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How do I encourage my 7 yr old to write?

My first grade son does very well in school. He loves math and reading. He's been reading chapter books since pre-K, but, trying to get him to sit down and write about the stories is like pulling teeth! He'd much rather be playing or spending time on the computer. Any tips or techniques would be appreciated.

Question applies to ages: 7

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avatarAlicia
# of Thumbs Up Received (2)		 I am with you, sister! I have a 7 year old myself and, like you, he's great a math and is a voracious reader, but neither his teacher nor I have had a lot of success getting him to write. Then I bought him a journal. It looks pretty fancy and it's just for him. They make them that lock, but this one just has an elastic band that goes around it. The point is that it's all his and it doesn't look like a school assignment.

After he does his chores when he gets home from school, I have him get out his journal and write a sentence or two. He can write more if he wants, but it's just to get him into the habit of writing down ideas or names for future pets, holiday or birthday gifts he'd like, places he'd like to go, etc.

Be patient, though. It can take a while for them to get into the hang and habit of it. We've been working on ours for about a month and yesterday, he asked to write before he did his chores because he had to write something down before he forgot.



References:
Mom to a beautiful 7 year old boy
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avatarBridgette
# of Thumbs Up Received (41)		 It can be a challenge to get kids to write. Some take to it like fish in the water, others find it akin to drowning.

I've tried to use fun writing activities with my writing-challenged son. He and I used to do joint stories. I would write a page and then he would write a page and we'd each get to take the story in whatever direction we chose. Usually his page would be half filled with a drawing and half-filled with words. Eventually, though, he caught on that if he wanted the story to go in a particular direction, he'd have to use words because I wouldn't take my part of the story where he necessarily wanted it to go.

What I like most about that particular activity is that I'm able to model writing as well and show that I enjoy it. It isn't just my making him write, it's him seeing me write with him.

When we went on road trips, I'd take along a journal and have him write a few sentences about each thing we saw. Sometimes I'd write out questions and have him write in the answers so that he'd have a journal memento of our trip.

My son struggles with dysgraphia issues, which adds further challenges to the physical act of writing. One of the things that we've found takes away a lot of the stress with writing is to let him use a computer. We'll also sometimes let him dictate stories while we type them. Lately, we've been having him speak into a recorder and then transcribe what he's spoken.

Good luck!
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