TEACHING WRITING AND READINESS
from the Homeschooler's Notebook
Encouragement and Advice for Homeschool Families

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This article was written for the Homeschooler's Notebook by Sherri Fields

The college-bound SATs are changing significantly within the next three years. After a year or so of major college and universities debating the true effectiveness of the buggers, the test writers decided the exam needed to be altered. First to go is the analogy portion … you know, tree is to green as sky is to ____________. In its place will be an essay. This addition has parents and teachers wondering what they can do to insure students are taught to write well. As homeschool parents, we have a decided edge. We can fully concentrate on one student's writing at a time, making sure progress is made. However, don't have the mistaken assumption writing can wait until your child is in the tenth grade. Teaching effective writing begins years earlier than that. It begins the moment you begin to read to your child. In order to write well, a child must first be introduced to great writers. As soon as Junior comes home from the hospital, the process should begin. Nursery rhymes, Bible stories, fables, all the "classic" stories that have been told for eons can help your child fall in love with the written word, suspense, and a good ending. As the child grows older, introduce all types of literature to him. Expose the student to classic American literature, British literature and world literature. All of these types should include the different types of composition as well - short story, essay, humor, descriptive, etc. From kindergarten through second grade, the focus should be on making sure the child can read well (and these are just generalities - every child won't read independently by second grade). About the third grade, it's a good idea to begin to prep them to be comfortable with the writing process. An "idea file" worked well with both of my children. Simply purchase an index card file and some index cards. Every time the child has an idea about something he wants write about, he prints it on an index card and stores it in the file. When he has accumulated 20 or so cards, they can be divided into groups of general ideas - vacations, ideas from books, ideas on animals, funny things that have happened, etc. This comes in handy because it allows the parent to simply say, "Please write me a story about something that happened on vacation," and the child can go to the file and pull out an idea. This has saved time, tears, and hours of whining at my house.

Journals are another idea parents may want to try as the child reaches fifth grade. Journals don't have to be written in everyday, but making journal entries three or more times a week does several things. First, it gets kids over their fear of writing and makes them comfortable putting ideas down on paper. Second, it gets them in the habit of writing regularly. Both things are important disciplines for good writers.

As middle school years swing into gear, it is important that kids get familiar with a thesaurus. The dictionary (or at least spell check) should have conquered in elementary school. A thesaurus is a dictionary of a different color. Assign thesaurus exercises (e.g. how many words can you find that means yellow?). In addition to widening vocabulary (which should also be worked on), it also makes kids aware of subtle differences between words and the way words can convey so many different nuances and meanings. Let grammar work do double duty. When you study nouns, have your children write down exact nouns. When verbs are studied, make sure your middle schooler knows the difference between active and passive voice and that active voice sentences with action verbs are the most effective. Build on concrete adjectives and adverbs when they are studied.

The next idea is controversial. Some parents and kids love it and others hate it.This is timed writing. I introduce it at the end of seventh grade and continue it through high school. It is simply introducing a "prompt" or topic to write on (dig through their idea file for these) and give them five to ten minutes to write about it. Grammar, punctuation, and spelling are ignored. During this time, the pen or pencil must stay in motion -- no stopping. Later, extend the time to write on the prompt and actually allow them to make a brief outline or list of ideas and then write about it. This exercise gets the child used to writing under pressure. And that is what it will be like with the new SAT. Truthfully, I have one child that loves it and one child that hates it. But the child that dislikes it still sees the value in it - he'll be the one taking the new SAT. All I can advise you to do is try it and see how it works in your school.

In high school, writing should encompass more Language Arts time. Grammar studies should be concluded by the end of tenth grade, except for some minor review work during the junior and senior year. Ninth grade is an excellent time to produce the research paper, although research itself (going to the library or using the internet to look things up) should be introduced around the third grade. The research paper is a great way to discuss the two types of research (general and applied) and how each is used. It is truly the "ground zero" of high school writing. It also allows for great teaching moments in writing - correcting paragraph and sentence structure problems, making sure that there are smooth transitions between paragraphs, etc. Perhaps the most pressing issue research papers teach is plagiarism: what it is and how to avoid it. I can't begin to stress how important that is, especially with colleges and universities expelling a record number of students over this very issue.

After the research paper is conquered and completed, other styles of writing should be studied. The personal narrative, personal essay, descriptive writing, eyewitness writing, the interview report, profiles, story writing, play writing, poetry writing, editorial writing, argument and debate, commentary, process, comparison, cause and effect, definition, and problem/solution writing should all be considered, even if there isn't time enough to try out each style. Students should continue to read good literature during this time. Writing can be used in this area for book reviews and literary analysis. It could also be used in more practical ways, such as writing business letters and other forms of workplace writing.

Now I know what most of you are asking: All of this is well and good and overwhelming. What is out there to help my child (and myself) assimilate all of this? Excellent curriculums are available that you can "tweak" to meet individual needs. I am not paid by any of these publishers, but recommend them after years of teaching in a traditional classroom and homeschooling my own two kids. A Beka publishers offer a great grammar program that also includes some good, basic writing exercises for the younger student. If your child is in elementary school, you may want to pick up A Beka Language Arts in third or fourth grade. However, A Beka does not move much beyond the traditional research paper. In middle school and high school, there is a need for something more. Write Source has two great writing manuals - one for middle school and one for high school.

Parents also wonder how to grade writing. Unless you have an English background, this can be daunting. I have used Writing Strands Evaluating Writing to help me. It covers in detail all the areas to check for, gives parents pointers on how to correct papers, shows what papers should look like at various grade levels, and gives lots of examples.Another idea that could be adopted is to have other parents that you trust to read your child's writing and give their insights.

Finally, keep a writing portfolio. This doesn't have to be anything fancy - just a file folder or binder with the child's best writing in it. It can be kept as part of the student's permanent folder. For homeschooled high school students, this can't be stressed enough, especially with the SAT gearing up toward including an essay. Some kids don't write well under pressure. The portfolio is a great way to ensure that colleges and universities know your child does write well.

Another point for parents and students to remember with these SAT changes is that grading writing is VERY subjective. As a teacher, what I may think is good writing, another teacher may find very mediocre. So the student's essay grade on the SAT may not be an accurate indication of his writing ability. A portfolio is a wonderful presentation of child's writing over a consolidated time period, encompassing various styles. It is also wise to keep either several hard copies of the portfolio writing, or hard drive and floppy back ups. Read and write. Include major composition work in your homeschool curriculum. There are lots of good books and on-line resources out there to help you and your child. You can teach writing, and your child can learn to write well. However, as with other skills, writing must be introduced gradually, over a period of time, and built on a firm foundation of good books, good ideas, and a good time learning to write effectively.

Sherry has a Bachelors degree, a Masters degree and is going for a Ph.D.
More importantly, she has taught in both public and private schools and is homeschooling her own children.

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