An Aha! Moment in Composition Worry

I have just had a lightbulb moment and needed to share it with someone. A little background – we have been homeschooling 12 years, just graduated my first, currently schooling an 11th and 8th grader. We have been using CM methods in some form since the beginning, growing into full CM as I learn. Composition has. been a thorn in my side. The thing hat keeps me up at night. I have struggled since day 1 and have never found my groove. We have done narrations from the beginning and I have read every blog, book, article, and essay on the subject. I have spent thousands on writing programs that I couldn’t bring myself to use. It finally occurred to me that my kids are actually very good writers. They can crank out an interesting paragraph with proper mechanics and lovely vocabulary. What I have neglected is thinking. It has never been about the writing. Why did I not see this. My kids have nothing to say. And who wants to write a persuasive essay about why teens should have credit cards (a real prompt from one of my curriculums), unless there was some possibility of me giving them a credit card for an A+ paper.  I have asked them to jump into advanced written narrations without first asking for advanced oral narrations. Conversation – duh. We do have lots of conversations, but I have not made the effort to draw out deep thoughts. I share my deep thoughts, but they need their own. I really think this has been my problem all along. How did I not see this before? What a relief. Except now I have go read every blog, book, article, and essay on teaching kids to think. I think they are actually thinking, I just need to get them to share.

Thanks for taking the time to do the happy dance with me.