Simplicity and language skills? Can they go together?
They must.
Since of 75% of kids going to college can’t write a paper, we have to get busy right now and change the way we approach teaching writing. But that’s easier said than done. How do we scale things down? By addressing the basic writing skills one at a time.
Keep it Simple.
Children are elated to find out that writing can be reduced to four simple skill sets. They are:
- Basic: sentence & paragraph construction, etc.
- Creative: finding unique ways to express things
- Descriptive: describing things with clarity
- Organizational: knowing what to say first, second, and so on.
By taking a simpler approach, that is, by teaching these skill sets one at a time, and staying on point until the kids use the skills on their own, the kids can master them. Those skills will then become the foundation for all types of papers: creative, argumentation, reports and research, and expository (essays). Learning to write this way is logical, the same way math is taught. Addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division are the foundations for fractions, algebra, geometry, trig, and so on.
When I traveled for an English curriculum company, I talked to hundreds of kids who were overwhelmed with writing, and frankly, what many of them were required to do was ridiculous. One little boy in particular stands out in my mind. His curriculum required him to write a term paper on Russia. He was 7. He could barely tie his shoes. Of course he was overwhelmed, and that paper just about did him in when it came to writing. I don’t blame him a bit, and I told him so. It wasn’t mom’s fault, either. She was just assigning what the program told her to assign.
If kids can approach writing skills logically though, where one skill precedes another and everything is laid out in a logical sequence, they can get it. And lessons don’t need to go longer than about 20 minutes a day for little guys, moving up to about an hour when they’re in high school. Believe it or not, this simple approach will do, and it’ll do well.
Don’t kids naturally “get it?”
Sometimes kids use good basic skills whether they’re aware that they’re using them or not, but here’s the thing: when a student knows what he knows, and he’s practiced and intentional with what he knows, he gains a certain mental power in the process; he’ll be able to access his knowledge on demand and organize his thoughts with intention. This gives him an advantage over the child – or eventually, the adult – who doesn’t know what he knows.
When kids master the simple four skills in writing, they’ll be well on their way to becoming great writers – whether they have any aspirations toward being great writers or not.
We tend to think that more is better, but that thinking is obviously not working when it comes to teaching writing. Let’s give our kids a re-boot and tell them that there’s a logical simplicity behind writing, that it boils down to just four skills they need to learn for writing class. Of course, they don’t know it’ll take years to use each writing skill with finesse, but I don’t think they’ll mind. After all, it’s “just four skills. That’s simple.”
To get a copy of a logical Writing Skill Breakdown, a tool for teaching writing skills in a logical order, contact me at [email protected].
For the kids,
Cathy*
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Carrie is the owner & operator of Homeschool Giveaways. She has been homeschooling for over a decade and has successfully graduated her first homeschooler. She has two girls and works side by side at home with her awesome husband. She has been saved by grace, fails daily, but continues to strive toward the prize of the high calling of being a daughter of the Most High God.
