Thank you for your comments. I do like the journal idea, we may try something like that combined with talking out his thoughts. He is so slow to gather them sometimes-or maybe I should say-I’m in such a rush. Need to relax and let him take his time, and help him connect the dots when he’s having trouble.

“J” says “jjjjjjj” and not “juh,” etc.

This is very obvious with the vowels.

If a sound is made with a short spurt of breath,like “b,” “c,” “d,” “h,” etc, it helps to teach right alongside a vowel,because it’s a bit hard to not have an “-uh” sound.

Helpful words:
Bed, “b-eeeeeeed, bed”
cat, “c-aaaaat, cat”
hat, “h-aaaat, hat” etc. You get the idea. I taught my son his sounds at 2 1/2 and reading at 3 1/2 just as something to do, since he was easily bored and a quick learner. He learned most of his letters at Ikea and restaurants, on the backs of paper placemants while waiting for service/food. It’s really that easy.

I have had the same struggle with my daughter and this is what worked for us. Last year, I put away all writing assignments except for a journal. We used a spiral notebook for it. Two or three times a week, I would have her write about whatever she wanted to. I did not read what she wrote unless she inviteed me to. This has made her more comfortable with just getting her ideas on paper. We don’t worry about spelling or grammer. She is 8 now and has moved on to some very simple directed writing assignments. But the key is to let them write about something they will be interested in for them. I don’t know if this would help in your son’s case but it may be worth a try.

I really appreciate your Charlotte Mason series. I am also using AO and have loved it. This has been a good reminder for me as I have been lamenting these past few weeks about “falling behind.” Thanks for all of the great encouragement!
-Allison H.