Rethinking writing for ds13-need your thoughts.

[stephanie]

Ok I've posted a tentative schedule for ds13 for his 7th grade year, but I'm reconsidering some parts of it. He has SPD/ADHD, and has a lot of trouble with word retrieval and comprehension. I've been noticing that he has problems with simply forming well-structured sentences b/c he tries so hard to make it "look smart". So I was thinking of continuing with R&S 7, but doing Sentence Composing for Elementary School instead of a writing program like Wordsmith. I feel like if he could just form better sentences then his writing would be much smoother. So what do y'all think?

[Violet]

Ok I've posted a tentative schedule for ds13 for his 7th grade year, but I'm reconsidering some parts of it. He has SPD/ADHD, and has a lot of trouble with word retrieval and comprehension. I've been noticing that he has problems with simply forming well-structured sentences b/c he tries so hard to make it "look smart". So I was thinking of continuing with R&S 7, but doing Sentence Composing for Elementary School instead of a writing program like Wordsmith. I feel like if he could just form better sentences then his writing would be much smoother. So what do y'all think?

I think Sentence Composing sounds like a great idea. I'd go even further, though. I would do Sentence Composing and take a break from Rod and Staff unless he absolutely loves it or something. Has he already completed Rod and Staff 6? If so, I think you could get away with taking a bit of a break and just focusing on the Sentence Composing and informally studying grammar. I believe SC gets into paragraph writing and covers some grammar, too. Even if he hasn't completed other grammar programs, I think you could take a break on formal grammar to work through this book. I got this book from the library and it looks really good.

Hope I'm not making your decision-making harder!

Anita

[stephanie]

I think Sentence Composing sounds like a great idea. I'd go even further, though. I would do Sentence Composing and take a break from Rod and Staff unless he absolutely loves it or something. Has he already completed Rod and Staff 6? If so, I think you could get away with taking a bit of a break and just focusing on the Sentence Composing and informally studying grammar. I believe SC gets into paragraph writing and covers some grammar, too. Even if he hasn't completed other grammar programs, I think you could take a break on formal grammar to work through this book. I got this book from the library and it looks really good.

Hope I'm not making your decision-making harder!

Anita

Not at all! You've actually made me feel better about it. I think we may continue R&S b/c we take our time doing it, and I don't think he really minds it. He's very good at grammar, but not so great at writing. So I'm going to go with Sentence Composing...for right now!

[Aletheia Academy]

with the suggestion to take a break from formal grammar studies.

In addition, you might consider focusing more on copywork for your writing and grammar instruction. You might, on a daily basis, assign a sentence from excellent quality literature- something you are reading- and make note of a certain grammatical concept, e.g. punctuation, sentence combining, adverbial clauses, etc. You could make it a straight copywork assignment or a dictation and have your ds punctuate it correctly.

On a weekly basis, you might try the same approach with a longer passage- a paragraph- and see how his skills develop.

Then you might throw in some imitation assignments were he tries to create his own sentences and paragraphs to imitate those of great writers.

It's a different approach, but I think it might serve your ds well. It sounds as though he's had a ton of exposure to formal grammar...what's missing is the connection between what he has experienced of those discrete concepts and his ability to put it on paper himself. I would hope that immersing himself in real examples of excellent writing might help bridge that gap.

Just a suggestion from a homeschooling mom who was an English teacher in a past life.

P.S. This approach does not require any purchased curriculum. You can just get ideas from literature you are reading and your R&S text.

[Tammy]

Steph....who is the author of Sentence Composing? You said you got it from your library? I doubt mine has it, LOL!