As holiday decorations come out and the tree or menorah takes center stage, children can become increasingly distracted, sidetracked, and fidgety in anticipation of upcoming seasonal celebrations.

Homeschooling doesn’t need to fall by the wayside during December! The holidays can be a great time to assign writing activities that focus on the festivities, allowing children to immerse themselves in the fun while encouraging productivity. This month, have your kids write a paragraph describing a holiday-themed process where they explain, in a step-by-step manner, how something is done.

Process Paragraph: Choosing a Topic

Help them pick a process that isn’t too involved or complicated. With younger or reluctant writers, it’s especially important to keep the number of steps to a minimum. Also, the more familiar children are with the process, the easier it will be to write about it.

Here are some ideas to get them started. They can explain how to:

• Wrap a present
• Make latkes
• Decorate the tree
• Bake gingerbread cookies
• Build a snowman
• Be a “Secret Santa”
• Set the table for dinner
• Create a handmade greeting card
• Make a holiday craft project
• Play the dreidel game
• String popcorn
• Make a paper “countdown” chain

Process Paragraph: Writing the Rough Draft

Once your kids have chosen a topic (and narrowed it down to a specific task, if necessary), walk them through a few simple steps to guide and direct them.

1. If possible, have them go through the process themselves before beginning to write. Take digital photos of them as they complete each step.
2. Provide a graphic organizer to help them break down the steps of the process and plan the composition. Here’s a simple one that’s especially good for elementary ages. Here’s one can be filled in on the computer. Or download a free lesson sample from WriteShop I (grades 6+) that includes a Process Planning Worksheet.
3. Next, have them begin to write the rough draft, explaining the most important steps first.
4. Teach them to use transition words such as first, second, third, next, then, finally, or last.
5. If the paper isn’t too long, or if the steps are too vague, they can expand each step by adding sub-steps, more detail, or colorful description.

Process Paragraph: Making an Instruction Manual

Edit the rough draft together to ensure the steps are logical and easy to follow, and check for spelling and punctuation errors.

To publish their how-to composition in a fun way, have your children create an instruction manual. Here’s how:

1. Invite them to choose the photos they want to use to illustrate the process. They will need to print out 4-6 pictures. Let them tape or glue each picture to the top half of a sheet of notebook paper, using a separate sheet for each photo.
2. Next, have them copy their corrected composition onto the sheets of notebook paper, writing the sentence or sentences that each photo illustrates.
3. Finally, encourage them to design and decorate a colorful cover, including a catchy title. Assemble the instruction manual and share with family members.

Activities like this will keep your children happily writing, even during the busiest time of year!

Copyright © 2010 Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr.

You may think of writing as a hands-off subject: just give a child a piece of paper and a writing prompt and let him at it, right?

Well, not always. See, writing is a subject that must be taught in order for most children to learn and improve. A schoolteacher stands at the chalkboard, demonstrates writing methods, and explains new concepts. As homeschoolers, we may not need to stand in front of our “class” to teach a lesson, but our kids still need us to model for them at each point along the way—including brainstorming.

MODELING

When you teach a child to make his bed or do his own laundry, first you show him, and then you do it together, before you expect him to complete the task on his own.

Working together like this during writing also trains children in good brainstorming habits. If you just hand them the worksheet and skip the part where you model various techniques on a larger writing surface, you’re missing a golden opportunity to teach them how to think before they write. Eventually, you can let the reins out a bit as they demonstrate their ability to follow instructions and brainstorm properly, but for now, make sure you’re working together.

THE PURPOSE OF BRAINSTORMING

Most children are simply not used to brainstorming. Unless they’ve been trained in the art of story planning, they’re much more likely to do one of two things when it’s time to write:

• Freeze at the sight of the blank page and barely scrawl out a couple of weak sentences. The end result is little more than a mess of smudges and teardrops.
• Try to move a massive swirl of ideas from head to paper but wind up losing their focus. They’re left with a rambling, disjointed story that has too many characters, irrelevant bits of storyline, and lots of rabbit trails.

(Yes? You have one of these children? I see you nodding your head!)

The goal of a brainstorming worksheet is simply to help jumpstart the writing. Graphic organizers aren’t meant for writing full sentences, but for writing lists of words and short phrases. As you discuss story ideas together and jot details on your larger example, your student can copy the ones he likes onto his own worksheet.

Later, when he refers to the worksheet during writing time, the list of concrete words and other details will jog his memory and keep his writing from taking tangents. Brainstorming keeps him on track.

HOW TO BRAINSTORM TOGETHER

Draw a large 9-grid on a whiteboard or other writing surface. Discuss ideas for the beginning of the story. On your large example, write down three details that could happen, one in each box. Talk about:

• What could happen first to introduce the story;
• What happens second; and
• What happens next.

Have your child draw a quick stick-figure sketch in each box on his own worksheet that represents each of these details. He does not need to add words at this time, but if he does, he should just copy the simple details (again, not complete sentences) you’ve written on your chart.

Do the same for the middle of the story, jotting down very simple words/phrases that could happen first, second and third in the middle of the story.

For the ending, jot down what could happen first, next, and last to bring the story to a satisfying end.

If your student prefers not to draw pictures, that’s okay; he can write words. Just encourage him to write LISTS of words rather than complete sentences. (Brevity is key during brainstorming.) Then, he can flesh out his ideas when it’s time to write his story.

. . . . .

WriteShop Junior is a partnership between parent/teacher and student, because that’s how writing is best taught. Book D, the first in the series will be released this fall. You’ll love all the hands-on activities and tools, including a brainstorming worksheet and detailed instructions for each writing lesson.

Are you uncomfortable with the idea of teaching your kids to write? Maybe you think you can’t teach writing because you never really learned yourself. Or maybe you’re a confident writer, but you don’t have a clue how to pass that on to your kids.

One thing I do know: Regardless of skill or background, you can model and teach writing with confidence. Even though you may not believe it—you really do know more than your children.

Why Model and Teach Writing?

Simply, it’s unfair to expect our children to do something that hasn’t first been demonstrated.

Modeling writing in front of your children matters, but be encouraged that you don’t have to be perfect or have all the right answers. As homeschool parents, like it or not, our job is to teach and model the process until our children get it. They need to see and hear us thinking through our ideas. It’s good for them watch us struggle to come up with a topic sentence or find the words to make up the lines of a poem. Why? Because they struggle too!

But let’s step out of writing mode for a moment.

Students learn geometry because you show them over and over how to do it, right? They rarely get it the first time. Or the second time. Or even third.

Imagine saying, “OK, Ryan, find the hypotenuse of this triangle. I’m not going to teach you different strategies to solve the problem. Just get started . . . and good luck!”

We’d never dream of throwing our kids to the math lion, yet when it comes to writing, we want to assign a topic and say “Go!” 

For whatever reason, we just expect them to write intuitively. It’s pretty silly, really, because there are many strategies and skills involved with writing a good paragraph or story.

K-2nd Grade

Model and teach through Guided Writing Practice to provide your young child with a daily, predictable, shared writing experience. Together, write several short sentences about simple, familiar topics such as animals, friends, the weather, or upcoming events.

During this time, you’re modeling important writing skills such as:

• Left-to-right progression
• Letter formation
• Correct spacing
• Punctuation and capitalization

Most importantly, Guided Writing gives your child the freedom to put together ideas without the limitations and fear of having to write them down himself.

A simple way to introduce writing skills is through predictable sentence starters. Young children thrive on repetition, so they’ll enjoy the consistency and routine of using the same sentence starter all week. Just draw out a different response each day.

Hello, _________.(Mommy, Jamie, Mittens)
Today is _________. (Tuesday, Friday, my birthday)
It is _________. (sunny, cloudy, foggy)
We are going to _________. (bake with Grandma, play Legos)
I think _________. (we will have fun, I will build a tower)

As your child’s writing skills increase, use your Guided Writing times to gradually introduce new concepts such as beginning, middle, and end; writing a friendly letter; or thinking of a problem and solution for a story.

3rd-5th Grade

This is often the point where moms drop off the grid: You go from nurturing the writing process to feeling guilty that you’re getting in the way of your child’s progress or creativity. Ironically, this is when most kids come to hate writing!

Instead, recognize that this is the phase of writing where you and your child can work together to produce the final project. Model and teach writing skills through examples and prompts. Keep things moving by continuing to do most or all of the writing, but share in the process. Because some of the work is yours and some is your child’s, it’s a collaborative effort. Let this free you instead of tether you to your guilt!

Middle and High School

Even if your teen is now working quite independently, you should still be modeling new writing skills and methods. As you work together, modeling helps familiarize her with the lesson’s expectations.

On a white board, demonstrate and teach writing skills through dialogues, prompts, and questions, but also show examples of the targeted writing. You and student should both contribute to the paragraph.

Again, you’re not modeling a polished final draft, you’re modeling the thinking process. When your teen heads off to write her own paper, your time together will have set the stage.

Stay Connected

At every age, your child needs your involvement in the writing process, not just to give editing feedback, but to instruct and model. Like teaching your child to make a bed, knit a scarf, or build a birdhouse, you remain involved until she is confidently and successfully progressing.

Collaborative writing takes time, too—to coax, encourage, ask questions, and discuss possibilities. Together, you and your child will grow comfortable with these writing sessions, and before you know it, you’ll watch her begin to apply the same thinking process when she works by herself.

So stay connected and involved. It’s crucial to your child’s writing success!

Copyright 2011 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved. 

My kids have come such a long way in their skills using WriteShop, but they still don’t enjoy writing. It’s still “work” to them, and they’d rather be doing something else. ~Marisa, SD

Fun vs. Fruit

As parents, we toggle between wanting to use a curriculum our kids like (even if it’s less effective) and using something that’s more “work,” yet clearly produces results. For two of my own kids, math was our bugaboo. The “fun” program I used one time set them back a year, so it was back to Saxon for us, even though they didn’t especially like it. 

Moment of Clarity

I love when homeschooling moms have an epiphany, that “Aha!” moment when they realize—and accept—that writing does need to be taught, and how this often means sitting with our kids and coaxing the writing out of them.

The wise parent makes the commitment to brainstorm one-on-one with her children as needed, asking leading questions and encouraging them in what they write down. She knows that their efforts would be half-hearted if she left them to work on their own.

Later, when it’s time to write the rough draft, she sometimes needs to go through the process with each one individually as well.

She sticks with her curriculum and holds her kids’ hands—not just for the sake of commitment, but because she sees fruit! Marisa adds:

 Again, I worked with each of the kids individually to get their [brainstorming] done… Though it takes a little more time than I like, the end result is far more satisfying for all of us!

I too have walked in Marisa’s—and your—shoes. When my son finally began working independently in high school, all those hours and hours of side-by-side efforts paid off. I pray they will for you too.

~Kim

My child is a high school freshman, and thus far, our homeschool experience has not gone well where writing is concerned. Every program we’ve tried seems to fall by the wayside by Christmas break. Normally, she’s an independent worker who does well with most self-directed assignments—except for writing. We just never finish.

Does this sound familiar? If so, let’s see if I can offer some advice to help you and your teen get back on track!

Parent Involvement vs. Student Independence

I’m all for fostering independence. As students enter the high school years, it’s especially wise to train them to become more and more responsible for their own schoolwork. This means teaching them to break assignments into chunks, work on multiple projects, and stick to deadlines.

But even if a self-directed child is successful in most academic subjects, she may still be floundering when it comes to self-directed writing assignments. This is largely because, for most students, writing must be taught. Good writing is the result of a partnership between a parent/teacher and the student.

Get involved!

A child who rarely finishes a writing assignment can’t be left to learn writing on her own; clearly this approach is failing her. If this is true of your child, you may need to step in and become more involved in teaching, guiding, editing, and grading her work. She may not appreciate your “interference,” but if she’s not succeeding on her own, something needs to change.

Begin by working closely with her to introduce, model, and teach new concepts. After that, let her work independently on her assignment. If she continues to struggle, misses deadlines, or fails to give her best effort, recognize that you’ll need to spend more one-on-one time together while she writes. As she throws herself more fully into her writing and gives effort to assignments, you can start backing off again.

Learning to Stick It Out

Sometimes a curriculum just isn’t working and you need to take a different approach. But if you keep abandoning ship—specifically where writing is concerned—it’s time to ask yourself why. This is especially important if you’ve tried several writing programs but find you never seem to finish any of them.

Is it a character issue—or an academic one?

Does your child:

• Complain about other subjects, sports, music lessons, or chores—or just about writing?
• Put up enough of a fight (about anything) that you toss up your hands in despair and give in to her complaints?
• Make such a fuss over writing in particular that it’s easier to give up without finishing the program?

If this describes your home, consider working on the character qualities of diligence and perseverance. Students need to learn that sometimes, even though a curriculum is less than ideal, they can’t just quit as soon as it gets too hard.

In the real world, they won’t always have choices, but if they’ve gotten into the habit of abandoning something partway through when the going gets tough, it will be hard for them to practice stick-to-itiveness in the future. (For example, they’ll be more likely to drop a college class the minute it begins to get challenging.)

Even if this stop-start-stop-start habit only applies to writing, I would still encourage you to decide on a course of action and commit to seeing it through. You’ll probably agree it’s time to make follow-through a priority.

Taking a Different Tack

Perhaps you simply need a new approach to teaching writing. It’s a legitimate possibility that your child’s learning style just hasn’t meshed with other writing programs you’ve tried in the past. In this case, WriteShop might genuinely help you overcome the hurdles you’ve experienced.

For one, WriteShop expects parent involvement yet fosters independence. Furthermore, WriteShop promotes the writing process through:

• Prewriting activities that set the stage for the writing assignment and get creative juices flowing.
• Brainstorming worksheets that help students develop ideas before it’s time to write.
• Step-by-step instructions for writing that never leave them wondering what, exactly, they’re supposed to do.
• Short assignments (rarely longer than a paragraph) so that they can work on sentence and stylistic skills.
• Activities and assignments that are broken up into bite-size portions over two weeks per writing lesson so as not to overwhelm a student.
• Detailed, lesson-specific self-editing checklists that enable students to proofread their own work and make corrections before handing their paper in to you.
• Parent checklists and grading keys that help you give objective feedback.

Past writing failures don’t have to be accurate preditors of future success. With a few adjustments in attitude and/or method, your teen can get back on track—and with time to spare.

Copyright 2011 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved. 

I’ll be the first to admit that it’s hard to watch myself on video. For one thing, I had no idea I talk with my hands so much! If you can get past my fluffy hair and lack of lipstick, I think you’ll find some encouraging tips in this 20-minute Homeschool Spotlight!

Writing across the curriculum is a phrase homeschoolers hear more and more. With many students struggling under the weight of their various courses and moms juggling lesson plans and schoolwork for their large families, your response may well be, “That’s nice. But can it simplify my life?” 

Two Birds with One Stone

Unfamiliar with the expression “writing across the curriculum”? Simply put, it means using writing assignments as a vehicle to help kids explore other areas of study.  

Those who use a writing program “as is” tend to teach writing as a separate subject, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with that. But if you’re teaching many children or you want to streamline your schedule, writing across the curriculum may be ideal for you. Rather than approach writing as a separate discipline, students apply generic writing lessons to subjects like history, literature, or science. Not only does it boost writing ability, it helps them better understand the content and specialized vocabulary of a particular subject. 

Writing across the curriculum increases knowledge of the subject matter while helping students develop critical thinking skills. To prepare for the assignment, they must do a bit of reading or research. As they take in the information, brainstorm, and write, they gain greater understanding of the topic. 

Second, it makes everyone’s life simpler. Instead of a “writing” assignment here and a history or literature composition there, the two can be easily combined. The result? Less writing for the kids and less grading and lesson planning for Mom. 

Getting Started

Descriptive Writing

Students can use writing across the curriculum to write descriptively by examining details of food, costumes, or objects from a culture they’re learning about. They can write about an oriole’s nest for science, a carved African antelope for geography, a coonskin cap for literature, or a Peruvian flute for music. 

If you don’t have the object on hand, a vivid photograph can serve as an acceptable substitute. DK Eyewitness Books make excellent choices because of their clear, intricate photos. 

Informative Writing

Consider a news article. Students can use the five Ws—who, what, when, where, why—to explore an incident they’re studying in another subject. What a great opportunity to learn more about an historical event, an archaeological find, or a scientific discovery and write an article about it. 

Other kinds of informative writing, such as biographies, news articles, or short reports, can also dovetail with current areas of study. That’s what writing across the curriculum is all about! 

Narrative Writing

Looking for more ways to write across the curriculum? Look no further than the personal narrative. Your student might choose to become Joan of Arc (history), Albert Einstein (science), the Apostle Paul (Bible), or George Frideric Handel (music). 

After reading about an especially exciting event in her subject’s life, the student must personalize the information to write a brief first-person narrative as if she herself were that individual: journaling with a twist!

Alternatively, she can “interview” the famous person and write a third-person narrative. Writing from a different point of view challenges critical thinking skills. 

Essay Writing

In junior high and high school, you can incorporate essay writing into just about every subject. It’s important for your teen to articulate an argument, write a defendable thesis statement, and support it with facts, logic, and examples. 

Essays can describe, define, persuade, or discuss cause and effect. Students can compare and contrast battles, Bible characters, or ideologies. They can write an exposé on the Virginia Company and its dealings with Jamestown, an opinion about whether the earth is round, or a letter to the editor complaining about the conditions in London factories during the Industrial Revolution. 

Projects and Activities

Look for projects and activities that involve writing but don’t necessarily result in formal compositions. Here’s one idea: ditch the traditional—and boring—book report (“This book is about…”) and ask your child to make a mobile by cutting shapes from sturdy paper. On the front, have him color pictures of significant characters or scenes from the book, and on the back, write a colorful description or brief character analysis. When finished, he can string each shape with yarn and dangle the papers from a wire hanger. Such an activity can be adapted to all ages. 

Your student’s talents and interests can also play a part in creating out-of-the-ordinary projects. Instead of explaining a process the traditional way, one clever student created an unusual instruction manual for a literature assignment based upon The Lord of the Rings: she explained how to make an Elven sword. Rather than use notebook paper or a computer printout, she copied her final draft onto parchment paper whose edges she had carefully burned. Then she embellished each page, writing runic characters with a calligraphy pen to create a beautiful project worth keeping and treasuring. 

Other Ideas

• Draw and label a diagram for science to explain photosynthesis, a volcano, or the water cycle. Include a short written explanation of the process. 
• Make a scrapbook of a historical period, famous person, or country (Renaissance, Vikings, Australia), or create one featuring art, music, or science. Depending on the nature of the scrapbook, elements could include daily life, journals, maps, timelines, sketches, flags, plant taxonomies, pressed leaves, photos, biographies, summaries, definitions, and news articles.
• Design a brochure about an historic location. Include drawings and brief descriptions about key events, people, and places.

  

Inside of "Come to California" brochure

Colonial newspaper advertisements

If “writing across the curriculum” has thus far been a mystery to you—one of those terms that everyone tosses around about but never actually defines—hopefully you now feel better equipped to give it a try with one or more of your children’s writing lessons. 

Some of you may decide to use each and every writing lesson for the purpose of writing across the curriculum. Others will only apply a couple of assignments in this manner. Regardless, everyone in your family will benefit. 

Copyright 2011 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved. 

. . . . .

If you’re a WriteShop I or II user, you’ll be excited to know there’s a Writing Across the Curriculum section in Appendix B to help you tie each WriteShop assignment into other subjects you’re studying. No projects here, but at least you can direct the lesson toward history or science and kill two birds with one stone! WriteShop Primary for your little ones also offers Writing Across the Curriculum ideas with each lesson.

Most of you are a few months into the new school year, and by now you have a pretty good idea of whether writing is humming along nicely or stubbornly dragging its heels. Now is a good time to evaluate this often-neglected subject and decide if you need to make any mid-course corrections.

It may help to ask yourself: Do I really need a formal writing program? Surprisingly, you may not. Here are some things to consider.

Do You Need a Writing Curriculum?

No, if you . . .

• Are a self-starter.
• Provide your kids with a variety of writing activities and projects.
• Include writing as part of your unit studies.
• Regularly incorporate writing across the curriculum.
• Enjoy thinking up writing lessons for your children.
• Are good about remembering to have your children write several times a week.
• Don’t worry too much about whether you’re missing something.

Yes, if you . . .

• Tend to push writing to the back burner.
• Feel uncertain about what to teach and when.
• Worry about not doing enough writing with your children.
• Prefer a bit more structure.
• Like a more systematic approach to teaching.
• Are more comfortable following a schedule.
• Feel overwhelmed at the thought of coming up with writing assignments or creating your own lesson plans.

Did You Answer Yes? Read On!

What to Look For in a Writing Program

• Clear teaching directions.
• Step-by-step student instructions.
• Creative, engaging ideas for prewriting, brainstorming, and publishing.
• Ungraded materials that allow you to teach several children.
• Materials that will encourage a reluctant writer, yet challenge a stronger or more eager writer.
• An approach that appeals to different learning styles.
• A program that builds the writing process into the lessons.
• Lessons that offer models or examples.
• A program that teaches self-editing.

What to Avoid

• Materials that just tell children to write rather than teach them HOW to write.
• Rigid lessons with very specific writing topics and little room for flexibility.
• Comprehensive curricula that attempt to fully teach both writing and grammar.
• Generic or all-purpose grading rubrics that require too much guesswork on your part.

. . . . .

When you’re comparing writing programs, WriteShop is a good place to start. Whether you’re teaching elementary ages or teens, WriteShop products meet many of the above recommendations for a solid, parent-friendly writing program.

You’re in good company if you think teaching writing is downright painful. Many homeschooling moms feel completely inadequate and unequipped for the task. As a matter of fact, if I were to take a poll, most of you would probably say you’d rather have a root canal.

Sometime we dream about how nice it would be just to plunk a workbook down if front of our kids and watch clear, engaging, organized stories and essays take shape before our very eyes. But in reality, writing needs to be taught.

Yes, a handful of us have children who will figure it out all on their own, but most children need modeling, teaching, and feedback in order to learn and improve as writers.

Beyond your own self-doubt, you may be struggling to help your kids overcome issues like writer’s block, laziness, perfectionism, or other hurdles that prevent progress. Most students want to scribble out a paper and call it done. Then they want you to rave over it! But at the first sign of a suggestion from you, watch out—here comes the meltdown!

This creates tremendous frustration for the parent because you can’t seem to figure out how to make this whole writing thing work. Your kid is a mess, and you feel like a failure.

Isolate the Source

Kid Issues

• Does your child complain that he can’t think of what to write about?
• Does he dawdle?
• Does he have learning challenges that may require special attention?
• Is he unwilling to take correction or accept feedback?

Mom Issues 

• Do you feel overwhelmed?
• Are you trying to teach many children at different levels?
• Are you disorganized and flying by the seat of your pants?
• Are you unpredictable in your editing and grading?

Alone or in combination, these factors can contribute to incredible stress, irritation, and discouragement.

Make Simple Changes

You can take small steps toward reducing the level of frustration in your home. These ideas work wonders with all types of learners:

1. Keep writing assignments short and specific.
2. Use brainstorming worksheets and graphic organizers to help your child think his ideas through before he begins to write.
3. Break the assignment into bite-sized chunks, giving mini deadlines along the way.
4. Choose writing materials that are flexible enough to use with several children at once.
5. Have a plan: Know what you want to teach and when, and then schedule writing into your week. 
6. Use objective, lesson-specific editing and grading tools to help you evaluate your children’s writing fairly.

Small successes will begin to usher frustration right out the door, leaving encouragement and accomplishment in its wake!

Copyright 2010 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

Middle to upper elementary children express a really wide range of writing abilities.

Some children still struggle to hold a pencil or write words.

Some have strong verbal skills yet remain weak in writing. They can spin a great story and tell it orally, yet they’re not yet able to write independently.

Others are beginning to emerge as writers, still depending on you a great deal (as much or more than ever, it may seem). These children need to dictate ideas and sentences during both brainstorming and writing, though they’re also able to contribute more and more to the actual writing itself.

Finally, there are those who are progressing well through the stages of writing and now work fairly independently.

Encourage the Writing Process

Continue to encourage the writing process so it becomes natural. This starts by helping your child view writing as a multistage process:

• We plan.
• We write.
• We make changes.
• We write our final draft.

Ultimately, our kids begin to understand that the paper is the product and writing is the process.

How Much and How Often?

For children in grades 3-5, the focus remains on improving sentence structure and writing a solid paragraph.

• On average, they should spend about 30-40 minutes per day on writing, depending on both age and attention span.
• In my experience, 8-10 quality writing projects per year is plenty of writing (meaning the piece will be taken through each step of the writing process). That’s roughly one complete writing project a month. Meanwhile, lesser assignments such as book narrations, journaling, and so forth can fill in gaps.
• A good target is 1- to 3-paragraph stories or short reports. Take care not to rush your child into longer assignments too soon. A concise, concrete, short piece beats a long, rambling, disjointed, dull, repetitive, tedious essay any day—no matter what age the child!

Remain an Involved Parent

These are bridge years, when most students go from largely parent-supported writing pieces to more independent writing. The biggest key to success with this is lots of practice. Fostering independence doesn’t mean you give an assignment and disappear! Even if it seems counterintuitive, continue working closely with your middle and older elementary children. Your 3-5^th graders need you to:

• Model and teach.
• Oversee their work.
• Participate with them as needed.
• Praise their efforts.
• Give helpful feedback.

Make Writing Fun

Start writing now! If you wait till junior high to begin teaching writing, by then it’s time to get down to brass tacks, and your children may have missed the delight of writing during their elementary years, when they learn that writing is something to enjoy and anticipate.

So most of all, for any elementary child in grades K-5, the writing experience should be fun! Motivation, excitement, and a positive learning environment all help children build confidence in their writing skills as they acquire the ability to write.

Helping your K-2nd grader with writing
Helping your 5th-8th grader with writing
Helping your high schooler with writing

Copyright 2010 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved.

 .  .  .  .  .

In Spring 2011, WriteShop will introduce WriteShop Junior Book D, the first in a series of writing curricula for middle and upper elementary ages. Children have so much fun playing writing games, learning to use exciting writing tools, and writing appealing stories such as adventures and mysteries that they hardly realize they’re learning!

We’ll continue posting details and info here at the blog, but if you’d like to be among the first to get the scoop about the book’s release—or even preorder, join our mailing list by visiting www.writeshop.com and looking for the newsletter sign-up box.