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Question
How
do I build my 11-year old's confidence in his writing abilities? His fear
of writing is starting to affect his grades.
Not
Shakespeare’s Mom Seattle, Washington
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Answer
Nearly
everyone experiences some anxiety when asked to write a report or
composition, so reassure your son that he is not alone. Clear, concise
communication is a matter of organization and practice.
Help
your son develop organizational skills by teaching him to summarize facts
and to make lists. Start with easy things, like listing his daily
schedule, making a grocery list, or listening the topics he wants to
remember to share with his grandparents during their next phone
conversation (like the homerun he hit at Tuesday’s game and the 95% he
got on Thursday’s math quiz). Encourage your son to leave notes around
the house for family members; together write step-by-step “procedures”
for pet care or cleaning his room. All of this will help develop a pattern
of thinking in a writer-ly fashion (like a formal outline).
Most
importantly, read—together and individually. The more your son
encounters new words and familiar words used well, the more comfortable he
will become with the idea of manipulating words to fit his writing needs.
It doesn’t matter what you read—books, magazines, short stories are
all acceptable—it THAT you read that is important. After reading a short
story, for example, ask your son to retell the story in his own words.
Discuss what he thought was important, and why he thought so.
Finally,
the best way to develop good writing skills is to practice, practice,
practice. Your focus is to get your son writing—and enjoying it. Don’t
worry about his grammar, spelling, or technical skills. Those can be
improved once your son feels at ease using the written word.
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Find
a pen pal with whom your child can correspond, either through e-mail
or traditionally. (Warning: if he uses e-mail, discourage the use of
internet slang and e-abbreviations as these won’t help his writing
skills).
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Encourage
him to keep a journal and make daily entries.
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Add
funny (or documentary) captions to family photos or pictures cut from
a magazine.
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Share
the experience of story writing: One member of the family begins a
story by writing down an opening paragraph of about 100 words. She
then passes the work on to another family member who continues the
story his way, for about another 100 words. Continue until everyone
has had a chance to add a paragraph. The original writer must then
come up with an ending to the story. Read the result together and
enjoy the twists generated by group creativity.
Be
supportive of all your child’s written works.
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