December 26, 2007

Reluctant Writers - part 1 The Early Years

Every family seems to have one, or more. They dread the moment they hear words like writing, paragraph or even sentence! You wonder if they'll ever choose to communicate in the written word and knowing how important it is in every aspect of life, you wonder if not writing will cause them to live with you forever. :) The Reluctant Writer or in some cases, the obstinate "no way on this planet" writer…how do we break through and convince these students the importance of writing well?

First of all, we need to examine what could be causing students to feel incapable of writing. The four most common reasons include:

1. The act of writing is painful or physically uncomfortable - It is essential that we teach our students how to hold a pencil properly, correct paper position and proper letter formation in the early years. It may seem obvious to some, but students can develop some pretty uncomfortable and messy habits if left to their own devices. As well, students who do not have proper writing instruction initially will be slower writers resulting in frustration later when their hands can't keep up with their brains.

2. Insecurity - Students will often have unexpressed fear of not being able to do the job well or feel unsure that they have the ability to develop ideas needed for writing. Even when students do express fears, they are often overlooked because parents and teachers think that all kids have these issues on some level. When your child expresses such concerns, be sure to reassure him that while it is not uncommon to feel some anxiety, the best way to get past such feelings is to jump in and write! Also, make sure your student knows that you will not be overly critical at first and then make every effort not to be critical. When evaluating your student, especially in those early years, always point out positives before negatives and try not to focus more on negatives than positives.

3. Perfectionism - Students who tend to be perfectionists don't often enjoy writing because it's about impossible to get it right the first time around. They don't like to see their errors, let alone correct them. Writing causes uncomfortable feelings as compared to their workbook pages that are orderly and have one correct answer for each problem. Writing is also very abstract and may seem ambiguous, again leaving room for error that makes a perfectionist squirm.

4. It's hard work! - It is rare for a child to want to do any job that is difficult. This is particularly true when you get to the editing and re-writing stages of the process. Writing can be discouraging for many students because they like to do a job and be done with it.

So, what can be done to prevent at least some of the above issues? How can we start early and create a writer mentality? To begin with, from early on focus on proper physical writing skills. By Kindergarten, students should be focusing on forming letters properly and holding pencils correctly. Staying on top of these skills and correcting any bad habits that might occur is wise. In 1st - 3rd grades, forming words and short sentences should be the primary concern. These skills are best achieved through modeling (you writing and your student modeling after you) and copy work (excerpts pulled from books that exhibit strong writing).

In most cases, you don't want to push thought based writing prior to 3rd grade. Unless your student demonstrates an obvious interest and the abilities required to get his thoughts on paper in some organized fashion, this type of writing can be very frustrating for young students. They often lack the experience and maturity to transfer thoughts to the written word.

Encouraging a student to express himself verbally from early on by asking questions and discussing his thoughts on various topics will often lead to stronger writing later. The ability to organize and present thoughts verbally is a precursor to organizing and presenting thoughts in writing. Discuss things that happen each day, what he observes and what he thinks about a wide variety of things. Make thinking and processing a habit for your student by practicing it with him.

Set up situations for your student to experience success. This is most easily done in young students by providing early writing activities that are enjoyable. Incorporate "fun" writing projects to work together on such as making greeting cards, writing simple sentences to label illustrations, and creating mini-books and lap books. (Epi Kardia users see your Parent Manual for lap book instructions and unit booklets for lapbook ideas.) Give strong, sincere, positive feedback referring to your student as a writer and point out what he does that makes him a writer.

Discuss the importance of writing and point out situations where writing is necessary. Look at the relevance of it in real life whether it's at the doctor's office or the fact that there isn't a television show that could be produced without writers. Talk about how written communication leads to wonderful things such as the Bible, poetry, beloved stories, plays, music, computers etc. Discuss what the world would be like without writing. How many great experiences would we miss if no one knew how to write?

Model writing for your student. Point out the times when you use writing to communicate more easily. Draw attention to the many times a day you have to use your writing skills and how difficult life would be if you couldn't write.

Read, read, read with your student. Oral and shared reading builds a student's confidence in understanding the written word. There is a direct correlation on standardized testing between comprehension and writing skills. Just as reading is incorporated into all subjects, so is writing.

Don't treat writing like an academic subject. Approach it as a life skill. Compare writing to exercising your mind just like running or swimming is exercising your body. Make sure your student understands that writing is skill to used to become a better student in all areas.

As with most things of value in this life, writing begins early and should be practiced often. With the early years, encouragement and success are vital. A good attitude early on will go a long way! Don't be discouraged, however, if you have a writer past the early years already. Be looking for Reluctant Writers - Part 2 Middle Years and Self-Editing which will be published soon.