Three Places Your Child Will Need Writing Skills in Life (and Tips to Help Them Improve as a Writer)

If your child is not the strongest writer, you already know that school can be a challenge. Writing is a part of many classes and expected of all students—and teacher expectations only become higher with every grade. If your child needs convincing that writing is important, here are a few places they will use writing in their lives:

At college – There’s no getting around it: there are many writing assignments in college. Professors in almost every subject expect that students know how to articulate their ideas and arguments in writing. Even if your student plans to major in a field they consider lighter on the writing (like math or science), they will still be expected to write. There are many general education courses involving writing and even in their major courses, your student will need to be skilled at expressing themselves.

In their careers - Many careers require writing skills. From writing reports and emails to explaining complex processes and detailed information, jobs in business, marketing, accounting, science, sales and many other areas require people to communicate clearly and be convincing.

In everyday communication – Let’s face it: we live in a digital world where people email and send text messages all day, every day. Writing is it the core of strong communication, and it is essential that your child builds the skills to communicate effectively and efficiently in their life. Conversely, poor communicators stand out. Don’t let your child blow off their writing assignments or think that it’s OK to have mediocre writing skills. Later on, it could hurt them in college and whatever job they choose if they are unable to write well.

How can you help your child become a stronger writer? Here are a few tips:

• Foster the literary habit. For many students, reading regularly is one of the best ways to get exposed to high-quality writing. For as long as you can, encourage your child to read often and widely. Books, magazines and blogs are all fair game. The key is to get your child reading often and on their own.
• Nudge your younger child to write for fun. Encourage your child to write letters to grandparents, keep a journal, make up stories and more. Freeform writing helps students cultivate their creativity and explore their minds. Remember: keep it fun. You don’t have to assign essays for your child to benefit.
• Teach the art of editing. Many students crank out writing assignments and shortchange the revision process. As your child starts doing more writing assignments, remind them of the importance of reading what they write after they write it. At a minimum, encourage your child to set aside a draft of their work for at least a couple of hours when possible and review it to check for flow, readability and errors, as well as whether it answers the prompt and achieves its goal (e.g., a persuasive essay or an argument). Writing is a process that involves the writing itself, editing and improving.
• Remind your child that good writing is not just about the writing. It’s about following directions to ensure your child does what they are supposed to do (e.g., answers a question or makes an argument). It’s about brainstorming thoroughly. It’s about planning out a schedule in which your child has time to write multiple drafts, review their work, edit and proofread, and get feedback from a teacher if needed.

Writing is one of the most essential skills your child will build in school. If your child struggles with it. Huntington can assist. Contact us at 1-800 CAN LEARN to learn more about how we can help your child build writing skills for school and life.