What to use for writing (printing)/English?

[katiejack]

We right now have rod and staff 2 and, while I love it, DS does not.

So, is there anything else out there that is more kid friendly and interesting to an active boy? His reading level is at the fourth grade level (he's 8 years old) and his writing is probably on a first grade level. He is very sloppy and has trouble remembering to leave spaces between words. In every other area that I can think of his fine motor skills are at age level or above. He drags his feet through English/writing and it turns into a 2-hour marathon of excuses.

Is this just mainly a boy thing - not wanting to write?

Help!

[7mom7]

I've heard this from other friends that have boys too. My DS loves handwriting and he's super active. Personally we love Handwriting Without Tears. I make the lessons super short but he usually likes to color his page or sometimes he'll want to spend more time on the chalk board. He's only doing their K program so I'm not really sure about the books beyond that.

[tibeca]

With handwriting, we have a very specific rule. You either do the "shortened" version of the exercise I allow (example 1 each of 5 words), taking your time and doing it carefully, or you will write each word 2 times perfectly (or how many times the page requires), and will keep trying until I approve. Some of our worksheets want them to write the same letter 5-10 times each!

DD is 4. She tried flying through her writing the other day by more or less scribbling (We are only writing 1-3 letter words). After having to redo the whole page 2 times, she decided to never rush through her work.

While I don't force schooling on her, we do have a you pick 1 thing, I pick one thing policy. That means we couldn't do any of the "fun" school things she wanted. We also don't allow her to watch TV in the evening if she doesn't complete her "work" for the day. The day she skipped out on her writing, she was quick to do it right after dinner so she would get to watch a show.

[tallanvor]

We use Reason for Handwriting.

[3boys_mom]

Originally Posted by katiejack He drags his feet through English/writing and it turns into a 2-hour marathon of excuses.

This is my 9yo to a T. In fact he is doing it right now. Constantly getting up from the table to 'check on X', 'go see what (insert sibling) is doing in the other room', etc. It gets old. Something has to give before I lose MY mind.

[tallanvor]

Oh. I wanted to mention that one thing we like about Reason for Handwriting is that it is short. Each lesson is broken up into 4 parts, with an optional 5th. Each day the child writes 4-5 lines and that's it. Even my 5 yr old goes through it in 10 minutes.

[katiejack]

Thanks for the suggestions!

[sunflower83b]

Writing still is not my son's favorite subject, but he loves rod and staff more than writing strands, CQLA....which is like Institute for excellence, evan moore, or journalling. He really just is beginning to see why he should write at all, and is in 5th grade. His question was always about why? It seems useless to him.