Reluctant Writer

[Patience]

Toward the second half of the year with copywork, I began to notice (hard not to notice, actually) that my 7 year old son began to take quite along time to do his copywork. At times I became frustrated with him as I saw he would begin to just talk and avoid doing it, and sometimes take 20 minutes. I would often need to do alot of reminding if there was writing involved (really that was primarily copywork last year). I have asked him to journal 2 sentences a day, when possible, this summer, and that reluctancy (and I think a bit of laziness too) is coming out some more. I am seeing that we will have the same problem next year unless his dexterity or something else changed. Is there some way I should be helping this or should be thinking about this? How can I help him/ prepare him for next year? There will be more writing with Bigger and Rod and Staff 2. I want us to set good habits in place, for both teacher and student. Any and all thoughts are welcome!

[Daisy]

I don't have any advice. Just wanted you to know that I have a 7yo boy with the EXACT SAME issue. So maybe it is just developmental.

[faroutback]

Hi, my (just turned) 7yo ds had the same issues last year with the copywork and any other writing. It seems to be the same this summer. I have been very frustrated as well. I am trying to be very patient with this. I was reading an article from HSLDA that made me look at this a bit more. I checked out a website http://www.diannecraft.org and this gave me some things to look at and look for with him to see if this was more than just laziness. Her website was a big help and we have and are trying some of her techniques. I am not completely convinced yet that it is not just laziness but I don't feel the exercises are hurting him any. I hope this helps.

faroutback

[Great2kids]

My son had the same issues and I was getting very frustrated too. Then I read an article by Diane Craft as the previous poster stated. I found out that he wasn't lazy but has dysgraphia. I have also been working with him to help him overcome this issue. You might want to read the article by her "Smart kids who hate to write" and see if any of the symptoms describe your son. Hopefully this will help.

[Patience]

Thank your for these links. I took a cursory look at them. But this point, I lean toward thinking that my son primarily doesn't enjoy doing the hard work of writing. When my reviewer came to the house, she said he had the nicest handwriting of any 1st grade boy she had seen. She was looking at one of his copywork pieces. I would have him write just two lines of the poem each day, but I would ask for his best handwriting on those. He really can do it, it is just rather laborious to him. I am supposing this is just his age. But I do lean toward doing the Beyond poetry for him again this year. We started with HOD in the second half of the year, so many of the poems would not be repeats from last year. I guess it's just hard to know how much to "push" your own child with something like this.

[my3sons]

Thank your for these links. I took a cursory look at them. But this point, I lean toward thinking that my son primarily doesn't enjoy doing the hard work of writing. When my reviewer came to the house, she said he had the nicest handwriting of any 1st grade boy she had seen. She was looking at one of his copywork pieces. I would have him write just two lines of the poem each day, but I would ask for his best handwriting on those. He really can do it, it is just rather laborious to him. I am supposing this is just his age. But I do lean toward doing the Beyond poetry for him again this year. We started with HOD in the second half of the year, so many of the poems would not be repeats from last year. I guess it's just hard to know how much to "push" your own child with something like this.

I agree - I think some dc just do not like to write (and I hate to say this, but this can often be a tendency for boys). It helps my ds to set the timer and have something he loves to do next - like computer time, and his 30 minutes of computer time starts whether he's done with his copywork or not, so he gets he is losing computer time by dawdling through copywork time. It's important not to expect them to do too much though - we started with 1 line of the poetry to copy each day, so he had 1 stanza done by the end of the week. Then, we worked up to 2 lines a day, etc., until he was copying the whole poem within a week. I also sometimes let him have a snack (i.e. 2 teddy grahams) every time he finished a line or so. Then, when the timer rang he was supposed to be done. I hope some of these ideas help, but more than anything, TIME itself will help as these littles grow older and their fine motor skills grow along with their age. This is totally normal for that age!

In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Patience,

You've already received some excellent advice but here's a bit more that I've copied from a previous post of mine:

As far as copywork goes, my kids have varied widely in how much they enjoy copwork. For the child of mine that didn't enjoy it, I kept the assignments short and sweet, not requiring more than one line per day in Beyond. But, I did require that one line to be done well. For my one that loved copywork, he copied a stanza a day in Beyond.

I also let my kids decorate their copywork with pictures, paints, markers, etc. at the end of each week. So Friday was decorate day, and I counted that as their copywork in Beyond. They were motivated by that because they loved art.

I have also found that placing each week's copywork in a plastic page protector and saving it in a 3-ring binder for them to add to each year has made a big difference in how they felt about copywork. Their "Copywork Binder" has become something beloved to look back on as showing progress from year to year. We do this as well with each project in Bigger Hearts.

I love Charlotte Mason's philosophy that says even one line done right is better than many lines done sloppily. The goal is "excellent" copywork instead of volume. That philosophy has taken me some time to get used to, since I am a finisher. I had to let go of the feeling that my boys must copy every piece to completion and know that that isn't the point of copywork.

At the start of Bigger, you could begin by copying a portion of the copywork for your child and letting him complete the rest. Then, gradually move toward having him do more of the copywork on his own working toward the goal of doing it all. Take more of a teamwork approach rather than a battle lines are drawn approach.

Blessings,
Carrie