3 Tips For Teaching Children To Write In Homeschool

Carol Duke - 30 Aug 18

Nowadays, more and more parents choose to teach their kids at home. According to the National Home Education Research Institute (NHERI), there’s an estimated 2.3 million homeschooled students in the US alone, as of 2016.

The idea of homeschooling is appealing to many parents because they get to take full responsibility of their kids’ education. However, it can be pretty intense and takes a lot of hard work and patience.

One of the most challenging parts of homeschooling is teaching children to write. Even if you’re a talented writer, encouraging young ones to write may not be so easy. So how can you teach them to write in homeschool? Here are 3 no-nonsense tips you’ll want to follow:

Expose Them To Reading

One thing that’s true among writers is that they also love to read – a LOT. So if you want your children to appreciate writing, make sure to read to them every day. Expose them to great literature that’ll keep them wanting to listen (not to mention show them what excellent writing is). And if reading aloud isn’t your thing, don’t worry, there’s what we call audio books!

The more your children read, the more they discover things they enjoy. What’s more, they’re subconsciously learning how to write on the process – about the plot, the setting, the characters, and the pacing. For sure, great stories will inspire them to try and become good writers, thus developing their writing skills along the way. It’s like hitting two birds with one stone!

Find Fun, Creative Ways To Encourage Kids To Write

The fact of the matter is that there are lots of ways to help your kids develop their writing skills. Homeschooling parents just have to find those things that’ll spark their interest and challenge them to write at the same time. Some new projects may push them out of their comfort zone, but you just have to show them that with a bit of effort on their part, they’ll acquire an important, life-long skill.

For example, if your kid loves to read comic books or play video games, why not ask him to make a report on it or write an essay about the story? If your child doesn’t like the idea of writing essays, IHateWritingEssays is a great avenue to assist them in improving their essay writing ability.

If your kid is a reluctant writer, why not let him join local writing contests to give him that much-needed push? Writing contests are not only a great way to motivate them to write for a purpose, it’s also a great opportunity to let other people read their work and get them some cool prizes. Giving them a fun and interesting assignment that can help them practice writing may be all it takes to expose the writer in them!

Give Them Materials That Encourage Writing

There are a great many tools parents can use for homeschooling their children. But if you want them to learn how to write, you need to make writing materials readily available to them. This can be anything from a PC or laptop, pencil, colored pens, crayons, paper, etc.

Whatever it is that’ll allow your children to express their thoughts and make them tangible – like in the form of a journal or a diary – provide it to them.

It’s no secret that writing is a valuable skill to teach to the young ones. As homeschooling parents, our goal is to see our children succeed in life. Being able to write effectively can help guide them towards success.

So don’t get discouraged if your kids seem reluctant to learn how to write at first. Just give them the necessary push and continue to find fun ways to help them see the need to acquire writing skills, and the many great and enjoyable opportunities that come with it!

Carol Duke

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