Not engaging in writing AT ALL

[grey12]

Hi!

I just started homeschooling this year. Year1 and Year3.

We have had to figure each other out and how to do this thing 😅😅 but we're getting there!

However I'm really struggling with getting them to practice writing. I'm all out of ideas. Please! Anything at all, anything That you have tried I want to hear it! 😅

I have tried asking them to write about Elsa (2 girls), their favourite TV show, a holiday we went to recently,......... not much comes out.....

They can read pretty well. But spelling and writing they need to improve. It would help if they just wrote a few sentences......

Please help!

Thank you ❤️

[sagalooshoe]

Do you want them to practice the skill of pen to paper, or creative writing? Creative writing is tricky for all ages.
Maybe just get them to copy out a page from their favourite book each day with the picture?

[grey12]

Both

But that is a great idea! Thanks!!! Especially for the youngest. She's quite defiant and I'm struggling more with her. The older I can get her to practice words and whatnot.

[Animatedapple]

Try some more fun ways of writing. Chalk on pavement / pens that can write on windows / using foam soap etc. Salt or sand tray.

doesn’t have to be pencil and paper at all.

Or give them a real purpose for writing. Shopping lists or letters to ask you to buy sweets or something. they need a purpose and a reward that is linked to the writing.

[JamesPringle]

Will they draw cartoons and write out the speech and thought bubbles? Also maybe introduce it outside in a more exciting game- let's go outside and see what brands of cars we see / types of trees / the shops on our street and then write them down?
Also you can get them to write notes to hide in a game, or notes from one toy to another... Make writing fun and keep it that way for a good while before getting them to sit down to do a specific writing task.

[SaltyGod]

I agree with making it part of another activity.

eg play shops so maths is the till and they can write a receipt

or write a shopping list and tick it off as you go around the supermarket

or write a note to the tooth fairy

or a treasure hunt with clues

My kids are fairly keen writers (one never used to be but it’s has recently blossomed) and there is no way they’d sit down and write a story about Elsa simply because I’d asked.

Are you working on certain phonics or spelling, is it penmanship you’re focusing on? There are lots of good apps for spelling and mine like a workbook.

At Y1 they find writing tiring, I would aim for a few sentences and second the chalk or paint options too. More fun, less stress

[determinedtomakethiswork]

Can you say why you're not sending them to school?

[grey12]

@determinedtomakethiswork we moved country and school here would have to be private. They are quite expensive. Of course, if this doesn't work, we'll have to make do!

But the main reason is just plain disappointment in the UK school system.....

My oldest was struggling a lot and not getting any help. She was the youngest, shy, and had some very minor developmental issues at first. All of this meant that she was always behind her peers. And the schools never allowed for her to repeat the year. You should see the huge gaps she has......

Also they had no time to play! My children got 20min for lunch!!! And little breaks for playing! How is this ok?! And many parents start getting tutors from the age of 7!!!! Insane!!

We wanted to try something different. Be able to do more extracurricular activities, for example.

[stayathomer]

Writing letters to relatives with pictures?

[grey12]

@SaltyGod I think I need to try some apps with the youngest. I had a good one for the oldest.
But at y3, the oldest is supposed to write more than a couple of sentences.....

[SoupDragonsFriend]

My long-term home-educated children are now grown up (and thriving). Here are a few ideas.

• Keep encouraging the reading.
• Go gently on correcting spelling. Try unobtrusively to get the most common words sorted first - search for a list of KS1 100 high frequency words. In my experience, pressure on spelling was a killer for encouraging writing - maybe it was just me!
• Make sure the children use a comfortable, correct pencil grip when they write.
• Fine motor skills strengthen writing muscles - drawing small pictures or patterns, playing with little Lego pieces or making construction kits, DIY-type activities with nails and screws, cooking fiddly food or decorating it (pipe writing on cakes), jigsaws, sewing, making things for a dolls' house, careful cutting using scissors etc.
• If they like sums, writing maths is still developing skills for writing!
• Draw, write and send cards - post cards are good because they don't have much space on them so don't seem so daunting. Even better is if the recipient will write back.
• And moving on from that, find excuses to write letters. Years ago, my writing-reluctant youngest wrote a short one to an animal charity about how angry he was about how battery hens were treated (something he felt strongly about). They wrote a lovely letter back together with some magazines, posters and stickers.
• Fill in paper forms relating to them together (eg. an application for a library card or to get a ticket for a home-ed trip). They can do their names and address.
• Write and illustrate a family cookbook. They can do the easy bits and pictures to start with and you can write the longer stuff. You might be able to give copies as presents.
• Let them take photos, print them out and put them in personal albums which they label themselves. Even doing a place name or a date is writing.
• If you can afford it, buy some blank fridge magnet strips you can write on (like the 'word poetry' kits). Write up a load of useful words to make sentences - include silly words - jumble them, and see who can make the most outrageous one. Get them to copy out the best silly sentence each day. If magnetic strip is too expensive, just cut out words on paper and use blutack.
• Label anything - one spring, I got youngest reluctant writer to do the labels for all the seeds I'd planted. There were an awful lot of seeds but he seemed happy doing it.

etc. etc Good luck!🙂

[Objectionhearsayspeculation]

We ended up getting a letter from my Aunt (not elderly but likes "old fashioned pen and paper and letters that aren't bills"). I didn't think it would work but my really reluctant writer will actually write back now because she likes getting post and they happily write back and forth (she doesn't write an essay by any means but it's written!).
We also got 3 months free Banjo Robinson who is a travelling cat who writes once a month with activities related to where he is. She loves him and he's good value but I wish I hadn't started now as I don't know how I'm going to pay for it after next month.