Strong writing skills will help your student earn higher test scores, write quality college application essays, and become a better communicator. That’s the good news.
But as I shared recently, there’s bad news too: many college students possess dismal writing skills and are not adequately prepared for rigorous coursework.
I know this is pretty disheartening. It can be easy to give in to gloom and discouragement. Instead, let’s look at positive, practical ways to equip our teens for college-level writing.
Cover the Basics
The requirements are pretty simple, really: focus on basic but key writing skills throughout junior high and high school to adequately prepare your student.
Make sure he regularly writes quality compositions and papers. Specifically, he should know how to write a:
- Professional email.
- Business letter.
- Résumé.
- Clear, well-organized essay (both persuasive and expository)
- Research paper.
Minimally, by the time your teen graduates from high school, he should at least know how to:
- Write clearly.
- Use correct grammar, punctuation, and spelling.
- Use proper sentence structure.
- Proofread and self-edit.
- Take notes.
- Cite sources.
Plan Ahead
If you teach these foundational writing skills early, you’ll still have time to introduce advanced writing and longer, more specific essays in 11th and 12th grade, including:
- Literary analysis.
- Different types of essays (cause/effect, compare/contrast, reflection, argument, definition, etc.).
- Research papers of various lengths.
So make a plan. Keep working on your teen’s grammar and writing skills, and give purposeful writing assignments on a regular basis. Otherwise, writing will keep dropping to the bottom of the stack—and your teen will be in for a rude awakening when his college years begin.
2 comments ↓
My dd graduated two years ago. In preparing her for college, we found just how important all communication skills are to college prep. Primarily writing skills but also other communication skills as well. College interviews are also important. Additionally, communication skills are vital for college life after acceptance. Studies show the better a student is able to communicate orally, the better he or she will do in the class. Oral communication helps in class discussion and allows the student to learn more during the class. It also gives the teacher an opportunity to evaluate how well the student grasps the concepts.
You’re right on all counts, JoJo—I couldn’t agree more. I discovered this with my own kids as well. There’s so much good info to pass along—I just focus on writing, since that’s the emphasis of the blog.