Writing Woes

We had a good weekend. We decided to stay in, for the most part, and relax. We are really getting into the Harry Potter book. Alex read me half of the book, My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett, and we did a lot more math. His reading astounds me. Not only is he able to figure out most words on sight, his style is quite good. He has a really good grasp of punctuation and tone. It comes across as being quite effortless.

Of course, not everything can be perfect. He hates writing. He still prefers to use all capital letters. He has never wanted help in this area. In fact, he is self-taught, as far as writing is concerned. We didn't sit down and practice letters. I tried but it was not a pleasant ordeal. He doesn't always write the letters the way everyone else does but they are pretty good. I don't really push him but I will create situations which require him to put in some effort. Like right now we are participating in a postcard exchange with other home school children.

I think there are a few reasons Alex doesn't like to write. He finds it a very slow process. As does his dad. I am trying to think of all the times I've seen Rob write anything down. Aside from the very rare grocery list or some scratch paper for work, he is a keyboard guy all the way. Alex has never really been fond of putting anything to paper. He never coloured. He rarely doodles. He is a big fan of short cuts. Instead of having to write out the word love he will use a heart as the symbol. Instead of writing Izzy not allowed, he will draw a picture of his sister and put it in the middle of a circle with a line drawn through it.

I will keep moving, in little baby steps, towards being at least moderately proficient at writing.