Mommy The Writing Teacher

So you're a writing teacher.  Congratulations!  The road is bumpy, to be sure, but oh my!  The rewards are sweet!

You need to know two things right now--where you'll start (preschool age) and where you'll end up (middle/high school level).

When you begin with your preschooler, you'll want to establish a desire for writing, and a need.

- Let your child see you write grocery lists, letters, reminder notes, and a journal (online doesn't count yet).

- Wait for an interest to develop, evidenced by your child frequently wanting to have a pencil, pen or a crayon in hand.  Then, have your preschooler start a journal in which she draws first and then labels, using whatever sounds she hears in the picture words (if it's a sun and she only knows s, have her label the sun with an s .....or the ball with a b......or the train with a t.  As she learns more sounds, encourage her to include a middle and/or an ending sound, if she hears them easily.

- You will have to do the sounding out with your child.  They don't do it alone the first year.  It takes time to master this artificial stretching of sounds. Ask what is heard first...next....last. Don't force what they don't hear.  Accept whatever they give you.  Praise generously, mainly for effort.

Labeling is a wonderful emergent writing/reading activity.  You don't need to have taught handwriting before starting with labeling.  You aren't worrying about penmanship at this point.  Accomplish the s hand over hand, or just let your child attempt it solo (from a model).

- I like Handwriting Without Tears for beginning penmanship.  It doesn't start with pencil/paper, but with formed wooden pieces.  My kids love it!

- Once your child likes to label, ask him if he wants to write his own grocery lists (same concept, sound out words, child records each sound he hears).  Have him make a picture to match each item on the grocery list (or you can do the picture).

- Read aloud often, choosing good literature with rich language, and picking plenty of rhyming books. Rhyming aids in developing phonemic awareness--which is an awareness of the number and position of sounds within words.  Phonics is different than phonemic awareness.  Phonics refers more to the concrete rules, while phonemic awareness refers to your child's ability to break down (segment) what she hears.  The more you read aloud and the more rhyme your child hears, the more trained her ear is, and the more ready she is to read and write.  Ideally, reading aloud should begin before age one.  They don't have to sit still to hear language!

- No matter how old your child is, continue with the read alouds--even into high school.  Try to choose books that seem about two years above your child's reading level.  This way, the vocabulary is new and the sentence structure is more sophisticated.  Reading aloud trains your child's ear for language.  Every great writer is also a great reader.

Know where you're headed  - Six Trait Writing 


Around second grade, you will train your child to use a planning web to come up with a topic and then supporting details.  The first written piece is a sloppy copy, followed by revisions, and then a final draft (this is called the writing process).

Later, around fourth grade, you'll expand the writing process training by introducing the six traits of good writing.

- voice
- ideas and content
- sentence fluency
- word choice
- organization
- conventions

Take the time to check out the Six Traits websites listed below.  They explain the Six Traits Writing method far better than I could.  You'll want to begin formally teaching the traits in about fourth grade, continuing through high school.  Once your child is familiar with the terms, begin pointing out the traits while you're reading good literature together.  You'll find teaching lessons for the traits on all three sites.  All these sites are user-friendly.  Start with the first one, for your primary student.

The Writing Process and  Types of Writing

Interactive Six Trait Writing Process

Kim's Korner

Why the tears?


- It is not uncommon for kids to fuss about writing time in the elementary years.  While this could be a sign that you're pushing too hard, it's more likely the fact that writing is a higher-level thinking activity, making it challenging on a number of levels.  Worksheets, in contrast, are low-level thinking, usually.  When a child is asked to produce something from scratch, whether it be a journal entry, or a bar graph for math, it's far more involved and overwhelming than merely filling in blanks.  Break it down as much as you can, saying what you want accomplished the first day.

- When your child hands over her latest piece to you, put on a cheery face, no matter how many errors you see.  We tend to be very corrective, as teachers.  Squash that, and pick two to three complimentary things to say first, followed by one or two corrections, ending with more specific praise, including praise for effort. Think positive, negative, positive....rather than negative, negative, negative, positive, in terms of how you deal with your child's pieces.

- Start doing some modeled writings when you first start whole-sentence journal writing.  Buy some half-size chart paper ( a large lap tablet with lines at the teacher store) and write your own journal entry with your child sitting next to you.  As you write, point out how you write from top to bottom and left to write, inserting finger spacing between words.  Model the sounding out by stretching out your words a bit, and recording each sound in order.  Talk about how you start with a capital at the beginning of the sentence, and also for names (more later on caps, don't overwhelm with rules at this point).  Talk about the ending period, and the other punctuation marks as they come up.  Your child will learn more each time he sees you write.  Younger siblings will learn something too.  Modeled writing is a multi-age activity, with each child picking up something at his level.

- If your child is reluctant to write her own sentence at first, give her a sentence frame to start with.  I like to _____.  I am good at __________.  We went to ____________.

- Auditory learners will be sound spellers.  They won't impress you with their spelling for a few more years.  It will take them longer to get to conventional spelling, so try not to worry about them or make too much of it.  In contrast, visual learners will have a good mental picture of the correct spellings, and they will be easily frustrated with sound spelling.  They will want you to tell them the correct spelling, because they just know something isn't right.  These are the kids who tend to shed the frustration tears--especially if they are perfectionists.

My second grader is auditory and is just now starting some conventional spelling of the first twenty-five sight words.  My six-year-old son has a gifted visual memory and he spells far better than my other son.  The six year old is also the one who calls to me, wherever I am in the house, "How do you spell house again?"  I just go ahead and tell him.  Do what you think makes sense for each child, in the elementary years.  But preschoolers should definitely start with sound spelling.

- If you purchased a writing curriculum already, use it as a resource only.  Remember that you are teaching a child, not a curriculum.  Curriculum can get in the way of real teaching, which I like to think of as a conversation with the learner.  The learner produces something, and the teacher looks at it to see what is already known, and what needs to be taught.  If we blindly follow a curriculum, we are no longer responding to the needs of our learner.

- Finally, remember that writing is a years-long process.  Your child is an individual and will develop at his own pace.  If the tears come too often, back off and do more modeled writing.

Happy Writing!  And save the journals!  They are true keepsakes.

the measure of a man

Luke 10:25-28
On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus.  "Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"


"What is written in the law?" he replied.  "How do you read it?"


He answered: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind' and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' "


"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied.  "Do this and you will live."




Really reflecting on the above verses today.  What strikes me is this:  


Life is about relationship--with God, then others.  We were created for relationship.


Life isn't about:
- our to-do list
- our talents
- our dust bunnies
- the quality of our clothing, car, house, possessions
- how smart we are
- how glamorous our careers
- what side of the tracks we come from
- education
- how neat our flower beds are (can you tell I'm aching for neat, cheery flower beds?)


If we summed up a man by the quality of his relationships, rather than by his job and what he drives, things would change in amazing ways.


If we summed up a woman by the quality of her relationships, rather than by her stylish clothing, neat flower beds, fine china, extra-curricular activities, and well-behaved children, wouldn't that be amazing?


All the other measures of a person?  Fleeting.  The next recession can wipe out many of them--or the next hurricane, tornado, earthquake, flood or fire.


Sadly, the things we fill our lives with only take us further from happiness, which is what we were after in the first place!  We then have no time to nurture our relationship with our Lord, or with our family and neighbors.  


Choosing simplicity is fringe.  Perhaps it's slowly making a comeback, but the majority of people still have full schedules and lots of stuff to manage.  And their next acquisition looms.  


It takes strong conviction to live differently.  Different is isolating.  If we make relationship the meaning of life, rather than the procurement of status symbols, we won't fit in with the Joneses anymore.  And what will they think of us?  


Only this:


"Wow!  That's one insanely happy family!"




Daily Blessings for Saturday


- mealtime Scripture


- dancing with my children


- kids piling on me for hugs


- Saturday night pancakes with berries


- my son, the chef (he can almost do the entire pancake recipe himself now, complete with flipping them)


- nursing my baby, seeing her body relax, feeling my own relax from the hormones released


- pitching the ball to my kids, who get so excited over their hits


- a fenced yard


- the power of Scripture 


- my boys' thoughtful expressions, as I explain that life is all about relationship


- job loss and an unstable economy, because it took head truth and made it heart truth.














 

how do you spend your time?

I found this thoughtful post about getting distracted by outside pursuits.

U.S. Census-worker training is complete.  Workers will now be knocking on your door if you haven't yet returned your Census form.  The statistics collected help decide Congressional seats.  States can lose seats if too many forms aren't turned in.

team of bloggers in Dominican Republic

A team of bloggers sponsored by World Vision will be in the Dominican Republic next week.  Here is a preview post.

color my world happy

The older three needed something to keep them busy while I nursed Beth down for her morning nap.  This guaranteed a mess, but I knew they would stay safe.  

Much to my delight, they painted a picture of happiness. Something to color my world.  

When your baby or toddler leaves you a substantial mess after every meal--after every activity for that matter--you begin to say to yourself, "What's one more mess?"  You squash the ever-ready "no", replacing it with "why not?".  

I will hang their mural in the playroom, to be looked at each time frustration threatens to trump patience.  Lately, that's hourly around here.

They actually gathered up all the paint brushes and put them in the sink in a cup of water.  All the paints were back in the box.  My sinful tongue began to make something of the carelessly screwed on caps (surely to result in spilled paint).  All those days of Proverbs--with an emphasis on the sinful tongue--stopped me short.  Instead, I said, "You boys are maturing nicely!  You took care of the paint brushes and paints without being asked!"

My boy flashed me a heart-melting, ear-to-ear smile, causing my Momma eyes to tear up.

There are a lot of reasons to become a mother--all very compelling.   But among the most important?  

Motherhood melts your heart, over and over again.  

A melted heart is a beautiful heart--a God-pleasing heart.

Earlier paintings, celebrating spring: