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  The Middle Years and Reluctant Writers – Part 3 High School and Beyond, which will be published soon.

Wishing your family a wonderful Christmas season!!

Beth

Hi Everyone!

We are thrilled to bring you the first blog post of Epi Kardia Home Education!

We are planning on using this forum to bless and encourage you as you homeschool your children.  We are “in the trenches” with you, but as we have been homeschooling a while now and have both graduated children who are currently attending college successfully, we know we are further down the path than many of you.  We hope to be an encouragement to you as well as offer practical help to aid you in your endeavor to educate your children, both spiritually and academically.

We also would like this to be interactive.  Please feel free to comment on our posts, ask questions, share your joys, your challenges, and what is going on at your house.

Additionally, we write unit study curricula using “real” books that integrate the subjects of history, science, language arts (grammar, spelling, composition, literature, poetry) and fine arts, so we also plan to provide helpful teaching tips, an occasional free form or lesson, new book reviews, and more. We hope you will check back often. If you would like to have new posts ‘delivered to your door’, please join our mailing list.  Read about your free thank you gifts for signing up by checking out this page on the Epi Kardia web site.

A friend recently sent a post said to have been contributed to by English teachers across the country, who sent actual analogies and metaphors used by their students in high school essays. Enjoy by reading them yourself, or, add a little humor to a writing lesson by following these steps:

Part I  Teach or review these definitions:

Simile–a figure of speech comparing two things using the words “like” or “as”.  Example:  My love is like a red, red rose. This is the first line of a poem by Robert Burns, found here:

http://www.poetsgraves.co.uk/Classic%20Poems/Burns/a_red,_red_rose.htm

Metaphor–a figure of speech comparing two unlike things.  Example:  The name of the Lord is a strong tower. Proverbs 18:10 What does the author want to tell you about the name of the Lord by comparing it to a strong tower?

Analogy–a comparison between two things that are alike in some way.  Example:  Your body can be compared with a car and food to fuel.  What other analogies can you think of (a heart is like a pump, etc.)?

Part II After discussing the definitions, read the following list with your student, and discuss whether each sentence uses a simile, metaphor or analogy.  State which two things are compared in each sentence. (Note:  some of the answers are debatable!) Have fun!

1. Her face was a perfect oval, like a circle that had its two sides gently compressed by a Thigh Master.

2. His thoughts tumbled in his head, making and breaking alliances like underpants in a dryer without Cling Free.

3. He spoke with the wisdom that can only come from experience, like a guy who went blind because he looked at a solar eclipse without one of th ose boxes with a pinhole in it and now goes around the country speaking at high schools about the dangers of looking at a solar eclipse without one of those boxes with a pinhole in it.

4. She grew on him like she was a colony of E. Coli, and he was room-temperature Canadian beef.

5. She had a deep, throaty, genuine laugh, like that sound a dog makes just before it throws up.

6. Her vocabulary was as bad as, like, whatever.

7. He was as tall as a six-foot, three-inch tree.

8. The little boat gently drifted across the pond exactly the way a bowling ball wouldn’t.

9. McBride fell 12 stories, hitting the pavement like a Hefty bag filled with vegetable soup.

10. From the attic came an unearthly howl. The whole scene had an eerie, surreal quality, like when you’re on vacation in another city and Jeopardy comes on at 7:00 p.m. instead of 7:30.

11. Her hair glistened in the rain like a nose hair after a sneeze.

12. Long separated by cruel fate, the star-crossed lovers raced across the grassy field toward each other like two freight trains, one having left Cleveland at 6:36 p.m. traveling at 55 mph, the other from Topeka at 4:19 p.m. at a speed of 35 mph.

13. They lived in a typical suburban neighborhood with picket fences that resembled Nancy Kerrigan’s teeth.

14. John and Mary had never met. They were like two hummingbirds who had also never met.

15. He fell for her like his heart was a mob informant, and she was the East River.

16. Even in his last years, Granddad had a mind like a steel trap, only one that had been left out so long, it had rusted shut.

17. Shots rang out, as shots are wont to do.

18. The plan was simple, like my brother-in-law Phil. But unlike Phil, this plan just might work.

19. The young fighter had a hungry look, the kind you get from not eating for a while.

20. He was as lame as a duck. Not the metaphorical lame duck, either, but a real duck that was actually lame, maybe from stepping on a land mine or something.

21. The ballerina rose gracefully en Pointe and extended one slender leg behind her, like a dog at a fire hydrant.

22. It was an American tradition, like fathers chasing kids around with power tools.

23. He was deeply in love. When she spoke, he thought he heard bells, as if she were a garbage truck backing up.

Part III  Extend the lesson by having your student rewrite a specified number of the sentences, or his own sentences, using better comparisons. Make sure to have him include all three types of comparisons in his sentences.

Ideas for other lessons: research Robert Burns, the poet mentioned in Part I.  Write a short report on his life and poetry. Find other examples of his poetry, and identify similes, metaphors and analogies.

We hope you enjoyed your writing lesson! Let us know how it turned out! Have a blessed day, and come back and visit us soon!

Beth and Dana