Write The Essay
We homeschoolers are an odd bunch. We sometimes think that because we can do something means that we should do something. This reminds me of 1 Corinthians 10:23: “All things are lawful for me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but all things edify not.”
Quite often, we are correct; we can do something differently than how the public school does it, and it turns out better for our children if we have that flexibility. That freedom works wonders in the realm of field trips, individualized instruction, apprenticeships, following our children’s passions and teaching life skills.
One glaring area where being wholly different does not work is in writing – specifically, essay writing. Too often, our desire to allow our children to work to their strengths, while helping them along with their weaker areas, causes us to overlook this valuable life skill. Whether or not your child plans to attend college after graduation, they NEED a basic understanding, and some practice, in essay writing.
Your child probably only needs one year of focused practice on essay writing during high school, and they do not even need to be particularly good at it, but they need to know that they are competent essay writers. How do I know this? Because my 20-year-old daughter is a college student. She wrote a lot of essays over two years of high school, but now at the collegiate level, she realizes too many of her friends did not. Sometimes, she sees them struggle to put together an outline for basic essay writing. At other times, they struggle with the more creative writing assignments, because they lack confidence in basic writing skills that are learned during essay writing practice.
Mom – I get it! High school can be overwhelming for the parent/teacher. There are records to keep, courses to plan, books to hunt down, transcripts to create, and usually, younger siblings to teach, as well – but do not overlook this important life skill! If your child is headed toward an apprenticeship or another non-college option, you can just cover the basics of essay writing, because they will need the ability to write, in general, more than the influence of their writing towards a specific topic. If they are headed toward college, please, please, please, either take the time to teach them yourself, or acquire a book or program that will help them learn to be solid essay writers.
There are many options available to learn essay writing from. Many homeschoolers are familiar with IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing), that teaches writing on many different levels, or you can use a tutoring program, like Fortuigence, that is specifically geared toward high school level essay writing. You can even pick up a book at your local library about essay writing. Just make sure your child can write an essay when needed.
Moms and Dads, choose to have your student write the essay. It will challenge them to organize their thoughts and expand upon important points. These are real life skills that will help them in life – just like learning to do their own laundry, or reading package instructions. Challenge + hard work = success!
Carol and her husband Kurt are in their 15th year of home education. With one graduate and one high school senior, Carol writes with a practical look at the whole journey of home education. Focusing on experienced based education and frugal ways to teach and learn well, Carol offers encouragement that anyone, even working moms, can homeschool successfully. Carol writes for her local newspaper, the TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and reviews books for several Christian Publishers. You can find her love of nature, field trips, and lifelong learning on her blog: Home Sweet Life.
