Writing is amongst one of the subjects I receive the most questions. Parents often feel the abstractness of the writing task as overwhelming. And many times our own experiences of writing instruction that lacked clear guidance colors our feelings towards the writing task itself. But the great news is that there is a way to give our children a success-filled tool box for writing and that writing instruction has greatly improved over the last couple decades. Here are my top strategies for turning your child into a more confident writer:
- Allow for invented spelling. While going back and editing the piece together (try to use fun pen colors-not red ink- or Google Docs-for this task), when writing initially it is best not to get our child bogged down with the mechanics or conventional spelling.
- Work on transitional phrases. Filling your child writing repretoire with words such as “Additionally,…” or “For example,…” strengthen their writing and make it flow smoother.
- Teach your child a paragraph structure. Several formats exist and it is more about finding what works for you and sticking with it. I have lots of great resources for this and specialize in getting children to master this task to the point of 5-paragraph essays.
For more information, check out my writing coaching sessions or my online live sessions available at https://deannawestedt.com/parents/
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Deanna Westedt 