writting and grammer

My dd doesn’t spell super well either. Occasionally, she’ll ask how to spell a word when she’s doing a written narration; other times, she doesn’t. I help her with spelling when she asks, but ultimately, spelling isn’t my goal with written narration. Learning to put her thoughts on paper and planning her writing is my goal, so that’s my focus. I don’t think good spelling skills are necessary to begin compositions; that naturally comes later. Here is an example of her written narration from last week, Caddie Woodlawn chapter 14:

the kids at shckool were exieded to see the scalp belt. But just then Caddie saw some boys that missed there INDIAN MOM! So after shckool Caddie took the boys to the store & boght (she was buying some candy & tops & combs & hankies) (hankerchifs).

As you can see, her spelling, capitalization, punctuation, use of the ampersand and parenthesis is a little crazy. After I read her narrations, I might mention, “See how this word is at the beginning of the sentence? Those words should always begin with a capital letter. Let’s try to remember that next time.” But that is about as far as I go with critiquing her narrations. My dd is easily discouraged, especially when she is learning something new, and I don’t want to discourage her at all. She does give her best effort, and that is all I can ask for. I also can’t expect her to be a perfect speller or know correct punctuation for everything, as these are things she has not yet been taught!

You are right: there is NO reason to rush language arts, especially grammar. She may never enjoy copywork, but that shouldn’t keep you from gently introducing new skills, such as written narration or dictation. If I were you, I’d pick one thing and introduce it. Give it several months and really let her get comfortable with it before you introduce something else. That’s why I went ahead and started my dd on written narrations this year. She will have had months of experience under her belt by the time we start school next year, and that’s when I plan to start her in dictation. 

The spelling will come eventually. The more she reads, she’ll see words spelled correctly and pick them up. The more she does copywork, she’ll be copying correct spelling and pick it up naturally. I’m just not a fan of marking up written narrations with a red pen for a child who’s just beginning. If my dd were in high school and consistently doing a narration like the one I used above, well then, I didn’t do my job and we’d have a problem. But she’s about to be 9 and just getting started.

Don’t get hung up on anything! Relax and go slowly and gently. It’ll come!

ETA: As far as what to buy, I personally don’t think your dd is quite ready for a grammar program just yet. And if you do dictation with her at all, I would wait until she’s had some time to learn how to write her narrations. Of course, you’re the mom and the best person to decide. Just don’t feel pressured to start something now that you don’t think she’s quite ready for. I’m of the “later is better” approach to just about everything.