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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm a mom of a reluctant writer.  He has an avid reading with an incredible vocabulary.  He has hated writing since kindergarten.  He's now in middle school.  His private school has shied away from "teaching" writing.  Teachers assume writing will happen spontaneously. 
Reading and writing are different skill sets. Reading or watching is more passive consuming.  Just because I enjoy eating doesn't mean I know how to cook!  I've heard so many early childhood teachers say, "Love of reading is the most important thing for literacy and writing.  Have a lot of books lying around."  They mistakenly think teaching mechanics of writing somehow kills creativity.

Writing requires many executive functioning and cognitive skills that might need explicit teaching or support, depending on the students' learning style.  
If teachers don't have the time to give individualized instruction or feedback on sentence or paragraph composition, I agree with the value of writing tutors.  I also highly recommend Killgallon's Sentence Composing and Paragraph for Middle School, etc. There are different levels for elementary, middle, and high schools.

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There is no way that I would sacrifice my hard-earned dollars for a private school that does not emphasize the teaching of writing skills. That is the number one reason my kids are in private schools. "Teaching" writing is essential, as "writing" is simply a skill. Like every skill - dancing, singing, cooking, driving, swinging a golf club -- it can be done very well (as in, professionally), or extremely poorly, and at every level in between. Also like every other skill, it is repetition, practice, and instruction/ correction by someone more knowledgable that improves ability.

No one has said that proficient reading makes a good writer, but I know very few excellent writers who are not, coincidentally, proficient readers. So yes, reading does help hone writing.[/quote]

PP here.  To clarify, our school professes to do a great job with writing using Writers' Workshop.  I would have had no way of knowing the inadequacies of the writing curriculum when we were applying at the preschool level.  Totally agree with you - some teachers are great at breaking down the steps and teaching the skills that build over the years.  Some teachers don't believe in modeling sentences, teaching grammar in isolation, or anything that remotely resembles 'drill' or 'practice.'  Unfortunately, my kid can't internalize writing skills just by reading great writers.  Writing is hard for working parents to 'teach' without infinite time or patience week after week.  So depending on the year, I have outsourced it to a tutor who is more fun and attuned to the cognitive and planning process required of good writing.  [/quote]

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