For our sixth installment in the series on "What We Do" in our homeschool, today we are going to be discussing the language arts with a focus on writing. A challenging subject to teach well, but one that really gives your children a chance to shine as individuals, writing is a critical life skill. Read on for more on how we approach this unique subject. If you haven't seen our other post in the series or would like to catch up
My Approach to Writing
Like so many subject our approach to writing has grown as the kids have grown, but before diving into that I think it's important to define what writing is. You might be thinking of course we know what writing is, it's the act of putting thoughts on paper, but have you ever really stopped to consider all that entails? Writing is both an act - what we often term handwriting. It is the organization of thoughts - what we might call composition. And, it is also the method by which we convey information - what is commonly taught in grade school as grammar. What I want to focus on today is composition.
For us, writing started before my children were really even writing on their own, certainly before they wrote anything more than letters. We began with dictation. I thought it was important to teach them that they had their own unique voice and something to say. We did this by letting them tell me what they wanted letters to the grandparents to say, and I wrote it down. Later on we expanded to giving them blog topics and having them dictate an answer. While there were times that I repeated a sentence back to them slightly clearer, over time what we did was ask, "and what do you mean by that?" I wanted to get them thinking how to be clear and concise in their writing.
I think this step is really important, for most children their ability to write what they think is limited by their grammar skills and spelling. They chose simplier words or leave out ideas that they can't figure out how to convey. I wanted them to be in the habit of really developing their thoughts before asking them to put it on paper for themselves. Even now, the kids primarily use speech to text to get their initial thoughts down in a word document before they go through and begin editing and polishing their work.
Additionally, some of my dyslexic kids also struggle with their handwriting. It's a common pairing. I have learned to settle for legible rather than works of art in penmanship. Knowing that there is some muscle weakness and struggles with writing, before getting the kids ipads and moving to word documents, I limited what I asked them to write at a time. Writing fatigue is a common problem among kids, and so I made writing assignments matter. When I didn't specifically want to work on writing skills I would allow them to answer questions orally, or even record their answers for them. I wanted when we wrote for it to have some meaning for them, and not become overwhelming.
I believe spelling and grammar are best taught through writing, and while I'll discuss that in greater depth over the next couple of post in the series, I never wanted those things to overshadow the process of having something to say and developing their own writers voice.
How I Teach Writing Today
So how has writing instruction changed for us over the years? We've tried a number of programs that are suppose to be geared toward struggling writers, dyslexic students, or those who need a more systematic approach. While we found many useful notes along the way, it left writing feeling more like a math equation - dry, cut and paste, with no room for independence. As someone for who writing comes naturally, I struggled to teach them what I just felt and knew to do, but I hated these programs that left anything we churned out feeling devoid of character.
Quite by accident I found the solution at the FPEA homeschool convention in May of 2022 - Open Tent Academy. Up until that point, I hadn't even considered using an online program or having the kids take classes from another instructor. But that year, I felt like we either needed some kind of science program or writing program to take one of the two most time consuming subjects off my to-do list. Twin toddlers were making their presence felt in our homeschool day.
Open Tent Academy is run by former homeschool parents who began by offering writing courses for other homeschoolers. They have a entire team of dedicated teachers covering a variety of courses these days, Ruth even takes ASL through them, but their core is still writing courses. Like me they primarily believe in teaching grammar through writing, and they give students a chance to learn these structures by incorporating them into their own writing. In the summer of 2022 the three oldest all took Powerful Paragraphs which teaches students how to write solid paragraphs. From there last year Rebecca took it again as a year long class for more practice, while Britt and Ruth moved on to Middle School Writing. This class focuses on solid 5 paragraph papers from writing critiques to research papers, from persuasive papers to narrative works. Since it is a two year class they are taking it again this year. And they have really learned how to make grammar work for them, while retaining their own voice.
I simply cannot say enough good things about Open Tent Academy. Some of what they use is based in Instutite for Excellence in Writing, a curriculum which have thought looks great but that many dyslexic kids struggle with. Mrs. Eva and Mr. Jonathan are able to really work with kids on their level while simultaneously drawing them up to complete better and better quality work. It is simply astounding how far the kids have come in a year with them.
In Conclusion
The final component in good writing is having it modeled by reading good quality books. Kids often imitate before really internalizing what you teach. So have them imitate good quality materials by reading to them, and providing such for them to find. I've often heard it refered to as seeding or strewing items that you want them to find and interact with in their environment. I don't have to tell Rebecca lets read a certain book, all I have to do is leave it out for her to find. While this works for any type of resource from games to tools, my focus for when it comes to writing is books and fun school supplies. Kate never liked practicing writing, but all I had to do was find her a pack of 30 different colored, glitter gel pens and let her write cards after decorating them.
While at times I have struggled with my approach to teaching writing, I've never faultered in trying to convey to them the importance of communicating through the writen word. At all times, I've tried to impart the idea that everyone has something worth saying and encouraged them to develop their own voice. I've tried to downplay semantics in favor of drawing out their desire to write, knowing that the other will come with time and practice.
As the kids have gotten older I've required more and more of their writing both in terms of the amount and the types of writing they do. The oldest two in addition to their writing class turn out a strong paragraph on a history topic weekly. They are expected to take notes and answer science questions with complete sentences on their own. It's a gradual work in progress, but one that promises to pay in dividends as it is relatable to all fields of study.
For more on the nuts and bolts involved in writing, remember to check out next week's post in the series What We Do: Grammar.
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