Forum Index
»
Schools and Education General Discussion
Ways to help a 2nd grade boy improve his writing skills
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
My oldest is in second grade at a good suburban public school, and each year we've had a bit of a wakeup call in the beginning of the year. In K, he really struggled with the social adjustment (despite having gone to FT daycare/preschool); first grade started very unhappily as he worked up to the challenge of the more rigorous academic expectations. This year I may be getting ahead of myself, but I was taken aback at his back-to-school night at how much more advanced his classmates seem to be at writing. There were projects displayed around the classroom, and my son's really stood out as having vastly inferior spelling, grammar, handwriting as well as just being significantly shorter in length.
My son is definitely not gifted but he has done reasonably well in school - his "grades" are always positive, he was assessed at reading at/above grade level, and he hasn't really had any disciplinary problems. His teachers, particularly last year and from what I can tell of his teacher this year, are just fantastic. However, he doesn't love school, and the prospect of my getting him to sit down and do random extra writing assignments at home seems fairly unlikely. Does anyone have any tips / programs / resource suggestions on how I might work with him more effectively to improve his skills in this area? On the plus side, he has interests (science, nature, animals) that he is literally obsessed with, so if I can integrate those subjects, he might respond better. Obviously I'll ask his teacher for ideas at some point, but I really want to avoid starting the year off as one of those neurotic PITA parents. (Seems much safer to do so amidst the presumptive anonymity of DCUM!) Thanks! |
Anonymous
|
Perhaps your son has a writing disability or some other sort of LD, or even ADHD. DS, in third grade with ADHD and as-yet undiagnosed specific LDs (he has an IEP due to the ADHD), also struggles with writing - and his writing is definitely below where his classmates are. On the other hand, once we found the proper medication, we found that DS' in-school writing was not nearly as bad/worrisome as what we were seeing when he did homework at the end of the day.
Your son could well be tired, may just not like writing, or could have sort of undiagnosed "issue." Talk with his teacher and see what his/her thoughts are. Good luck, OP! |
Anonymous
|
I have an 8yo child who tested into AAP - but her handwriting is ATROCIOUS. She gets it honestly since her dad and I both have horrible handwriting.
I had my child evaluated by an Occupational Therapist who noted some issues with my daughter's upper body ("trunk") weakness which makes it hard for her to sit still - so much so that we had her evaluated first for ADd/ADHD. No probelms there. But difficulting bracing the arm to support the hand to support the pencil all stems from the trunk weakness. The therapist recommended strength building activities. She was a great therapist: Mary-Kay Davidson-Taylor, MS OTR/L Pediatric Occupational Therapist Director, Kidz Therapy, LLC 703-862-6557 kidztherapy@bigplanet.com |
Anonymous
|
i don't think OP's talking about 'hand-writing,' rather writing skills.
my 2nd gdr also said this morning that he only likes PE and recess and art and music, and complained there's a lot of writing in class. he was never able to write long stories in 1st grd so i'm not surprised he found 2nd grd writing more demanding. |
Anonymous
Mom of a second grade boy here. We simply require it. Every day, he must practice his writing, in addition to his reading and other homework. End of story. |
Anonymous
| Fwiw I have a first grader who struggles with writing as well. In his case it is a matter of fine motor skills. For us lots of positive encouragement, workbooks ( daily practice as another pp suggested) and maybe it sounds silly but Legos and transformers seem to be making a big difference. He loves to play with them and they have done wonders... |
Anonymous
| Mom of 2nd grade boy here. Is it just possible that it is normal for boys at this age to be less skillful in handwriting, fine motor, ability to sit still, etc. Maybe this is normal boy stuff and it is the school curriculum that is out or whack with the reality of normal boy development. Just a thought. |
Anonymous
|
OP you sound so rational and cool! I bet it really helps your son. I think you should really wait to see what the teacher's assessment is, and I doubt he has OT issues. Maybe that's not his strength, and I'd be concerned about further turning him off from school. With my own, i try to tell them that they can have fun with learning or it can be drudge work. Practice spelling in the car, but find a way to have fun with it, like a contest. For handwriting, I showed my second grader (with terrible penmanship) different samples and tried to impress on him that it was art. I also let him play around with fonts on the computer. For essays/homework, I tell them they can write boring work or they can write about things that interest them, silly/scary/crazy stories. Also, if you let them type in Word, well it points out their grammar mistakes. So, my son would try his hardest to get rid of the squiggly red line. GL!
|
Anonymous
| I guess the question is does have the story or inside them and struggle to put them on paper? That is what my daughter struggled with and the issue was ADHD. I would explore having him narrate stories that you type or write say in 2 minute bursts. Then he alternates. If he has the ideas but can't get them down try a graphic organizer or some other way of helping him frame his ideas. |
Anonymous
|
Perhaps your son has a writing disability or some other sort of LD, or even ADHD."
Something to think about. Just because a child is assessed at grade level or above doesn't mean s/he doesn't have a learning disability. If a child has a high IQ but is performing just at grade level, that means s/he is performing below his/her ability, and the cause may be a learning disability. |
Anonymous
Anonymous
| Is it possible your son has dyslexia? FWIW, your DS sounds exactly like my DS a few years ago. He is now diagnosed with dyslexia but we never had any clue to it because his reading seemed OK. We even had neuropsych testing done in 2nd grade but the psychologist told us DS only had an issue with ADHD and a general learning disorder. ADHD has never seemed like the reason for his problems to us and I regret that there was so much emphasis on his attention/behavior (which has only ever been a problem with school work) and not what was causing him to have trouble concentrating. It was not until half way through 5th grade that we finally got the correct diagnosis of dyslexia. It finally all made sense. I just wish we'd gotten the diagnosis much earlier and saved DS many tears of frustration. |
Anonymous
|
Copywork and narration. Have your dc sit down every day and do copywork. You can keep it minimal at first and slowly include more. Pick a sentence out of good literature and have him copy it. Gradually work your way up to a few sentences to a paragraph. Then, read passages out of some good literature and have him answer some questions about it in the story order. Once he's used to that, have him narrate to you what happened in the passages. You can write it down and then read it to him so he can see how it sounds. Lastly, after he has become pretty good at that have him write down his narration of the story.
Doing these will help him understand how to properly form sentences and paragraphs and how to make his thoughts more fluid. It seems counter to all the "creative" writing that is required by the schools, but it is sometimes very difficult for children to be able to express their thoughts on paper. This takes out the need to think of a topic on their own and write about it which involves 2 steps. Once they are comfortable knowing how to write out thoughts, it can be easier to get their own creative thoughts on paper. |
Anonymous
|
Copywork and narration. Have your dc sit down every day and do copywork. You can keep it minimal at first and slowly include more. Pick a sentence out of good literature and have him copy it. Gradually work your way up to a few sentences to a paragraph. Then, read passages out of some good literature and have him answer some questions about it in the story order. Once he's used to that, have him narrate to you what happened in the passages. You can write it down and then read it to him so he can see how it sounds. Lastly, after he has become pretty good at that have him write down his narration of the story.
Doing these will help him understand how to properly form sentences and paragraphs and how to make his thoughts more fluid. It seems counter to all the "creative" writing that is required by the schools, but it is sometimes very difficult for children to be able to express their thoughts on paper. This takes out the need to think of a topic on their own and write about it which involves 2 steps. Once they are comfortable knowing how to write out thoughts, it can be easier to get their own creative thoughts on paper. |
Anonymous
| Sorry for the double post! |