How to make writing "fun" when it is hard work?

[Hathor]

I need some short but fun activities to do at home to encourage DS Y3 to write and to help make it enjoyable and easier for him.

He is reluctant to write anything, reads at the low end of his age-group, but can write neatly at a simple level. It takes half an hour and lots of wailing to write a simple sentence. He also seems to have trouble thinking what to write, and thinks he "can't do it", so is getting left behind at school and never finishes any written work in time. I have never seen him write anything longer than a short sentence. I want him to enjoy writing and make it easier for him to just have a go and put his thoughts down on paper.

Any ideas to boost his confidence about writing, make it fun and not a major chore?

bump

My DD was a very reluctant writer so I know the problem well. There are several problems that reluctant writers are wrestling with. First there is the issue of being able, physically, to write quickly - we tackled that with my daughter by doing several things. We would get out a stopwatch and time one minute - she had to write a single letter as many times as she could in that minute. We kept a graph of her speed. Once we had that going we went on to writing simple words for one minute and kept a graph of that. We also let her time us to see how well we could do using longer words to make it fair!

Secondly there is the issue of creativity - sometimes the writing gets in the way of that and that's where touch typing comes into its own. DD learned to type when she was 8 and that really did encourage her to commit more to paper - and this later transfered (in part) to writing more on paper.

Thirdly there is the issue of being able to spell the words you want to use - if you do get him to try learning to touch type (e.g. Mavis Beacon or one of the online free typing courses) then practising typing the words will help him learn to spell them!

The other thing you could do is ask your son to tell you a story and you type it up, print it, and he does illustrations. That way he can concentrate on the story, there's no pressure from the writing or speling and he'll enjoy (hopefully) doing the illustrations. Once he sees he can think of the ideas and get them on to paper with your help it may make him panic less when faced with a blank sheet of paper.

Good luck.

Thanks for the ideas toaster! The speed test could be good. Touch typing might take a long time to learn. He doesn't get excited about sending emails to relatives, but maybe there is some other writing activity he could do on the computer? I will try the story writing idea - though I think he might need something a bit more directed/exciting to get him going.

If he is reluctant even to dictate a story to you then start by telling a story with each one of you making up alternate sentences (don't write it down - you can even do this when out for a walk). Try to start with a crazy idea to get him going - eg a boy woke up one morning and found the whole world had turned purple, or he went into school and found his teacher had been replaced by a robot, or he woke up and found he was someone famous ... that sort of thing. Or make up lists of your ownwhich involve things he is really interested in and generate the idea for the story like this jumble story: tengrrl.com/tens/017.shtml

Would he be more likely to write a limerick, a riddle, a joke? Write about his favourite footballer etc.?

At the bottom of this page you will find examples of stories where you write choices into it - if you let him have a go on those he might find the idea interesting rather than just writing a linear story. You'd have to teach him how to draw a chart to show how the bits link up. www.primaryresources.co.uk/english/englishE2.htm

Touch typing will take ages - but it pays off in the later years, particularly secondary education. Being fast on keyboards is also considered very cool when they are older (or at least it was in my son's school).

I can't find a link I'm looking for which I think might be useful. I'll post again if I find it!

Just had a thought - would he play Consequences? You probably know how to play it but just in case ...

Sheet of paper each:

Write a girl's name fold paper over and exchange sheets
Write a boy's name fold paper over and exchange sheets
Write a place fold paper over ... you get the idea
Write what he said ... fold ...
Write what she said ...
Write an outcome

Then when you unfold you read it as X met Y at Z He said ... She said... The consequence was ...

It's better with three people and it can be hilarous. Best to stop before he's a teenager because they get very rude then!

Yes consequences is a great idea. We will try that too.
cat64 I agree it is a bit much to coach after school and important he does other things that are fun and easier. That's why any writing activities have to be short and fun so they don't seem a chore. Help at school is far from perfect. And as he knows he is one of the slowest writers in the class then it is inevitably a problem for enjoyment and self-esteem however confident you are.

my ds(6) seems to worry so much about the silly little 'flick's' he has to do for each letter. it's mad

Yes my DS is obsessed with whether the words are spelt right that he can't seem to get any words down on paper!
Want to free up the fun of writing and get over the problem of the mechanics of it.

if it's any consolation it does suddenly 'click' like reading does

ds has fine motor skills problems (v low muscle tone) and has always struggled with writing - until last week it was painful for both of us - him doing it and me watching ... I don't know what's happened though but suddenly he's doing joined up writing - and tonight he came up with a fab design for a bionicles and wrote a whole page (all joined up) describing them

we did write from the start for a while which he enjoyed but haven't really been worrying about writing for the past few weeks and obviously while we weren't thinking about it the neural connections have been made which allow him to do it - he's just turned 8 btw

fingers crossed something similar happens with your ds

thanks mimsmum

If he's worried about spelling you might want to use the Most Commonly Used Word Lists here for the fast word writing practice to fill in any he's not sure of. The more words he can spell confidently the more relaxed he will be about writing. The site lists the 600 most commonly used words.

www.myenglishlessons.net/most_common.htm

Flamingtoaster....I just wanted to say thank you for all the tips you wrote down in this thread.

DS1 is nearly 6 and a reluctant writer as he thinks it is boring!

However, we did a story on the computer and he did some typing and LOVED it!! DH and I are going to teach him to type as he got on so well with it.

Also at church today we played consequences and he was totally absorbed in it and it was a real hit! (Although DH told us off for talking!!)

Obv he didnt spell everything properly but it didnt matter and he thought it was funny!

Thanks so much.

calzone - great to hear DS1 has now found some bits of writing that aren't boring. Once he gets hang of typing there will be no stopping him!