A little background about us before I post my questions/concerns. Both me and wife are in medical field and, unfortunately we don’t get to spend much time with our kids (15 and 14 yrs old) as we really should. English is not our first language but, both kids were born here in States. Even though they are straight A students with no signs of struggling in English at school, I am however, starting to get bit concerned with their lack of interest in reading.
I just spoke with one of the HS English teacher to see, if she can give them some extra time to help them with, grammar/reading comprehension and with essay writing.
So besides getting them in a habit of reading (will be reading together at least 30 minutes a day), are their any web sites that you guys can recommend where we can work together in improving their English skills especially reading comprehension and essay writing?
Strunk and White “Essentials of Style” is the best writing book ever.
Make sure they don’t write with too many unnecessary big words (unless needed for meaning): many young people seem to like to overwrite to impress, and it can have the opposite effect.
Many young people don’t seem to read books these days. But they are doing a lot of reading on screens.
High school may be a little late to start requiring 30 minutes a day of reading, honestly.
Don’t think you can solve this issue by forcing them to ready Moby Dick. Perhaps ask them to read something like the New York Times or the New Yorker. It doesn’t have to be a great work of art; it just has to be something with good writing.
Getting straight A’s in school, presumably top level for grades classes as well, means they are learning the language, its nuances, grammar, use, writing, speaking and comprehension. Not all top students are readers- I know too gifted sibs where one was, the other not as much a reader.
Let’s also assume they are spending plenty of time on homework- they do not need any extra you want to throw at them. Getting A’s in social studies classes also indicates being able to read material and compose good essays.
Please do not expect perfection from them- they likely already have enough pressure from you to get A’s. True story here. Family with gifted twins. Only unweighted, letter only grades given (A, B…with no +/-). The boy would do the minimum/lowest scores to get the A while the girl did A+++ work to get the same A. Both went to top colleges and professional schools.
Be sure to allow/encourage reading just for the fun of it. This means comic books are okay, as is so much fiction. I even took a course (pass/fail) as a pure elective in college to have an excuse to read- it was titled Fantasy and Science Fiction. I, like you, am a physician (chemistry major undergrad) and my physician H is from India.
You can lead by example. Find time for reading yourselves- yes, even with busy professional lives. There is more to life than just work, even for physicians. Be willing to read a fiction book that your child chooses and discuss it- was it fun…
Do not obsess about your kids. Allow them to enjoy their childhoods. btw- they must be reading a lot to get through the English and Social Studies classes. Skip the fancy newspapers mentioned above, unless they are local for you. No reason to get hung up on provincial news/takes on the world- no matter how big/ what good journalism.
Oh- decades later I prefer fiction and H nonfiction. A matter of imagination.
What’s the average assigned paper length in their Social Studies and English Lit classes? Do they get opportunities to practice writing both short 1-5 page papers and longer 8-20 page papers? Especially those requiring research and critical analysis?
If they’re getting some of that, any issues with writing will be taken care of in their first-year writing course which is usually mandated at most colleges*.
A few including my LAC does allow for students to substitute a sample essay or to write longer more in-depth essays in humanities/social science courses in lieu of that first-year writing requirement.
YMMV. I’d be careful here as IME just as many HS/college undergrads ended up becoming turned off to writing/grammar as a result of that very book.
One college classmate hated it so much that when he was done with his first-year writing course, he celebrated by using Strunk and White’s book to start a bonfire to roast some hot dogs and marshmallows…
I think the best thing you can do for writing skills is to encourage them to write for their own enjoyment. Letting them choose the type and topics of their writing can free them from the constraints of school assignments and let them develop more nuanced skills.
My son enjoyed writing restaurant, technology, and music reviews for his school newspaper. It helped him develop his “voice” and style as a writer while sharing topics he cared about. I also noticed that as he wrote about topics he liked, he started to read a lot more on his own about those same topics. So win win.
If you limit screen time at home, they will turn to books naturally.
It’s ok if they read below their grade level - just like athletes practice the basics, reading “easy” stuff helps as well. While you wouldn’t want a solid diet of romance novels or Louis L’Amour books, these can solidify reading skills and lead the reader into more advanced areas.
My oldest used to read over 100 books a year. Now I think all he reads is fanfiction and graphic novels on line. I want to emphasize learning to read fast and fluently does not require even anything as meaty as The New Yorker or The New York Times. A lot of fantasy and sci fi is written at a reasonably high reading level - it was certainly BY FAR the largest portion of both my kids reading - one got an 800 the other a 790 on the SAT.
I never much cared for Strunk and White either. I do enjoy more light hearted stuff like *Eats, Shoots and Leaves. *, a book that if nothing else, will make you think about commas! I do think leading by example is important, and also reading what your kids are reading, so that you can actually have conversations about it.
I love Strunk & White and Eats, Shoots, and Leaves!
Wordreference is a great website, but be warned; it’s not for proofreading, it’s for specific questions about words or phrases in context. But you can learn a lot just by reading the threads there.
Even eons ago we got to skip the freshman composition course and go on to the required 6 credits of literature. Now students can this done with AP classes in HS. I do not see being able to go on at length with many page papers as a good thing. btw- back in the day I placed into the Honors English lit class- as a Chemistry major. Many more ways to be well educated than writing tons of garbage. Oh- in each semester of Honors Chemistry we read a book and wrote only a one-two page paper (Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and Watson and Crick’s DNA discoveries were contemporary back then). Plus the research paper for Honors Organic lecture…
Interesting. I never considered either to be meaty or heavy reading from late elementary school who had ample opportunities to read during lulls while working as a cashier in a neighborhood stationary/candy store during evenings/weekends.
Always viewed it as relaxed reading. Moreso than reading a pop novel like The Red Storm Rising which I read and finished within a week during 7th grade.
Depends on the college.
Many elite/respectable private colleges didn’t and still don’t accept AP exam scores as a substitution for fulfilling the first-year writing requirement. My LAC doesn’t accept AP scores as a substitution:
And judging by the abysmal writing level of some older classmates in colloquium/seminar classes* I took with them and undergrads I’ve tutored who scored 4s and 5s on humanities/social science related AP exams, I don’t blame them.
One issue at my LAC when I attended is that the college doesn't really force students fulfill the first-year writing requirement by taking the courses or through acceptable substitutions within their actual first year.
As a result, some wait until their junior/senior years before getting around to fulfilling that requirement.