Question about when to begin grammar instruction with 5yo who loves to write...

[Donna]

My 5yo dd loves to write. She taught herself to use Word so she could type her compositions, poetry, song lyrics, letters, etc... on the computer. She has 3 penpals with whom she regularly keeps in touch. She is a natural speller and occassional shows understanding of sentence structure though not consistently and rarely completely correctly.

I have not given her any instruction in grammar...ie. when to capitalize, proper punctuation rules, etc... She is so motivated to write and she uses such wonderful vocabulary and very advanced and creative thought processes. I don't want to inhibit any of that by interferring right now. I don't want to make it like work for her or to make her feel criticized by telling her she needs to do it another way. (She is often has difficulty dealing with perfectionism.)

Do you think the best way to go about teaching her grammar would be to do it separate from her creative writing and allow her to incorporate the new skills when she is ready? When would you expect proper grammar in creative writing? Do you think the creative aspect is more important at this point than the "correct/proper" writing aspect?

I already have my own opinions on these questions but was just wondering how other people have handled this or would handle it in the same situation.

[Mama Anna]

My dd isn't quite 5 yet and hasn't tried typing on the computer, but I'll offer my 2 cents for what they're worth:

My suggestion would be to do a gentle grammar program (I've had FLL recommended to me as a good one) and only require "correctness" in assignments, all the time encouraging her to keep up her creative stuff. My dd is also a perfectionist and wants so badly to do things "right" that I feel I'm betraying her if I don't occasionally offer her a constructive suggestion - even if it's something that I wouldn't expect her to know yet. I try to only when I'm afraid she's teaching herself (and really cementing) something wrongly. For the most part, I just praise her efforts. (At least, I hope that's what I do . . . :) )

Have fun!

Mama Anna

[Cadam]

If you were to casually talk about say, nouns, then proper nouns vs. common nouns and mention that proper nouns are suppose to be capitalized when we write; would she eventually apply that information to what she is doing?

Is she doing any copywork where she might pick up the basics like this without a bunch of pressure? I would only require it in school work but exposure to the rules may improve her writing without a bunch of formal learning.

[Donna]

but this is about as far as I went this year. I have FLL but we haven't opened it yet. We did some copywork earlier in the year but she wants to write on her own.

She has not shown her perfectionistic tendencies in her writing which is why I have not pushed proper grammar in her creative writing. She has been so busy with music and math lately and I have been following her interests rather than interjecting my own goals for her. This has worked wonders with her. I will start FLL probably next year but she will have to show some interest for me to continue it. I am sure she will eventually begin to incorporate better grammar in her writing just as she has spelling (she used to spell so phonetically it was funny to try and decipher her pages).

Hopefully this is the best way to go about it.

[sailmom]

Your approach sounds good.

I wouldn't worry about correct grammar in her creative writing at this point. It's wonderful that she's writing so well and loves doing it! There's plenty of time to work on grammar down the road. I suspect that you'll find she already had a pretty good intuitive sense of grammar, even though she may not know all the names of the grammatical elements.

I'd suggest that rather than doing formal grammar, as you look at her written work, maybe pick up one thing that she's consistently doing and gently address that, or make a mental note and address it when you're doing other written work with her. (I actually keep a little notebook for the things I notice my kids doing that I want to address later on.)

There's also a series of books by Ruth Heller that you may be able to find through your library. I know Amazon carries them also. They're part of the World of Language series, and each one deals with a grammatical element. For example, the verb one is called Kites Sail High: A Book about Verbs. They're gorgeous picture books with rhyming text. For kids who love words, they're great little books. I think they make a wonderful gentle approach to grammar, and they cover pretty sophisticated topics!

[EKS]

I don't have this exact situation in my house but I do have a 6 yo who is fairly enthusiastsic about writing (it's really beyond my wildest dreams considering what I'm used to with his older brother).

Instead of editing my son's writing, I have him edit my writing. He loves this! He asks for more. He was doing K12 grammar this year and so we used what he learned there as a springboard. We will be doing GWG next year.

I think you could add some sort of grammar program and keep it separate from her own writing for several years, easily. From your posts, it sounds like your daughter would incorporate the concepts learned a grammar program without much difficulty.

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I agree that I wouldn't correct her creative writing. But, since she can read, I wouldn't see any reason to wait to start FLL. It's very gentle. The first 30 or 40 lessons only take about 5 minutes each! Copywork isn't included until about lesson 40, and you could skip that if it's not a good fit for her. You don't need to mention that these lessons have anything to do with a problem in her writing. Just invite her to come sit with you on the couch. The lessons are oral, and involve poetry memorization, and grammar rules, and narrations and such.

Leave her creative writing alone, but go ahead and start FLL. It's fun!

[Donna]

I love the notebook idea and addressing one things at a time idea. I will start FLL this fall. I used it with her brothers but they still do not like to write and I am wondering if I should have encouraged more creative writing from them prior to starting the grammar instruction or it could just be that they are boys and just don't like to write.

I also like the idea of her editing my writing. That would work so well with her personality. She loves to be the one who "teaches."

Thanks for the great ideas.

[Karin]

Definitely keep grammar separate at this point. I've never used it for my dd's personal writing, just for their school work. My now 10 yo loves to write stories, and as a strongly vs learning has terrible spelling. Okay, it's improving a lot, but it takes a lot of work for her to learn to spell well--it's much easier for her to spell phonetically, even though I've never encouraged that.. I never correct her spelling in her fun writing, but am strict in school work.

FLL has been a very good fit for my ds.

[Bloy]

Look at Michael Clay Thompson's stuff at royal fireworks press. It is really fun, doesn't ask for a lot, and is really concise and to the point. It worked really well for us.