How long did it take your dc to correctly punctuate and capitalize their own writing?

[gandpsmommy]

Dd6.5 is very good at capitalization and punctuation when we are doing schoolwork together. Occasionally I will have to ask her what needs to go at the end of a sentence? She clearly understands, however, that each sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark. When she writes little cards and letters for us just for fun, though, it all goes out the window. There is no punctuation, so each sentence just runs into the next. She still capitalizes names and such, but not the first words of sentences. And if you try to help her with it, she gets very upset. When will her head knowledge be translated into her everyday writing skills?

[TCoppock]

I wish I had the answer for you but my 8yo DS is still struggling with this.

[Whisperlily]

I don't know what the norm is. My DD mastered that quickly after we reviewed it a few times. It seemed intuitive for her.

My DS, however was not the same. I worked with him very hard on this issue at home. We did a lot of copywork in addition to writing. We regularly pointed out capitalization in reading assignments, etc.

Due to outside circumstances, he is in PS right now. They have been working on the same issue with him for over a year. He still struggles and he's almost 9.

I tend to think she's still too young to worry that she hasn't mastered it yet. She'll get there soon, I'm guessing long before my son catches on. ;)

[Beth in Central TX]

I'm just letting you know that you are not alone in this struggle. I'm still waiting for this to happen in my boys. They can capitalize and punctuate in grammar, but it doesn't flow over yet in writing and workbook exercises for other subjects. And on really bad days, they don't even do it in grammar! Right now, I just reinforce that a complete sentence has a capital letter and an ending punctuation. Corrections for breaking this rule are always required.

[PariSarah]

Ahem. That's probably not what you need to hear right now, eh?

I suspect that's one of those things that just happens when it "clicks" for the individual kid. I don't think your dd is even remotely behind the curve on this. Meanwhile, just be gentle-yet-consistent about corrections, and it'll come.

[WTMindy]

When she is done, say, "Great job! Now we are going to edit. I want you to go through and put a period at the end of every sentence. Great! Now, go through and check to see if you have capital letters at the beginning." You can even make a list that she can go through one at a time and add other things you notice, like "I want you to check all the times you used "there" and make sure you have the right spelling, etc...

After a while they get it, but I did find that it was after I made them responsible for the editing of it themselves that they started doing it while they were writing.

[Perry]

My 13 year old still struggles, although we work on it daily.

[Michelle T]

You would think he had never heard of punctuation or capital letters when you read his writing. Or standardized spelling, for that matter.

We work on it every week, and I just hope it's soaking into his head somehow.
Michelle T