Posted by Karin on 16:05 Sep 13
In Reply to: Back again (so soon, too!), this time with writing problems (long, sorry) posted by Sydney in NJ
So far, you have a variety of suggestions. How about not starting with a totally blank page? Perhaps you could have an opening sentence already there...and it could be on a smaller piece of paper so it's not so overwhelming. ie, start small. Or, have him tell a story into a tape recorder and then write what he's dictated as he listens back to it. Some people think better this way, and it could jumpstart him on this process, since obviously he can't do that on an essay exam. Some people just aren't writers, despite the fact that we need this skill to obtain our education and many jobs. But let me tell you, there are a lot of successful people out there who can't write worth beans...I've edited for a few of them.
My dd, 10, isn't big on Writing Strands, but she's doing it until I can afford to get Writing the Novel Way (but she's an entirely different kettle of fish because she loves to write and illustrate her own stories, just not to do any other writing.)
IEW is expensive. Is your ds visual-spatial? If so, google that...there's a website on this that has resources good for visual-spatial learners including ways to teach writing.