Then, one day, something clicked. And our daughter became the ravenous bookworm that she is today.

The same has been true for her in math and science.

I wonder if this is how parenting is meant to be in general and am reminded of the Proverb that says, “Train a child in the way he should go, and in the end he will not turn from it.” Give our kids the tools they need, nurture and continue doing so, to help them find their own way. Eventually they will.

My daughter’s development comes in surprising bursts, usually about two weeks after I start asking “I wonder if something is wrong? When will she ever…(fill in the blank)?”

When her friends starting reading before her, I just remembered that there is a lot more to literacy than reading. My husband and I read books for hours every day, we told stories, she put on plays, she drew endlessly. She was curious, articulate, and content. Right before she got the mechanics of reading print she spent all her time outside on the monkey bars, back and forth, hand over hand. I believe that she intuitively knew that she needed that right side, left side movement.
And then one day, she could read! It wasn’t a gradual, evenly paced process. She went from barely being able to sound out a word, to reading whole paragraphs. Someone told me there is a name for kids who bypass phonics and go fluent reading. That was her.
Brave Writer reminds us to relax and look at the bigger picture. We are taking the Kids Write Basic course now. I already appreciate the positive, gentle guidance the instructor has provided.
Reading this blog is like taking a big, deep breath and feeling your whole body relax. So simple, but we sometimes need reminders to do that. Thanks, Julie for your wise and gentle words.

But lo and behold! The same “hopeless” kids I had torn my hair out over when they were in 7th-8th grades had somehow or other become interesting, intriguing writers. They now had opinions, stuff to say. Yes, we still had the occasional comma splice, but the overall quality of writing was practically mind-blowing.

So give them time. Let them read, read, read. Talk about current events, books, movies, plays, video games, Facebook, and other interests with them. Listen to their opinions.

The MLA class I just taught here on Brave Writer had some incredibly strong opinions. They wrote on topics they were passionate about: locavorism (eating locally-grown foods), gay adoptions, Beowulf as Christian literature, effect of the church when legalized in Roman Empire, water needs in third world countries, the automobile industry’s part in the Great Depression, and the advantages of solar power. I have been so impressed by these high school students’ passion, dedication, work ethic, and powers of argument. These students ranged from age 15 to 18, and they were uniformly thoughtful, perceptive, and thorough. I was and am very impressed.

I’ve found the same with my own kids, especially my boys — all reluctant writers. I’m seeing them develop ideas and opinions and talk about politics and history, science and literature. And it’s beginning to trickle and translate into their writing, slowly but quite surely.

It just takes time. And some maturity. That’s why I don’t push formal writing until 6th-7th grade and don’t really expect much originality of thought until grades 9-10. We have to give our kids lots to think about, chew on, consider, so that they have stuff to pull on when writing assignments come their way.

If we provide the raw material, they will write.