I've been saying since K, "DS is not learning how to learn." He's allowed to do his work (frequently haphazardly) and then go to read whatever book he's brought to school. Frankly, he's happy to do just that.
This is what kills me... I've seen his in-class writing assignments and his teachers have always let him skate with applying the least amount of effort possible.
He tries this nonsense at home and I call him on it. And then the tempers flare. (OK, Grinity, now I see your point about how his behavior at home may be affected.)
Let me share a sample writing assignment:
Your assignment:Write a paragraph about what you did over the summer.[...]We do our brainstorming out loud together and he plenty of detailed material when we are done.[...]
And then pencil hits paper producing this gem:"Over the summer we had fun. We went on a trip to Arizona. I took swimming lessons. I played with my cousins. I played tennis. Overall, I had a lot of fun this summer."Always perfect spelling, grammar and form. But he winds up writing only a fraction of what he worked out while brainstorming. His teacher accepts this and calls it good.
This is the same kid who can spend a 60 minute car ride telling about how all the horcruxes(?) come together in the last HP book with excruciating detail. But ask him to put it in writing and you get: a topic sentence, three or four body sentences and a closing sentence. With nary an adjective or adverb in sight.
Thanks
Mama22Gs for relating your experiences -- it is quite helpful to see what approaches others have tried.
