Tips for young writers, their parents

Despite the popularity of Twitter and texting, writing longer and well thought out documents is still a crucial skill in today’s world. Drafting an effective office memo, applying for a scholarship or penning the next bestseller all hinge on developing superb writing skills. Writing is not an easy task for all students. For many struggling writers, witing assignments and assessments may leave students frustrated and discouraged. It is challenging to put thoughts into words on a page in an organized manner. No longer is writing taught as a stand-alone topic; rather, it is now integrated into all core academic areas. Here are some examples of where your child may encounter writing tasks:

• Students may be given a math problem and they are expected to explain in writing how they solved it.

• Science tests may involve a few multiple choice questions followed by an essay question.

• During reading instruction, students may be asked to look back into the text and use specific details from the passage to support their reading comprehension writing assignment.

Parents can support and enrich their children’s writing skills in the home environment. This support may help make the task of writing easier and more enjoyable for students. The experts at Sylvan Halifax have some tips on how to encourage your child to become a strong writer.

1. Ask to see the child’s writing, either the writing brought home or the writing kept at school. Most writing should be kept, not thrown away to help both teachers and children see progress in writing skill.

2. Find out if children are given writing instruction and practice in writing on a regular basis. Daily writing is the ideal; once a week is not often enough.

3. Look for opportunities to encourage your child to write at home. Make sure you have the materials to prompt a desire to write. Sometimes, interesting paper and coloured pens can make a difference! Sit together to write a letter to a relative or a collaborative story or create a scrapbook with sentences to explain what you are displaying.

4. Ask if every teacher is involved in helping students write more effectively. If children and youth are not being asked to write sentences and paragraphs about science, history, geography, they are not being helped to become better writers. All subjects offer the opportunity for children to improve their writing skills.

5. See if students are being asked to write in a variety of forms (letters, essays, stories, etc.) for a variety of purposes (to inform, persuade, describe, etc.), and for a variety of audiences (other students, teachers, friends, strangers, relatives, business firms). Each form, purpose, and audience demands differences of style, tone, approach, and choice of words. A wide variety of writing experiences is critical to developing effective writing.

6. Be affirmative about your child’s efforts in writing. Recognize that for every error a child makes, he or she does many things right. Applaud the good things you see. The willingness to write is fragile. Your optimistic attitude toward the child’s efforts is vital to strengthening his or her writing habit.

7. Be primarily interested in the content, not the mechanics of expression. It’s easy for many adults to spot misspellings, faulty word usage, and shaky punctuation. Perfection in these areas escapes most adults, so don’t demand it of children. Sometimes teachers — for the same reason — will mark only a few mechanical errors, leaving others for another time. What matters most in writing is words, sentences and ideas. Perfection in mechanics develops slowly. Be patient.

8. However, encouraging interest in grammar is helpful. Talk about interesting words, patterns like adding “ed” to verbs and exceptions and questions you have about grammar. If a child makes grammar mistakes while speaking, pick one error to work on at a time.

9. While it’s true that we learn to write by writing, we also learn to write by reading. The works of talented authors should be studied not only for ideas but also for the writing skills involved. Good literature is an essential part of any effective writing program.

10. Creative writing is a great way to improve your children’s written language skills while giving them a fun and imaginative activity! Have your student write a creative paragraph each week. As a parent, you can help by assisting him or her with choosing a “topic” (such as a family vacation, special outing or holiday memory) to write about. Students can also benefit from using a thesaurus and changing several common words to more interesting words. This will make their writing more interesting while learning great new words at the same time.

12. Encourage your PTA and school board to make writing a high priority. Learn about writing and the ways young students learn to write. Encourage publication of good student writing in school newspapers, literary journals, community newspapers, blogs and magazines.

With locations in Halifax, Dartmouth and Bedford, Sylvan Learning helps students with writing, math, reading, STEM and more. Call 902-422-READ or contact [email protected]

Give your children an edge by being informed about how you can help them be successful learners. Tips for parents about current issues in education – that’s what you’ll find here on the Edge. Whether it’s about homework, report cards or summer learning, we’ll have practical tips for you. And if you have suggested topics, we’re listening.