Help with my daugher's writing - Week 8

[Shannon]

Ok, I'm experiencing a sharp learning curve. I feel like I need to spend much more time understanding the lesson before I try and explain it to my daughter. We usually read the Core together but we both get confused at times and then she gets frustrated.
I think she's an excellent writer and so many of the frustrations are trying to figure out "why" we need to break everything up into scenes, outlines etc.

She can easily recall and rewrite stories and loves adding her own touches while being true to the meaning. I guess what I'm saying is I can see if a child is struggling to organize their thoughts or find the author's emphasis in a narrative but if they don't then doing all the work required seems unnecessary. But I do realize that these skills will help with narratives at a higher level which are not so easy to understand.

Now to my question, for the Tale of Peter Rabbit, my daughter did all the preliminary work, then when she wrote the story, she changed more than one aspect eg) she changed both the setting and the characters. It turned out to be a great story, I think. Is that alright or should she get practice changing just one at a time.


Thanks for your help,
Shannon

[Lene Mahler Jaqua]

If she is capable of rewriting the characters and the setting and of producing a coherent and interesting story, I don't see why you should slow her down.

Also, if she is having a very easy time organizing her thoughts, perhaps you can spend more time where you and she struggle (I am guessing in the analysis and imitation lessons) and less time on less writing projects.

Remember, when we write a book we write it to the needs of the average teacher and student, and the amount of repetitions we ask for is what most students would need. You are free to skip and move on when you clearly see that she has mastered the material and that repetition is no longer "mater studiorum".

Give yourself permission to be the good judge you are of what she needs.

Let me know if that answered your question.

Thanks, Lene