Tips to encourage reluctant 8 year old girl to practise writing?

[Brianthesnail1]

DD1 is in yr 3 has always struggled with her writing, both in terms of legibility, remembering correct use of capitals, and in thinking of what to say. She is now going backwards in terms of her "level", while in reading, maths and science she's doing great. I don't know how to help her. Her teacher suggested I look at the "Big Write" web site, but I haven't found anything helpful. I would be so grateful for any advice. Are some kids just late developers when it comes to writing?

I'm sorry I have no advice but my ds is exactly the same.
Watching and hoping someone has some ideas.

I also have exactly the same with my DS. Anyone have any ideas?

Bribery? Seriously, it's what I do with my DD, who is in Y2. You could offer small tokens/sweets/whatever treat you deem appropriate for every correct sentence, paragraph, or page depending on how severe the problem is. She is obviously a bright girl if she's doing well in the other subjects, so try to take some comfort in this. I'm sure Google/TES resources etc will have a plethora of worksheets you can try. Good luck.

The write your own storybook by Usbourne is lovely.

I wish I had some helpful advice. I'm an English teacher and my daughter, whilst bright, hates writing with a passion. I encourage neat handwriting. lots of praise. lots of exposure to all different types of writing. reading is invaluable for writing skills.

Thank you for all these suggestions. Also, it's reassuring that we're not the only ones! I think the issue has been made worse by poor teachers in yr1 and term 1 yr2, followed by a fantastic one for terms 2 and 3 yr2, followed by an average one now who's leaving soon, to be replaced by a job share....under these conditions it's really easy to get away with not trying hard. Last year DD's writing really improved. Now it's on the slide. Ah well, at least it's half term.

What about something like writing to a child in the third world who you may wish to sponsor - a bit random I know but it might be an incentive for your dd

That's a really good idea, eat your veg, and maybe she'll begin to understand how lucky we are to live in a country where we can take the availability of education for granted. My mil sponsors a child and it's something I've been meaning to investigate...have already been on the world vision web site, so thank you.

My year 5 girl was like this and she's just picked up. Not really any more accurate but she does enjoy writing now. We write together (often in nice notebooks). I mean I write my journal or just a piece of something that interested me that day and she writes in hers. She likes writing diary extracts as different charcters. Not every day and sometimes only a sentence. Also I dont make anything of it I just start writing. I believe that children learn by example but I've never made it work in any aspect but this!

Writing lists for desired Christmas presses!
I sometimes make DS write to get computer time privileges.

I wouldn't pressurise her but instead concentrate on reading lots. I know her reading is good now but keep reading and eventually everything will fall into place.

I used to write letters and postcards to my goddaughter when she went through this phase, she loved getting stuff in the post and would write back with day to day stuff that was going through her head (largely about next door's dog). I think it helped a bit.

Maybe take up sittingbull's offer or see if someone she likes but doesn't see that often will help out?