Hi Bronxmom:

BK mom here, also with a DS who doesn't like to write.

There can be many different reasons for this behavior. I think you should ask for an evaluation for dysgraphia or a full-blown neuropsych exam. If DS is in public school, you can just address it to the Committee on Special Education, care of DS's school.

On the other hand, if it isn't dysgraphia, or not related to PANDAS, there are lots of other reasons kids don't write. I think it is common for GT young kids to resist writing. They can rarely keep up with their train of thought while writing, so it becomes very frustrating. For my DS, now in 4th, the teacher allows him to dictate ALL his homework, including the reading journal. It has made a big difference. He then spell checks it and checks his reading level using that tool. That has been a motivator for him to write more complex sentences, because he wants to increase his score.

Also, there's something about the level of maturity of the child. My DS is only just now getting the idea of writing for a reader who isn't him. DS's school uses the Writers Workshop model where there is a real focus on early story writing, and his stories would be practically incomprehensible, because he used so few words and sentences and didn't explain anything about characters. Characters would have names, but no explanation of who they were or very much detail on what they were doing.

Also, because of that maturity issue, he wasn't thinking about writing something the teacher would like to see or to show her that he knew the material being covered. For example, the mini-lesson might have been about tags to use instead of "said," but he wouldn't bother to use any.

Finally, he also tends to freak out when he has to organize sentences into something bigger. Our OT recommended using graphical organizers and that did help somewhat. Filling in the forms helped him organize his thoughts. It was still frustrating because it involved handwriting. Perhaps you could do this with him and write down what he says IN the graphical organizer.

Finally, for performing what the school wants -- i.e. boring and useless (for child) reading logs -- We told DS that the teacher thought these sorts of things were important, she needs to know what and how much you are reading, it is part of her job, and it is showing disrespect to her not to do this and turn it in.

We got letters home that DS was not meeting grade level standards in writing/grammar/spelling for two years in a row. He still got promoted to 3rd and 4th grade. I think in NYC public schools at first grade they are most concerned about reading level and if your child has a high reading level, he will get promoted. They don;t even seem as concerned with math, at least not until end of 2nd grade. For first grade, they do a predictive test you can ask your DS's teacher about, called the E-CLAS, I think, that pretty much is their main measurement of progress, and it is ONLY on reading/comprehension, as far as I know.

Finally, if you are having power struggles, or tears and more over the hefty homework, I recommend Why Bright Children Get Bad Grades by Sylvia Rimm. Great advice that has helped us somewhat.

GL,

bk1