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CrunchyMom
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| Posted: Feb 03 2012 at 12:03pm | IP Logged
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My ds7.5 just came to me and showed me his FHC notebook that he started last Friday. He wrote a page for it, something I hadn't asked him to do--I'd only assigned making a cover, and he wrote a lot of run on, incomplete thoughts that sort of summarized the catechism he has memorized to date. Very worthy things, just disorganized.
He was very distraught because it "wasn't good" and he's not good at stuff like that, etc... I said that I thought it was good and that the thing about writing is that you have to do it to get better at it. He responded, "but what I wrote doesn't MEAN anything. It is just a lot of the same words and see? And, and, and, and, and..." I told him that he would learn a lot more words to use now that he is reading more, and he said, "I read a lot of words, but I can't keep them in my head to use them when I write."
Keep in mind, he's close to tears at this point.
I told him that I would help him with his notebook when the baby woke up. He left, and then he came back a little while later crying and saying, "You know, there are some things I am good at and there are other things that I am not very good at." And then he walked away and didn't want to talk about it.
Now, of course he is right, as we all know. But, I don't want him to think he is not good at writing. He was a late talker and reading did not come easily for him until this school year. Once he started, though, he took off, and he's read Little House books and is now reading Narnia books.
Frankly, I think his response to his own writing means that he IS a good writer. Or rather, he WILL be. He is perceptive and has a good "ear" to realize his writing isn't what he wants it to be. This was sort of a challenge when he was learning to read because he was accustomed to listening to advanced audio books but was struggling to read simple three letter words. He simply wasn't ready until he was ready, yk?
Now, it's a tough day emotionally anyway regarding school. He doesn't think he is good at stuff if he can't get it right away, and math has him frustrated, too, even though he gets things very quickly once I explain them. But beyond that, I do think he wants to be a better writer.
I have not been duly diligent in having copy work for him. He copies things from books on his own regularly, so I was not asking him to do it separately as school. He has been narrating daily, and his narrations are improving.
Should I pull out something like Primary Language Lessons (which I own but haven't used)?
I tend to chalk a lot of this up to growing pains, but I also don't want to ignore him if this is a sign he needs something more from me to gain the tools he needs to improve.
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Lindsay
Five Boys(6/04) (6/06) (9/08)(3/11),(7/13), and 1 girl (5/16)
My Symphony
[URL=http://mysymphonygarden.blogspot.com/]Lost in the Cosmos[/UR
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JodieLyn
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| Posted: Feb 03 2012 at 12:51pm | IP Logged
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Wait until he's calm and not in the midst of school. And talk to him about "remember how you wanted to read but you couldn't read as well as you wanted to? but you kept practising and you got better? Well writing is the same way. You can read better than you can write right now, but with practise you'll learn to write better." etc. But he's not going to hear this while he's in the throes of emotion over it. And you need to get him thinking back over the progress his reading took. That it wasn't doing it right from the start but dragged behind what he wanted to be able to do.
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Jodie, wife to Dave
G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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ShannonJ
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| Posted: Feb 03 2012 at 12:57pm | IP Logged
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What Jodie said seems right on target. I think sometimes the frustration of not being able to express themselves in the form they wish can be disheartening. Just continue to encourage him. When they are little and have a lot to say and not enough words to express themselves you often see frustration, but they try try again and until they talk your ear off!
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Mom of dd 12, ds 9, & dd 5
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ekbell
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| Posted: Feb 03 2012 at 1:03pm | IP Logged
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I'd suggest working with material that gives emphasis on pre-writing activities so that he can become accustomed to the idea that writing isn't expected to be perfect straight away. (btw physically cutting up and rearranging a disorganized piece of work can be helpful, although it's best to check with the child first).
I've that one of the best ways of helping a perfectionist child is to do lots of modeling of the learning process. My attempts to go from horrible drawings to merely bad drawing or time spent writing and rewriting and rerewriting go a long way. This is particularly useful for an oldest child. 
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4Real Forums : Language Arts Come Alive
Topic: Self Expectation Exceeds Ability
