helping my daughter with writing and spelling in an unschool-y way?
staceyraeme@...
Yesterday my 9 yo daughter asked if I would “teach” her how to write. After a bit of conversation, I understand that she wants to work on her spelling and on her printing which she feels is messy. I think she is asking because she has been writing a book with two (schooled) friends and has noticed the other girls spell and write more easily than she does. She also admires one of the girl’s neat printing.
My daughter has been unschooled for almost two years. She went to school until the end of grade 2 and had a lot of trouble with spelling in school. Studying for spelling tests usually led to frustration and tears. When she left school she really could not spell at all and for a long time avoided writing – by hand or on computer. Recently I have noticed that she is writing more independently and her spelling is improving which I have assumed is related to improved reading as well as to writing she has been doing as part of other activities she enjoys like designing board games, playing videogames and messaging on her ipod.
Anyway, I am wondering how to support her in ways that will meet her desire to be ‘taught’ how to write but will be fun and not stressful for us both. I think the things she has already been doing are probably the best way to learn to write but she seems to want something more focused – and maybe she wants to improve faster. She mentioned a workbook but I am not sure that would be effective or fun in the end. Thanks!
Sandra Dodd
If she has asked or hinted for a workbook and you get one for her, it doesn’t matter whether you’re sure that it would be effective or fun in the end. What will have happened is that you said “Sure!”
Maybe you could look for something about italic writing (don’t look for “calligraphy” because they’re going to be talking about pens and ink and nibs, and that’s too much). You could probably find some printable worksheets online pretty easily and let her help you find some that look interesting to her.
The evil of a workbook is in someone else trying to make a child do it, and do it right, and do it in order. If you give it to her just as you would a coloring book or a book of mazes or connect-the-dots, and if she plays with it and learns something, fine. And if she doesn’t, it’s not a big deal.
Doing mazes and dot-to-dots can help with handwriting, too, just in getting pencils/pens/markers to do what one envisions. You can find printables of those, too, or order things online (if you’re not near a store that has some).
-=- she is writing more independently and her spelling is improving which I have assumed is related to improved reading as well as to writing she has been doing as part of other activities she enjoys like designing board games, playing videogames and messaging on her ipod.-=-
Getting older and farther (in time and space and thought) from school helps, too.
-=-Yesterday my 9 yo daughter asked if I would “teach” her how to write. After a bit of conversation, I understand that she wants to work on her spelling and on her printing which she feels is messy.-=-
If there are particular letters she’s having a hard time with, maybe you could show her how you print them. Maybe you could critique something she’s written—not an extensive critique of every flaw, but something she’s doing consistently, perhaps—just point it out and show her another way or two to do it.
Pointers can be like ten-second “lessons” and that might satisfy her desire and quell her fear without you feeling too teacherly.
Sandra
Clare Kirkpatrick
" She mentioned a workbook but I am not sure that would be effective or fun in the end"
Puzzle books are just adult versions of early years workbooks. The measure as to whether something should be avoided or not is not 'is this allowed if I've signed myself up to unschooling?' or 'is this effective?' but 'does my child want this?' and 'Is my child enjoying this?'
Effectiveness is irrelevant. Fun is vital. When it stops being fun, she can stop doing the workbook.
I would say 'sure, I'll help you learn how to write more neatly. What about a book designed for that? And a new pen? If you practice often, your handwriting will get neater just like your piano playing or hula-hooping or archery will improve if you practice'.
Try not to dismiss an interest just because it's linked in your head with school and you've decided to unschool. My children love having me throw words at them to spell. They like being given sums too and they like trivia quizzes. They enjoy the challenge of testing what they know. They stop enjoying it if it's too hard but, because we unschool, I can tailor the questions to suit what they want to get out of that few minutes in that moment. It's joyful and fun. I could say 'no, we don't do that kind of thing because we're unschooling'...but that wouldn't be good unschooling ;)
bobcollier@...
sldooley@...
When I started home schooling over two years ago I didn't know how to tackle handwriting. Although it wasn't too bad for his age ( 7 then ), he was reluctant to do it. I remembered a French-Canadian film I had seen recently, in which a clueless teacher had tried dictation. This worked very well in the film so I thought I'd give it a go.
It worked like a dream and I'm still doing it now. I usually dictate poetry, which is great for punctuation. Sometimes a passage from a favourite book or on a subject he's interested in is equally successful. He says he likes it because he "forgets" what he's doing when he's listening to the words. So in this way I think writing comes naturally.
Any words he has misspelt or written badly he writes again afterwards. The improvement in his handwriting was remarkable. I am visited once a year by an education officer from the local authority, and she was very impressed with his progress.
I'm quite new to unschooling but getting there. I would describe myself as a semi-structured unschooler becoming slowly less structured! I know that no method will work for everyone but I hope you find one that works for you and your daughter.
Best Wishes,
Sharron Dooley
Joyce Fetteroll
bad for his age ( 7 then ), he was reluctant to do it. ***
What you did sounds more like relaxed homeschooling than unschooling. To learn a skill relaxed homeschoolers find activities their kids enjoy or don't mind.
With unschooling kids learn skills as a side effect of doing activities they freely choose. It's pretty much the opposite of schooling. They learn punctuation and spelling as a side effect of reading text they enjoy and writing to those who want to read what they write.
When a child asks to learn something, the parents becomes a source of resources but doesn't turn into a teacher. The child will choose the activities. When they're done, they're done.
Joyce
Alex & Brian Polikowsky
Sent from my iPhone
On May 18, 2016, at 9:21 PM, Joyce Fetteroll jfetteroll@... [AlwaysLearning] <[email protected]> wrote:
*** I didn't know how to tackle handwriting. Although it wasn't too
bad for his age ( 7 then ), he was reluctant to do it. ***
What you did sounds more like relaxed homeschooling than unschooling. To learn a skill relaxed homeschoolers find activities their kids enjoy or don't mind.
With unschooling kids learn skills as a side effect of doing activities they freely choose. It's pretty much the opposite of schooling. They learn punctuation and spelling as a side effect of reading text they enjoy and writing to those who want to read what they write.
When a child asks to learn something, the parents becomes a source of resources but doesn't turn into a teacher. The child will choose the activities. When they're done, they're done.
Joyce
Sandra Dodd
If it’s his idea and he’s having fun, that’s not so bad. If you’re pressing, scheduling and requiring, then it’s “getting cold” rather than the “getting warmer” you need to move toward unschooling better.
Sandra