How Do I Teach This Kid To Write?

Are you a homeschooling mom like me who struggles teaching the subject of writing in your homeschool? I hope I'm not alone. I don't know what it is about writing - physically writing - that frustrates my son so bad. Whenever I try to get him to write, it is such a battle! Honestly, I don't know how much I should be pushing him in this area.

Of course, I understand he needs to know how to write, and we have daily spelling and writing lessons. I even found a writing curriculum that is a good fit for him. I wrote a review about Essentials in Writing where I shared my excitement over finding this curriculum. I am still excited about it, and my son doesn't shed the tears that he used to, but there is still something that I cannot place my finger on in figuring out how to teach him to write.

I know I'm not the first homeschooling mom who has struggled with this subject. I'm calling out to all of you who have experienced this dilemma, and asking you for your suggestions. Special needs of Asperger's Syndrome and ADD are present in my son's situation. I'm still learning how these effect him in our homeschool. I need to find a way to work around these issues though so that I can effectively teach him in the area of writing. He has a very active imagination. When he was younger, I wrote and even typed some of his stories as he verbally told them to me. Since he is thirteen now, I feel that he should be doing his own writing.

So my question is: how do I teach this kid to write? What is it that I am missing and where do I find it? Just today I asked my son, "Why don't you like to write?" His reply was, "It takes too long. It's not fun, and it's boring." Now that I have his answer to my question of what is missing, I can begin my search to find out how to make writing less boring and more fun - which should solve the problem of it taking too long for him to do. I know that even as an adult I take longer completing a task that I don't particularly enjoy doing. So it is with our kids. It's my job as his teacher to find a way to make writing more fun for him so that this subject becomes more enjoyable for him in our homeschool.

So my task begins! I love to search on Google when I need an answer to a question, so that is where I began looking for ideas to help make writing less boring and more fun in our homeschool. I was not disappointed, and found some great ideas I can use in our homeschool to make writing less boring and more fun for my son. I want to share these fun ideas with you today.

Fun Ideas for Teaching Writing

1. Hamburger Writing 
2. Sandwich Chart 
3. Writing Prompts (There are lots of ideas on Pinterest for these!)
4. Use a tape recorder! My son will LOVE this! I can let him verbally record his writing assignment, and then play back the recording as he writes down what he spoke. Remember how I said my son has a very active imagination? Well, using a tape recorder will be perfect for him since he will be able to pause the recording to write at a pace that is comfortable for him while still getting all those fast-paced thoughts down on paper.    

I would love to know how you teach writing in your homeschool.  Please share in the comments below! I need more ideas and would love to hear yours!

Starting on Wednesday, you can read more from other homeschooling moms on the Schoolhouse Review Crew who are sharing about the subject they struggle teaching the most. Simply click on the image below.