How much should I correct dd's writing?

[tbarr12]

I am doing Preparing with dd, 11. She does quite a bit of writing every day, between the Extension reading written summaries and the weekly written narrations and perhaps science notebooking or a poetry written activity. Our days are very full, but I'm wondering how much I should "correct" her writing, and what to make her do about her mistakes. Sometimes I don't even correct her writing - I just listen to what she's done - we are so busy. But I feel like I need to be doing more to make sure she's not repeating mistakes. Should I correct it with a red pen and make her rewrite it? or just point things out to her and make her fix it on the spot? (I'm referring to mainly punctuation and spelling errors). Her spelling has improved so much this year through dictation - I'm so pleased - but just want to know what more input I should be giving her? Thanks.

[my3sons]

I know it's tough to stay on top of writing! This is a very good question. I do think it's important to correct it on the day it was written, especially as dc are writing more and more as they get older. Otherwise, poor habits can be learned - and boy are they tough to undo .

The best way for dc to fix their mistakes is for them to first try to do so on their own. Having them read what they have written out loud to you with pencil in hand, ready to fix errors, is a super way to edit. Carrie suggests having dc do this for their written narrations and writing assignments especially.

Carrie also suggests underlining words that are missed and writing in the margin or above the missed word, the correct spelling/punctuation mark in pencil. Pencil is less glaring than red pen and can be erased after the changes have been made. We have done this and found it to work well.

As my ds has gotten older, I've gone to just jotting what was missed in the margin, and having him find the error within the line and then fix it himself. For example, if a comma is missing, I put a comma in the margin of the line it is missing from. If "foundation" is misspelled, I write "foundation" in the margin in the line it's misspelled in. If it's misspelled throughout the writing piece, I write it in the margin once, and then have them fix it in that line and wherever else it is misspelled.

HTH!
In Christ,
Julie

[Carrie]

Tracey,

My3sons gave you great advice on how much to correct your daughter's written work and how to do it. If you feel that your days are too full right now with Preparing Hearts, then perhaps the Extensions are too much for your daughter? Or, if you feel that the writing is too much each day, you could go to just having your daughter orally narrate her extension readings daily rather than doing the written narrations for awhile with her extensions. You'll know the best balance for your daughter, but her school should be around 4 and 1/2 hours a day with everything included right now so that may help you gauge if she's doing too much. The school day does get longer as kiddos get older.

Blessings,
Carrie

[tbarr12]

No, I don't feel that her days are too long or too full. She needs the challenge, and enjoys it. It's more of a problem for me of finding time, with schooling 3 children, to correct her writing, give her feedback, and have her fix it. I feel she needs the extra challenge, but don't want to be reinforcing bad habits. Thanks for the input.