I want my kids to be good writers but we can’t afford private-suggestions for Hs?
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Anonymous
| Hi, I have twins entering high school this fall. I really want my kids to develop into good writers, and I always hear that schools like NCS and Sitwell do a really good job at rigorous writing/humanities. Is there any way to replicate that in public school? We are in a not so great hs zone and from what I have heard 10 page research papers, etc aren’t a thing there. Any inexpensive writing classes? Online tutoring? Lots of reading? Thanks |
Anonymous
| Can you pupil place to an IB high school? |
Anonymous
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I hired an AP Composition teacher to tutor my kid in 8th grade. He's also in an enriched humanities program at Walter Johnson (MCPS) called Apex, with higher expectations in writing, both for English and Social Studies. And finally, since this pandemic started, I've occasionally read his work and criticized the heck out of it. Constructively (cough). He reads a lot of pleasure, so he already has a good base to start with, but writing is a separate skill that needs to be explicitly taught. |
Anonymous
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Definitely read a lot. Do a mini book club at home with your twins and read a wide variety.
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Anonymous
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My husband is a writer. He went to public school AND community college.
If your KIDS want to be good writers they will read a lot. |
Anonymous
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It's hard. We moved our child to a private HS from public middle school, supposedly a good one, and found the gap in writing was substantial. (Math was fine.)
If I had to do it again, I would have looked into a writing tutor for middle school that gave additional, shorter writing assignments. I probably wouldn't do extra long assignments because the homework burden is already a lot. But short assignments with rigorous feedback can do a lot as far as teaching writing. I would also have signed up for summer writing courses (or have the tutor do longer writing assignments over the summer). I would also make sure that summer reading was rigorous. |
Anonymous
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Reading. Kids who read voraciously develop an ear for what good writing sounds like.
Also, I don't think 10 page research papers are a goal. I would focus on persuasive writing. Start with the 5 paragraph essay (state the argument, make three points in support, reach conclusion). Then move on to editorials, proposals that you increase their allowance, etc. |
Anonymous
| Encourage them to 1) read a lot, and 2) join the school newspaper staff. Writing for the newspaper really taught me how to be clear and concise, and it gives you the opportunity to write in different ways than class papers (straight news, features, opinion, reviews, etc). |
Anonymous
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Reading does not make you a great writer.. just stop.
Hire a writing tutor. Your child will have plenty of writing assignments in your public school but they will never be taught how to write. The tutor can help them through the process for each paper and slowly they will become more independent when it comes to writing. |
Anonymous
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I'm a mom of a reluctant writer. He has an avid reading with an incredible vocabulary. He has hated writing since kindergarten. He's now in middle school. His private school has shied away from "teaching" writing. Teachers assume writing will happen spontaneously.
Reading and writing are different skill sets. Reading or watching is more passive consuming. Just because I enjoy eating doesn't mean I know how to cook! I've heard so many early childhood teachers say, "Love of reading is the most important thing for literacy and writing. Have a lot of books lying around." They mistakenly think teaching mechanics of writing somehow kills creativity. Writing requires many executive functioning and cognitive skills that might need explicit teaching or support, depending on the students' learning style. If teachers don't have the time to give individualized instruction or feedback on sentence or paragraph composition, I agree with the value of writing tutors. I also highly recommend Killgallon's Sentence Composing and Paragraph for Middle School, etc. There are different levels for elementary, middle, and high schools. |
Anonymous
They used to teach writing in public school back in the day. No much these days though. |
Anonymous
x10000 |
Anonymous
Literally every writing teacher or good writer I have ever heard says the opposite. If you want to be a good writer, you should read good writing. It's not sufficient, but it's incredibly important. Read things that are well-written. The New Yorker is a great resource, because the writing is good and well-edited. Find other good writers, both fiction and non-fiction -- essays and articles are helpful because they are closer to what students are expected to write: James McPhee, Rebecca Solnit, George Orwell, Marilynne Robinson, James Baldwin, Ta-Nehisi Coates, etc. Don't worry about the ten-page papers to start. Start with the well-organized five-paragraph essay. A tutor will help, as long as they teach both organization and editing/revision. No one is a good writer without a good editor, and learning to be a good editor makes you a better writer. |
Anonymous
| I was an excellent writer. That, and a liberal arts degree, got me a series of poorly paid jobs in journalism, publishing, editing, and communications. Writing is a skill that certainly can polish a student, but I would not focus on it at the expense of anything else. It’s a difficult skill to quantify, and not one the working world particularly values. |
Anonymous
It is a necessary but not sufficient condition. |