Teaching the Logical Argument

The Girl hates to write. She especially despises re-writing. She doesn't particularly think it is necessary. The fact that "learn" is spelled three different ways through the course of a paper seems to hold no horrors for her.

I begged to disagree.

It puzzles me. I think on the whole, I just don't get it, because I have always loved to write. The word on the page has been magic for me since "Hop on Pop" by Dr. Seuss, and I have trouble understanding why my child, my own flesh and blood, does not share this wonder.

For those of you who face similar challenges, we have to get used to it. We have to find better reasons for learning to write than, "because writing is important."

Yes, writing is important, but that isn't going to convince my fourth grader that she should re-write.

My recommendation, should you face such a situation - whether in writing, science, or math - is find a motivation that does work with your child.

The Girl loves to win an argument. She likes to be heard and be convincing. She loves to debate.

(Oh, Lord. I'm raising a lawyer.)

Re-writing became important, when I had her write a book report about why a particular character in a book would make a good best friend, and she lost the argument based on the fact that I couldn't read what she'd written. I made no allowances. I didn't permit myself to guess what she meant. I told her that if a point wasn't written in the paper in an understandable way, then it couldn't be considered.

Amazingly the paper was taken back, re-writing was done (moans and complaints continued, but were ignored). This repeated itself - bring up paper, Mama reads, Mama points out what she can't understand, The Girl complains of persecution and goes back to re-write - until she had me convinced that, yes, Sam Beaver would make a better friend than Louis than Swan.

Not a particularly vital argument, but one she really wanted to win. Which was all that mattered, since it was all that got her to do the re-writing the book report needed.