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
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
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
Teaching writing can be intimidating, especially if you don’t feel like you are a good writer. Here are some tips you can use to encourage your kids to write. Grade school, high school–age doesn’t matter; it’s never too late to develop good writing habits. A seventy-year-young gentleman I know took some writing courses and got
With today’s technology we can send messages across the world in three seconds. In this fast-paced world, who needs to write a letter? With email, fax machines, and telephones (and the list goes on), who needs a good old-fashioned piece of paper and a pencil? Unfortunately, this is the view of most people today. According
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.
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
The best methods of teaching spelling cater to multiple learning styles. They address all three of the main learning channels: visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), and kinesthetic (doing). Unfortunately, the kinesthetic (or “tactile”) channel winds up neglected in many cases. There are a number of effective tactile ways to practice spelling. Some of these include: Building
God knows that homeschooling can be tough sometimes. Some days are wonderful, and you can see the fruits of your labor. Your child’s handwriting is neat, the answers are correct, and his attitude is cooperative. On those days, you know why you homeschool. We all love those days–reading together as a family, working together on
Although Encyclopedia Brown is famous for what he did know, Encyclopedia Dad is famous for what he doesn’t know. Knowing so little, how did I earn that nickname? You may have guessed it-by my pernicious habit of stopping whatever I’m doing, leaping out of the chair, and bounding over to the bookshelf to grab a