How has your homeschooling gone with your son? Where you were at the time you wrote this is where I am now. My son will be going in 6th grade- has difficulty writing and def has the “I hate school/I hate writing” mentality.What has worked for you?
Thanks for any advice you could email me.

William Van Cleav Writing Matters. I was thinking of looking into it –but as parents already know other parents advice is fantastic.

Thanks Susan
Unfortunately for us here in country Australia there is not one. But thankyou for the link and I will definitely get hold of Lily
Thankyou again
Jo

I highly recommend contacting Lily, the teacher of the Fortuigence writing courses (you can contact her via the website). Before my children ever started her courses I discussed my son’s dysgraphia so she was aware of the situation. She is a very supportive teacher — she gives terrific feedback and encourages the kids to work at their own pace. She has years of experience working with teens and is very gracious with her time.

My children take a speech and debate class through a local homeschool co-op. If you want to find a speech and debate group in your area you might be able to find recommendations by visiting the websites for NCFCA or STOA.
If you would like to work on these skills at home you might want to check out the Speech Bootcamp materials available from IEW http://iew.com/shop/products/speech-boot-camp-teachers-notes-trainee-materials-clearance

Thankyou so much. My son was diagnosed only last year. He has just stared High school and we are facing an uphill battle. I find that there is a lot of information about other learning difficulties but not this one. I will try fortuigence and see how that goes. He particularly hates persuasive writing, his spelling is quite good weirdly so, but his grammar is very bad. I will also get the book you said to and see what happens.

Thank you so much for your thoughts. Once we’ve decided and had some time in them I will definitely share my thoughts on each we are using. Right now what we will do will be not be intensive since I have to help him get rid of the “I hate writing/I hate school mentality.”

Hi Laina, When my son was at that age we decided to focus on helping him get his ideas out. He struggled with the mechanics (grammar, sentence structure, etc.) so we looked for tools to allowed him to focus on forming and expressing his thoughts. We used some brainstorming tools and often I would be his scribe and write down what he shared verbally. Usually he would then take the information I wrote and would try to re-write it on his own – it took time but he understood how important the process was. I really struggled with the idea that he (like your son) couldn’t compose a single sentence, but I tried to keep the bigger picture in mind as I knew the real goal of writing was to be able to share his ideas and opinions. I didn’t want him to get completely frustrated and think that because he struggled with the mechanics his ideas were not going to get the attention they deserved. He has always been very creative and thoughtful and we allowed him see that we could help him capture those big ideas and slowly but surely work on the mechanics. My son still struggles with spelling (we are very thankful for spell check!) and grammar but over time he has made improvements. It’s a long road, and more challenging than most kids have to face, but a slow and steady mindset is important. I guess I would suggest keeping the big picture in mind – the ultimate goal is to help kids clearly express themselves with their writing. Focus on the mechanics slowly but surely (repeating curriculum if needed or switching to something your child dislikes a little less), be their scribe as needed, have them practice writing with meaningful projects like thank you notes or shopping lists (grow into larger projects over time), and acknowledge your child’s frustrations (some days will be very difficult, so take a breath and try again the next day).

Hi Robin, We decided to homeschool for the same reasons, the schools told me when my son was young that they didn’t think they would be able to support him as he worked at his own pace. Homeschooling isn’t always easy, but it does offer the flexibility to find options that can work. We used IEW for a couple of years for the middle school years and my son did like the structure of it. I often wrote his responses on a white board and he took his time to copy the work and make necessary edits. I have heard good things about Brave Writer and All About Spelling but don’t have personal experience with them. What I have found during my many years in the homeschool world is that many of the curriculum/programs widely used by homeschoolers (like those you have mentioned) are written and supported by families who have experience with children with learning challenges such as dysgraphia. I would encourage you to explore the websites for the products you are considering and then contact them directly with your questions. You will be pleasantly surprised – in many cases you might be able to talk to the curriculum author directly! I would love to hear what materials you find that work best for your son so we can share your information with others too!