9 yo writing struggle

[jeffsdear]

My DS happily wrote a story for writing, but I had asked him to use at least 4 adverbs (after we learned about them this week) in it. He didn't do this. So I had him go back and try to insert some adverbs into the story. He got so upset with me because I was "ruining" his story. I'm a bit at a loss as to how to teach him to revise his writing, or better yet, follow the instructions the first time, without losing his interest in the story itself... Any ideas how to get a child to feel comfortable with revising and adding to something he has written?

[MyFullHouse]

I separate creative writing from "academic" writing. They're much less emotionally attached to schoolish exercises than they are their very personal creations, and they seem to apply the rules to their own, un-critiqued writing just fine after mastering them in their "real" work.

[moominmamma]

Totally agree with MFH. The maturity to accept editing input on creative writing will come: but possibly not until well into mid to late adolescence. My 16yo is an incredibly gifted writer and has only just begun to get comfortable in the past year with editorial assistance (and in her case only from her writing mentor, not from her mom).

If you want to work on adverbs, give him a passage that his ego isn't invested in where he is asked to insert adverbs.

"Devin reached out an slipped a cookie into his notebook. He walked to his bedroom. He closed the door. There he sat eating the cookie. All of a sudden his mother burst in. Devin smiled."

Or a passage where he has to fix the adverbs. "Devin reached out stealthy and slipped a cookie quietish into his notebook." Or circle them.

The point is to give him practice concerning the rules and mechanics of writing that is separate from the creative aspects of writing. Keep creative writing free of judgment and criticism for at least another five years. The most important thing is that it be unhindered and enjoyable.

Miranda

[Lillian J]

Oh, I really, really think you'd be way ahead to back out and leave him to whatever writing he wants to do right now, and in his own way. All the rules and form can very quickly and easily be learned a lot later without a lot of practice and fuss, but his enthusiasm for the written word, his own written word, can be squelched pretty easily. If he's exposed to lots of good literature that he enjoys in the coming years, things will easily slip into place in such a way that he'll be able to pick up a lot just from absorption, and then any identification of the parts of the whole can be pointed out and discussed. Lillian

[simple living mama]

I agree completely with Lillian J and moominmamma. Homeschooling is all about the finesse of knowing when the time is right to introduce certain instruction and when to gently wait.

[jrabbit]

We have recently been talking about grammar - and we mostly just do it orally, rather than writing it down. It makes my 10+y.o. dd way happier to just talk about words. Lately, she says she doesn't like to write = makes me sad since just one year ago, she was writing little "books". She reads voraciously, so I keep my sad face to myself.

Anyway, my point is that we talk about adverbs and adjectives just as "how" they work and what the word types are, and I try to leave it at that. It's hard to do, but I am trying not to compare what she is "learning" with what the school kids are studying.

She was involved in a book club, but ever since they started focusing on book reports more so than socialization - now she's not so interested anymore

[jeffsdear]

Thanks for your input. I agree with you guys that it is more important that he is writing than that he implement the things he is learning, like adverbs and adjectives. So, we'll be focussing more on the writing and less on the mechanics...

[simple living mama]

jeffsdear, you might enjoy a book by Peggy Kaye called Games for Writing, She has simple games to get your child writing.

[jeffsdear]

Thanks for the suggestion, simple living mama. I'll look into it.

[oceanbaby]

We had a great writing tutor for a little bit, and one of the things she had ds do was map out some sentences on a little chart that was broken down into adjective, noun, verb, adverb, etc. He would write a sentence "The man ran" and then they would put each word in the correct spot. Then on the line below they would add an adjective and adverb "The tall man ran quickly." Sometimes they would add line after line, as ds liked to get silly with it.

What I liked about the exercise is that it allowed him to really see the difference in a sentence when you use more descriptive language, but it wasn't editing his original stories.

[chfriend]

oceanbaby, my two would love that process. Thanks for sharing it.