this is probably fine because it doesn't happen often enough and the same words aren't probably used often enough, for poor habits to form. However, if she is writing several sentences, and using many similar words time and time again and spelling them incorrectly, then this is where I see a poor habit potentially forming. If this is the case, I would probably just pick out a few commonly used words for dd to fix, underline them in pencil, write them on a markerboard in black, and have her fix just those few, praising her for this. Also, I do believe when dc are giving notes to other people, it is important the words in the note are spelled correctly if the intent is for the person to read the note (but this would be opposite of dc drawing a picture and just randomly writing letters here or there or trying to write their own name as initial attempts at writing). So if she is writing several sentences in a note or card for someone, I'd let her know that this has a different goal than just experimenting with writing, as she wants the person to be able to read clearly what she wrote. I would then have her dictate what she wants to write to you, one sentence at a time. So, you write a sentence in black on a marker board, and she copies that sentence on her paper/card, and then erase the markerboard and have her dictate the next sentence. We have done this, and my dc find it much less intimidating to copy one sentence at a time as opposed to several sentences or a paragraph. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

Pam,

This past thread may be of some help to you as you ponder: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=2106

Also, I will share that when my kiddos wish to give something they have written to someone else, I do make sure that they have spelled and punctuated it correctly. I do this for two reasons. One, I want my children to get in the habit of giving of their very best to others. Two, their writing is a reflection on how others perceive both my child and my homeschool. To illustrate why we edit before gifting our writing to someone else, I share with my kiddos that we wouldn't bake something for someone without following the recipe, or give others a gift that is partially made, so when we write we need to do the complete process (corrections and all).

Anyway, my boys have never lost their enthusiasm for giving gifts even though we follow that process here. I have a couple of born gift givers, who actually make a gift and write a card for everything! Please remember though that this is just my thinking on this, and if your opinion differs yours is the one that matters.

On a sidenote, there actually should be weekly cloze type passages along with the Storytime lessons where your little honey is doing some writing within LHFHG too so that will help as she transitions to more writing.

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie & Julie - Thanks! I will be more careful about the spelling. When we do formal cards or letters, I sit with dd and make sure it is done right. These notes are just random things she does occasionally. Or if she is playing independently and pretending she is a teacher or some other important person , she will take a notebook and write in it, which is not corrected. Yes, she has done the writing in LHFHG storytime passages. She is also doing ARFH, but we got a late start in that, so she hasn't done sentences in that yet. She does love to give to others and I certainly want our homeschool to reflect positively.

Pam,

For your little sweetie's items that she writes just for her own fun, make sure to read the thread I linked above as that is quite a different matter than when she's giving her writing to someone else!

Blessings,
Carrie

Carrie, I had intended to read the thread before my last reply. I understand your thoughts on this (and CM's ) I do need to keep on top of those random informal notes she gives to others. She probably does more writing like that than actual school writing, so this is not a good thing. I guess it is time to do more copywork. Thanks!