Writing assignments can be very stressful for kids. As parents, we can help them cope with this stress if we know how to teach essay writing in a way that makes sense to them.
As a parent, you know your kids better than anyone else. As they progress through the year, you know they have lots of exciting times ahead of them and loads of big decisions to make. As they move up to higher education, college and university, the emphasis on essay writing will become more and more important in their daily lives.
Teaching younger kids about the importance of essay writing and developing the skills on how to do so is so important. When they are young, they have time to perfect their skills and become the best writers they can be. These talents will provide endless benefits in their later years.
To give your children the best start when it comes to essay writing, below are a few tips and tools that will help. Read on to learn how to teach essay writing to your kids.
How to Teach Essay Writing
Set a Subject/Topic
The first thing you decide on when approaching the matter of essay writing is deciding on a topic for your children to write about. You want to choose something that they have heard of but will need to research to be able to create an essay. You could give every kid their own topic or give everybody the same one.
For some ideas, you could relate the essays to your school and use topics such as;
- Should students have to wear a uniform?
- Should phones be allowed in lessons?
- Should the school kitchens serve fast food?
Whatever topic you decide on, make it relatable, interesting and creative!
Define A Purpose
There’s no reason for kids to write an essay without a purpose. As with all writing, it can only be properly achieved if there is a goal at the end of it. Maybe you’re spreading awareness on a certain subject? Maybe you’re trying to inform other people about something new? Essays could be written to cause discussions and spark conversations. There are a number of things you can do to create a purpose for the essay, setting targets for your children, giving them a clear goal to aim towards.
Chris Harper, an essay writing expert at EssayRoo, explains;
“Defining a clear purpose of an essay or written assignment is the most important aspect of writing. Without being clear on your audience, topic or purpose, it’s impossible to write to that goal. If you’re teaching students on writing essays, set out clear guidelines for them to follow at first and with each essay, let them have more and more creativity.”
Provide High-Quality Samples
When you’re teaching a new subject for the first time, it’s almost impossible to effectively teach if you haven’t got a sample of what’s good and what’s bad. You could write an essay yourself or use online essay sample as an example of a good piece of written content.
Not only will this again give your kids something to aim for, it’s also extremely helpful to compare their essays to something high quality, enabling you to give constructive criticism that will help further develop their skills.
Writing The Essay
Always ensure you are giving your kids a clear, readable structure to their essays. As with any piece of written work, start with an introduction and end with a conclusion. These will be the hardest sections of the assignment to write but with good guidance, clear examples and a bit of creative thinking, there’s no reason your little students shouldn’t excel!
Tools
When teaching your kids about essay writing, it’s important you make sure you’re teaching them the right way to do things. Fortunately, there is a vast range of online tools available that can help you present professional looking samples the first time, enabling your children to learn the right way to do things, the first time.
This online writing community is full of writers and writing professionals from around the world who can teach and advise you on the best to write an essay and the best way to teach the skills.
All essays should have professional references and citations. Use the free Cite It In tool to create sample citations for your students to follow, developing their skills in writing them in the future.
This online writing service enables you to create comprehensive grammar guides that your students can follow to ensure their grammar skills are perfect when writing essays.
It can be hard to find balance in word counts. Sometimes it can be a struggle for students to reach the limit and sometimes it can be hard for them to not write on and on. Set a word limit and use Easy Word Count monitor the count to keep the essays within their boundaries.
You can submit your student’s essays to this online writing service that can provide expert feedback on the quality of the essays written. The site can provide full proofreading services and editing advice, enabling your students to learn and be the best.
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[starbox id = Mary_Walton]
Great article!