Educating Leaders - No Conveyor Belt Education Here!
July 28, 2009 - How to Motivate Your Students to Write
This summer I’ve been posting reviews of our writing products as well as some articles about writing. This is an article that I wrote last summer that I thought you might find helpful.
The most common complaint I hear from parents has to do with their child's approach to writing. It's quite normal for children to resist writing assignments. I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way. By providing your child with a clear purpose for their writing lessons, you will boost their motivation and encourage them to do their best work. Through the process of writing format through publishing, my kids do better work, and are happier about it, too!
A few years ago, all three of my children wrote books which are now available for purchase. My son worked for an entire year studying about the jungle and choosing just the right animal or plant to include in his ABC Jungle Book. After making these choices, he wrote a paragraph about each one, using a writing stylistic checklist.
You must be realistic and know that he did not write or research every day for the past year. He took breaks from this project which was completed at the beginning of June.
He was highly motivated for a couple of reasons. First, he chose the topic of jungles himself so he was quite interested in the topic from the beginning. Secondly, the idea of making money from his writing project and publishing a book was exciting. This project gave him a purpose for writing. Not every writing project will end in a money-making project, but each writing assignment should have a purpose.
Of course, most writing assignments aren't done for monetary gain. There are other motivators besides money. For example, you can encourage your child to write letters to friends and relatives; write a story or poem to enter in a contest; write a news article for the family newsletter; relate a funny story on something that happened to them - practically any clear purpose can make writing assignments more enjoyable and effective.
Here’s a video review of some of our writing products, “Medieval History Based Writing.”
Once your child has a purpose for writing, he needs to put his ideas down on paper in a thoughtful, cohesive manner. There are many writing programs on the market, but best source I have found to teach your child "how" to write is Excellence in Writing. This course deals with the "hows" of writing instead of "what" to write about.
You can give your child(ren) a great reason for writing when you use the process of writing format through publishing. Try to integrate writing into any subject you are studying with your child. Writing should never be treated as a separate topic, since it is a valuable skill that transcends the subject material. By encouraging your child to write on a range of topics, he (or she!) will understand the purpose that writing has in all aspects of life.
__________
Copyright Kerry Beck, 2009
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
A place to interact about teaching our kids without following the conveyor belt model of the government schools. Think outside the box and provide a leadership education for your children.
Other musings are included on a regular basis :-)
