It sounds like he doesn’t know how to properly outline/prewrite, for starters. Coupled with mediocre grades on the paper, I think he could use an actual writing course. I would get a tutor for the assignment help, but also enroll him in an online writing program. This will really bite him if he doesn’t figure out how to write well. It’s a skill needed in nearly all subject matter

Why does this infuriate you? It may have started as one time writer’s block but your hovering and frustration are now feeding it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got an online tutor and did not allow it to be a choice. Now he likes working with the tutor who is a big help.

Thank you. I think I’ll have to go that route too

Mine was completely against it at first but we found a good fit and it’s been great. Kid does the same thing.

Did you have to go through several candidates before you found the one?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does he have problems starting? A blank page can be intimidating. Can you give him some tips, like outline, jot down some ideas, just get anything on paper, then come back to it 10 minutes later and start revising it?

Right now he is stuck in the middle from what I can see. I do give him tips but he just wouldn’t listen. I went so far as to dictate him two or three generic paragraphs which he could then customize but when I looked they were completely erased.

When you say he sits and procrastinates, do you mean literally sitting there stuck or he's playing with his phone, etc?

I take away his phone but he has a Chromebook with internet so unfortunately still some possibilities.
He’s been known to sit there with the book and a blank sheet of paper though (that was last year). He was reading the book instead of writing

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We got an online tutor and did not allow it to be a choice. Now he likes working with the tutor who is a big help.

Thank you. I think I’ll have to go that route too

Mine was completely against it at first but we found a good fit and it’s been great. Kid does the same thing.

Anonymous wrote:We got an online tutor and did not allow it to be a choice. Now he likes working with the tutor who is a big help.

Thank you. I think I’ll have to go that route too

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Does he have problems starting? A blank page can be intimidating. Can you give him some tips, like outline, jot down some ideas, just get anything on paper, then come back to it 10 minutes later and start revising it?

Right now he is stuck in the middle from what I can see. I do give him tips but he just wouldn’t listen. I went so far as to dictate him two or three generic paragraphs which he could then customize but when I looked they were completely erased.

When you say he sits and procrastinates, do you mean literally sitting there stuck or he's playing with his phone, etc?

We got an online tutor and did not allow it to be a choice. Now he likes working with the tutor who is a big help.

Anonymous wrote:Does he have problems starting? A blank page can be intimidating. Can you give him some tips, like outline, jot down some ideas, just get anything on paper, then come back to it 10 minutes later and start revising it?

Right now he is stuck in the middle from what I can see. I do give him tips but he just wouldn’t listen. I went so far as to dictate him two or three generic paragraphs which he could then customize but when I looked they were completely erased.

Does he have problems starting? A blank page can be intimidating. Can you give him some tips, like outline, jot down some ideas, just get anything on paper, then come back to it 10 minutes later and start revising it?

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:To add, he did not have this problem in MS, not that I remember.

It’s probably because he didn’t have to write much of anything in MS. Schools aren’t teaching kids how to write. Id look into some classes on Outschool. IEW is another good choice but might be too time consuming at this
Point

Thanks, so I should insist even if he says he doesn’t need any help or tutoring?
I think they do teach him and he is even provided sample essays but he insists he doesn’t need to do any prep work, ugh

Anonymous wrote:To add, he did not have this problem in MS, not that I remember.

It’s probably because he didn’t have to write much of anything in MS. Schools aren’t teaching kids how to write. Id look into some classes on Outschool. IEW is another good choice but might be too time consuming at this
Point

To add, he did not have this problem in MS, not that I remember.

DS is 15 and in 10th grade. Ever since last year he has issues with his writing. He gets a writing assignment (anywhere from 2 to 5 pages) and just sits and procrastinates for hours on end instead of writing. He then comes up with maybe 1/3 of the assignment and asks for an extension. He then drags it out even further and ends up with a missing assignment which he then finally submits and then there’s a quest to make sure his grade is updated.
He refuses my help, doesn’t want a tutor, he produces ok work (B- or C+) but it just takes him forever and infuriates me to no end.

Is there any way I can help him get unstuck?! He doesn’t have this issue with any other homework (he can forget or skip but if he does it he does it within a reasonable timeline).

Interestingly he doesn’t hate writing and even writes for pleasure sometimes. But schoolwork is just something else!