My oldest son has always struggled with writing. Not because he isn't capable of the work, but because he has never been drawn into the subject. He has tried all the little tricks we've all tried. He has wrote extra big to fill the whole page, tried to write way inside the margins so his words go farther on the page, etc. We have been good parents and guided him, we have been mean parents and thrown his assignment away until he produced work worth writing his name on. Well tonight he had to write a essay. He had an outline completed, so he whipped out this essay like it was nothing. When I read his essay I had that parenting moment where you think his teachers are failing him. His essay was his outline wrote in paragraph form. This is when I decided we needed to have a writing lesson. To my son's credit he took my criticism like a man. I explained what he was missing and how to organize his essay to make his reader want more. We then sat down together and he told me what he wanted to say and I helped him say it so he told his story. His finished product was his topic, in his words. You could feel his voice coming through his writing. It was so cool to watch him discover how easy it is to turn his ideas into a story others will appreciate. Now to his credit, not only did he work well with me, but his original essay was neatly printed, indented in the appropriate spots and each line went from margin to margin. So, although he needed help with the content, it was nice to see that the formatting was spot on. Nice to see that some of those tears from the past have lead to success for him.
The other thing I have noticed is that he just doesn't enjoy writing, so he doesn't have stamina for it. Funny thing is I have discovered that I don't have the stamina I need to write for long periods of time. I have never been drawn to writing either, but I have never minded it like he does. It is a little easier to understand him as a writer now that I am discovering who I am as a writer.
Today I am thankful for the sunshine. The boys were able to go out and play in 60 degree weather. Yea!!
What an awesome connection you made through this post, Allison. I think it's important that we be able to relate to children, our own or our students. I'm so proud of you for investing in your son's writing abilities and teaching him not only the writing process but more importantly, not to give up on something just because you're not drawn to it. We all have those areas of our lives where we need to produce a successful performance despite a lack of interest or motivation. You are modeling life skills for your son!
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