How do I support DS (6) the best?

[Jojay]

I've just come back from parents evening and have been told that Ds is struggling a bit with his writing. He doesn't like writing and puts in the care minimum effort to get by.

In contrast, he loves reading, is on gold book band and that is generally going well. Maths too is a big hit and he's quite good at it I think. So just writing the problem, esp creative writing.

His targets are to add more description and viewpoints to his writing, and end of year SATS were mentioned re the importance of his writing improving.

What do I do about this at home? Part if me thinks he is so young, let him enjoy weekends not worrying about school work- they do get a small amount of homework already.

On the flip side though, I know that parental support can make all the difference and though I don't want to hothouse him, maybe a bit of extra help from me might be a good thing.

Any views, from teachers or parents most welcome, and I'm fully aware I should have asked his teachers that too, and I will do so tomorrow!

You could try getting him to tell stories out loud, or describe things in detail (match his interests and he might not even realise tou're doing this). It'll help with fluency and ordering thoughts, and you can supplement vocabulary by mirroring back what he says with more adjectives, different verbs etc.

Read to him and with him. A lot.

Soft pedal actual writing for now. But try activities which help fine motor skills - colouring, sewing, painting, model making etc.

When you read with him each evening(!), stop and talk to him about the descriptions the author uses. Ask him to describe places and things mentioned in the book and challenge him to think of alternative describing words to the ones the author used. When you finish reading a chapter or a book, ask him to retell you the story and then re-tell it again from little Red Riding Hood point of view, and then from the point of view of the wolf etc. You will probably have to do it to get him started, but it is a very fun game and will help him develop aspects of his social cognition like empathy as well as his writing.
When you talk to him about his day, push him to describe where the football match was held in more detail than just the name of the place. Ask him about the match, and detailed questions about the match, and then what the coach would say about the match, and then what the ref would say about the match etc. etc.

You can help his written communication by getting him to communicate more, and it works better if you do it every day rather than waiting for the weekend. And have fun with it.... :-)

Great advice, thank you. I agree with steering clear of actual writing for the time being, but done of those questioning techniques you've both mentioned sound great. We do read with him most nights so we can adapt your ideas,

Thanks again

If you have an audio recorder of some sort (and I guess some phones will do it, though I don't have a 'mobile' myself!) could he 'record' his story or description of events; maybe keep an 'audio diary'?

I am an able touch typist, and as a TA working with reluctant Yr2 boys I used to type to their dictation, and it was amazing the imaginative ideas they could produce when freed from the chore of pushing a pencil over paper! They were particularly good at blood-thirsty or alien stories.

Another thing I have recently suggested to some people (though this requires more effort on your part!) is to make a bank of 'word-cards', including punctuation symbols, that he could arrange into different sentences. It may be possible to purchase something similar, I guess.

(When our DS was young [25 years ago] at a jumble sale we got a word kit, Blackwells Spelling Workshop, which he loved using. I have just checked, and it is no longer available; you might possibly find on e-Bay)

jojay I had Parents Evening yesterday and could have written your post!

I've had a quick look at some of the ideas on this thread, very good they are too.

His teacher said that if he wants to achieve Level 3 in his SATs writing (which he is capable of) he needs to pull his finger put now and put on the work I.e. increase his output in his writing book.

I also agree with you re the weekends but I know that we've got to do something to help him fulfill his potential.

I bought educational insights sentence building dominos from Amazon for ds3 (7) and he loves using them.

Ok, this is my plan.

I've got 4 kids and DS is the eldest, so one to one time is tricky but much valued by DS. In the past when we've needed to talk about something I've left the others downstairs with DH while DS and I lie in my bed and talk.

He loves having me all to himself for a change, so I thought I could build on this by reading to him in bed, then we can talk about the story in the ways suggested above, but keel if low key, calling of our little treat etc.

Hopefully he won't see it as 'work' and will look forward to it
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Love the dictaphone idea too. He's a gadget fan so he'd think it was great, so we'll give that one a go too.

Thanks for your input everyone, I feel much better now we have a plan!

Bacon, I'm sure we are not alone, it's a common 'boy' problem I think, at the risk of being sexist!

Those dominoes look fab too, one for the Xmas list! Thanks Jinty.

I'm lucky ds3 (7) is my youngest. His brothers are 18 and 16 and I remember vaguely how difficult it was trying to find 1:1 time with either if them. I work so the last hour before ds goes to bed is dedicated to him. We lie on my bed and read, sing or talk about our his day. Ds tells the most amazing, descriptive stories but has real trouble getting it down on paper.

If you have a child that hates writing and does the bare minimum (I also have one such), you need to be careful that "encouraging" them to write doesn't just turn into a battlefield.

I'm a little shocked that so many have mentioned SATS as a driver to get their DC to improve - really no one cares how your DC does, they are unimportant - don't force them to work so they can get a Level 3 rather than 2a/2b ...

But as a suggestion .. DS (the writing hating one) likes making up stories where you each say a sentence or so and the next person join in. We make a game of it to include lots of (over the top) describing words and lead into the next person with a conjunction.

e.g. The scary wolf was feeling really hungry. But then ...

Jane was sitting in the exquisitely decorated garden on a perfectly ordinary day. Until ...

DS2 has terrible handwriting, although he enjoys writing stories etc. His teacher gives him 2 homeworks each week. One where she expects his neat handwriting (basically handwriting practice), one story writing where she doesn't comment on his handwriting but looks at the content. I have started to notice that his handwriting is starting to improve in the story side too.

Is the issue with his creativity around writing or does he not write because he doesn't enjoy the process? They are very different things. DS (9) is brilliant at reading, and maths, but has always struggled with the practical aspects of writing. I try to encourage him to write postcards when we're on holiday, fill in a journal etc. as fun ways to do little bits of writing without making him sit down to do exercises.

DS was taught cursive writing last year, and he tells me that he finds it a much easier way to write. May be worth chatting to the teacher about?

I'd second the advice to not do a lot of writing, but to focus on activities that build up finger strength such as play doh, climbing etc.

Story dice (on Amazon) could be played as a family.

DS's HT recommends audio stories to a sneaky way to broaden vocabulary. We've currently got one of the Narnia stories in the car. Have enjoyed Paddington, Mr Gum, Wind in the Willows.

redsky I absolutely agree with you about not turning it into a huge issue!

DS's issues are not a lack of creativity but more the lack of motivation!

Oh I remember this well. My sons writing was brought up all through his primary years...atrocious handwriting and little as possible. If its any consolation he's now in sixth form...doing a level philosophy,history and politics and predicted AAB. So...message is try not to worry too much, 'boys writing' is an issue nationally.

A great post beryl

In fact DS1 also struggled at primary level is now in Year 11 doing extremely well!

Think I should probably stop worrying........

We have a girl with 'boy style' writing who now thinks that because she's not producing reams of flowing script with hearts over the 'i' s she's not bright.

It's fustrating for her & me that she's not a star in year 2 but I know that she 'll power on through in the long game. Thankfully she's not my PFB else I'd be on here every day in tears.

We use talking books, story dice, roleplay, etc as we did with the older ones, since she was tiny and it really works. The reading has just 'clicked' and she's jumped to lime from purple back in July and reads for pleasure not as a chore.

We need to get writing in the same way. More tips please!!

Good to see where's not alone here!

DS and I did his homework together this weekend and I encouraged him to write a bit more than the bare minimum . He quite enjoyed it, and we went from' I am a swimmer' to ' The swimmer swam through rough waves and stormy oceans' for example, so an improvement.

I've spoken to his teacher today to make sure his homework get lots of stickers and gushing praise!