<p>Reading books that a well written well is the best way to provide the essential foundation for a writer. Many magazines and newspapers are not written too well, so you have to read the good ones. Also, editing is a great way to learn. Go through draft essays together. As you make edits, explain why.</p>
<p>My D was in a “Writing to Read” program when she started elementary school. The theory was that allowing the student to write without criticism or correction would encourage writing and that through that a child would learn to read quicker and be happier to write. It involved daily journalling as well as other writing. It worked for my D except that she was a terrible speller and grammar didn’t mean much to her since nobody (teacher) corrected anything. It drove me nuts because all I could see was uncorrected grammar and spelling with a D who didn’t think it mattered in the least. But she wrote continuously and is now a great writer and story teller. Thank goodness for spell check! </p>
<p>In HS (it was about time!) she finally had a VERY tough English teacher who corrected EVERYTHING. And then it was draft after draft to perfection. And D adored her teacher who was known as a taskmaster. She learned years of spelling and grammar quickly and was still a happy writer. She went from poor grammar to A+ writing.
As far as I know the school abandoned the “Writing to Read” program, but it did encourage writing and creativity to be sure.</p>
<p>I agree with those who say that writing is separate from reading. Reading is key but writing needs to be practiced. If a parent wants a child to do more writing but is not comfortable editing, there are some online programs. One free and very old-fashioned technique (which doesn’t foster creativity but is good at teaching language usage) is to encourage copywork: have a child copy well-written essays.</p>
<p>For expository or persuasive essays, for a younger child, say 4th-6th, they must learn the 5 paragraph essay with hook, intro, thesis, then supporting paragraphs starting with topic sentences, then conclusion paragraph. For HS level, they need to work on thesis instead of topic, evidence, how to incorporate quotes as evidence smoothly, close analysis, extended analysis, other complex thesis such as stepladder theses, etc. As 1012mom said, a good thesis will have interesting opinions or connections added by the writer, which one is trying to support. Structure, Editing and rewriting are emphasized.</p>
<p>For narrative and descriptive essays, they should journal daily, write freely and unencumbered by spelling or self editing. Learn to please themselves and their senses.</p>
<p>Again, I preface this by saying that I am a terrible writer, but these are the things that I have been learning or have experienced.</p>
<p>Agree with most of the comments above re: exposure to reading from an early age. Couple things, though. I believe the real formative years in a writer are in the 8-13 range, and those school years–at least in our neck of the woods–were sorely lacking from an instructional standpoint, especially in the straightforward teaching of English grammar. By the time that child reaches high school, except in an ESL program the classes that teach correct usage, syntax & punctuation are few and far between. That in addition to the degradation of the written word through social media have turned out fewer good writers in the last 10-15 years.</p>
<p>When my son was little, as I mentioned, I let him dictate travel journals. When he was older I bought him a really nice journal before a trip to India and suggested he just write a sentence or two per day. He did and at some point in his life, if he wants to remember and write about this experience, those few pages will bring it back to him in his own words.</p>
<p>“After dinner, harrowing rickshaw (w/o lights) ride through nearly black streets gave sense of mortality after walk with one torch thru eery alleys to hotel.”</p>
<p>Doesn’t that evoke something? Spelling and grammar are not as important as the experience at that point. Hope my son will forgive me putting this on here.</p>
<p>I think reading and writing are seperate also. I read a lot but never enjoyed writing (maybe I worried about spelling to much!). My D growing up never wanted to read other people’s stories–she was too busy writing her own. What reading does do is expand vocabulary and helps to develop a sense of rhythm that helps make a better writer.</p>
<p>If a child has the genetic aptitude towards writing–and yes, I believe it’s in the DNA–reading is most definitely entwined within. As a young writer, I remember almost unconsciously mimicking the authors I was reading at the time. Hemingway & Fitzgerald were frequent reference points for me in HS, to the point that my lit teacher was convinced I was plagiarizing. I said oops and dared him to find the passage–he couldn’t! :)</p>
<p>jnm123–there was a point when my D’s writing was/is so good that we thought it had to be plagiarizing. It was all her own. I think every young writer has a different path–they just need to be nurtured in different ways.</p>
<p>It seems like many believe that writing ability is partly innate.</p>