How To Improve Your Child’s Writing Skills
Good writing skills are an integral part of effective communication. These skills allow individuals to communicate their messages with ease and clarity to audiences of any size. Writing skills are typically developed in the early years of learning and perfected in middle through high school. Although it is important that children improve their skills through regular practice, encouragement from parents and teachers also help. If you are looking for ways to improve your child’s writing skills, below are some techniques you can put into practice:
Avoid Writing for Your Child
As parents, it is normal to offer help if one’s child is having trouble with his or her writing or homework assignments. The golden rule is to avoid doing the work for them. If you take over, you’re sending a signal that the child does not need to try harder to overcome adversities.
Teach Your Child to Plan Before Writing
Instead of writing without a clear direction, teach your children to brainstorm before they write. They should plan the structure and content before typing on the keyboard or writing on paper. If your child is writing a story, ask him or her some questions pertaining to the story’s most important events, protagonists, antagonists, etc. Your child can also think along the lines of who, what, where, when, why, and how. If your child has trouble with brainstorming ideas, start with simple topics such as someone who they admire or enjoyable activities they did in the past.
Encourage Your Child to Write on a Daily Basis
Writing daily is one of the best ways for a child to improve his or her skills. From keeping a journal about their school day to practicing writing formal letters, improvement is often unlocked through regular practice. Why should kids keep journals? A journal allows children to express their thoughts and ideas while improving grammar and expanding their vocabulary. Be sure to make this part of your child’s daily routine!
Play Word Games and Read Books to Your Child
Word games and crossword puzzles are great for everyone as they encourage writing. For young children, they can play simple games such as Write the Word. It involves searching for random/specific objects and writing down the names of the items when found. If your children have tried most commercially available card or board games, they may switch to more intellectual games that challenge their reasoning abilities. That’s not all. You may even play online word games with your child.
If you have magazines lying around the house, get your child to cut out pictures of different locations and characters. Place these cutouts in a container or glue them onto cards so that they become individual writing prompts. The whole family can work together to form a unique or quirky story.
Remember, writing and reading go hand-in-hand. Well-spoken individuals are typically well read, can articulate their thoughts clearly, and understand different writing styles. There is a wide variety of books to choose from in local libraries and you can easily choose one that’s appropriate for your child’s interests and age.
At JEI Learning Center®, we provide after-school Reading and Writing programs for both elementary and middle school students. Contact us today to find out more!
