Is this okay?

[oceanbaby]

My 4th grader has to do anywhere from 4-9 book reports from now until Nov 19. So we're working on the first one, and it's very slow. He has no problem telling me the answers to the questions - plot of the story, main characters, beginning middle and end, etc. He's a very slow writer, and the combination of writing while figuring out what to say is very hard for him. He spends a lot of time erasing and rewriting, to the point where in a half hour he might have one or two sentences.

So, I was thinking I could have him dictate the answers to me, and then I would print out what he said and he could write it out. Then he could focus on one task at a time - thinking of the answers, and writing them, rather than both at once.

Is that okay to do? I can't think of why it would be wrong, but am I missing something?

[zinemama]

4-9 book reports in 2 months in 4th grade?! That's a lot! My 5th grader has to read a novel every six weeks and do a report and project on it. How long are these books supposed to be?

In your shoes, I would talk to the teacher about your son's writing issues before resorting to letting him dictate. Presumably you both want him to become more proficient at writing. Letting you write to his dictation doesn't seem like the way to achieve that. I think you should discuss his being a slow writer and ask if it's possible to reduce the number of book reports for him - at least for the time being - until he gets more confident and faster in his writing.

[Emmeline II]

Perhaps you could get him a recording device and he could dictate for himself.

I interned at a boys school in London during a study abroad. One day my job was to help the slow working boys write stories. It went MUCH faster if they could tell the story verbally, then write it down.

I would talk with the teacher about his slow writing.

[sunnmama]

I think it is ok as a step toward getting his ideas flowing.

I'd try to move toward helping him form an outline. Instead of writing down his dictated answers, move toward writing down his main idea (a few words) for each answer in outline form. Then, after his thoughts are organized in the outline, show him how all the ideas are there, organized in paragraph form, and he just needs to write a sentence for each point. Eventually he could move toward sitting down and writing an outline for himself, which is just a good skill to learn anyway

[meemee]

woah that's a LOT of work.

yup yup. in fact you might wanna talk to your teacher and see if they will allow your son to type his answers.

in 4th grade our school does 10-12 books reports in a YEAR!!

[CarrieMF]

Our Grade 4's do 2-3 novel studies, no individual book reports.

can he type it out instead of using a pencil?

Can he do jot notes & then expand on them after he has his main thoughts down?

[eepster]

Can he use a word processor? This is why people love them. you can just type all your ideas out, and then rearrange them, correct grammar, etc afterwards.

[blizzard_babe]

Originally Posted by Emmeline II

Perhaps you could get him a recording device and he could dictate for himself.

I interned at a boys school in London during a study abroad. One day my job was to help the slow working boys write stories. It went MUCH faster if they could tell the story verbally, then write it down.

I would talk with the teacher about his slow writing.

I was going to suggest this. Or the outline idea that another poster suggested. Or some wacky hybrid of the two.

But I've had success, especially with boys, having them record themselves, then listen to it. It separates the ideas from the writing, allowing them to work on them separately, though still ultimately integrating them into a finished product.

Studies on male brains vs female brains in humans (we're talking adults here, but all adults start off as kids...) show that male brains tend to work on one area at a time, focusing on one thing to completion. Women are more all over the place. I always had trouble, as a student, starting out a paper with an outline. I just wanted to start WRITING, and then work on organization as I went.

Plus, everyone works a little differently, regardless of gender.