Common Mistakes and some options for teachers We’ve all suffered it at one time or another: Frustration about writing assignments. Either on the receiving end, or perhaps now on the giving end, there can be a few distinctly discouraging aspects to teaching and being taught writing. The tough questions include: What to correct and how

As in many areas of education, the “skill” of writing has been elevated to the status of “art,” which it rightfully should be. However, this has often been to the detriment of children. Equating “good” with “creative” and “creative” with “good,” many teachers, schools and curriculum publishers have taken an approach to teaching which more

Teaching children to write is a monumental task. However, by engaging children in the process of writing, it can be as easy as one, two, three. The process of writing involves following simple steps in order to produce a final document. These steps include brainstorming ideas, webbing or mind-mapping, writing, editing, revising, and finally sharing

Writing is an extremely complex process that requires the brain to do many different things at once: form an idea, put that idea into words, think about how to spell those words, consider what to capitalize and how to punctuate, and remember how to form letters (or where to find them on a keyboard). In

By Christine Field   It is said that imitation is the highest form of flattery. Flattery, yes, but modeling and walking in the footsteps of masters, both forms of imitation, are also effective tools of instruction. When I was a music major in undergraduate school, I listened to my favorite artist play the classics. My

By Yvonne Mutch   Introducing children to the skill of writing need not be an ominous task. One must merely keep in mind that young children are also young thinkers who need exposure to the world of ideas before they can be expected to put their thoughts into complete and coherent sentences. Often, young students

Excuses echo the halls of our homes when we try to teach our children how to write. After all, you can lead a child to paper, but you can’t make him write. Children are reluctant to write for a variety of reasons. Before exploring them, take a look at your own history with writing. Often,

I am among a growing number of women who are redefining the term, “having it all.” As of 2007, the number of homeschooled children in the US hit the 1.5 million mark and I am one of the women who have been successfully doing this for the past 17 years. I am investing in the

Responsibility for a child’s writing instruction is usually accompanied by an obligation to evaluate the child’s writing. Such evaluation can be a daunting task. The following suggestions will help you give your child’s writing the response it deserves and will also help you provide the feedback that will make your child a better writer. The

My husband, Robert, grew up on a farm in the 1950s. He attended one of the last one-room schoolhouses in northern Illinois, and his days were filled with the kind of adventures that happen to a little boy living in a rural setting. Our children never tire of hearing “Daddy’s” farm stories–like the time an

Recently, when a missionary friend was visiting from Japan, I offered to keep his son for a day to free him up for some appointments. Since Rees was alone, I invited my grandson Eli over as a playmate, hauled out a huge crate of Legos, and set the boys loose. I could barely pull them

  Awkward. Even the spelling of the word is disturbing. If we look back, we likely have memories of high school or college teachers having scribbled the ugly “Awk” word in the margin of our paper, leaving us with the tremendously helpful insight that whatever it was we were trying to communicate didn’t quite work.