<p>Picking up on the comment, "it's not all black-and-white" -- There are 3 ways I helped my kids write their essays, even though all are already fine writers:</p>
<p>Because they asked, I sat in the same room as S1 and S2 for moral support. It felt ridiculous and like babysitting. I did other paper work (lesson planning). This sounds crazy but they were very blocked over having to write about themselves personally. They pulled their hair. I asked, "what's so hard?" They read the questions, and then TOLD me (no writing) about 5 different ways they could answer each one. I listened to their main theme idea, and told them which 2 were dull but which 3 had potential. That gave them confidence to BEGIN writing. "Should I leave?" I asked. "No, stay, just sit on the bed and breathe, it's good moral support." I sat and wrote lesson plans for Grade One. I doubt anything I wrote contaminated their product, and I didn't watch what came onto the screen (sat differently). </p>
<p>After the first draft, I read it twice without comment. Then I pointed out all the places that made me say "wha???" to myself. If it made no sense logically, I said, "This makes no sense logically." If I thought a word was weak, I said, "That's a vague word; can you do better (but didn't suggest one)." I said, "That sentence is too long; break it up."</p>
<p>When ALL the books say, "Show your draft essay to an English teacher," I think that's exactly the kind of feedback a principled English teacher would give. I can do it just as well and am less busy than they are. </p>
<p>If S didn't agree with my comment, he ignored it. If you're asked to "comment" on an essay, that's not a subpoena to change something, it's up to the writer.</p>
<p>They wrote other drafts, ripping into their own drafts like lions. I didn't see the in-betweens and they didn't want to show them, either. When they said they had a final draft, usually some days later, I read it for punctuation, looking over their shoulder on the computer. Sometimes it was on an entirely new topic or to a different prompt.</p>
<p>I think this is very fair and I feel sorry for any kid who can't take theirs to a good writer or an English teacher for similar feedback.</p>
<p>I also can relate to parents who say their kid did it "all by themselves." My D
is a different personality, just as good a writer as the boys. Since I'd had that experience with S-1 I said the first night, "do you want me to sit near you when you get started?" and we began that way, each writing separate projects. Within a few minutes, she asked me to leave. It wasn't working for her to have my presence in the room. She showed me a final draft just before sending and I couldn't find any typos. So that sounds like the people who say their kids did it all by themselves. </p>
<p>I can also imagine if kids have real struggles writing anything, that more verbal brainstorming before they write would help get them off-the-mark. They often don't know WHICH of their experiences would make a good essay, but an adult can hear which is the more worthy topic and what could be a dead end. Sometimes the kid has to take a stab at the dead end, too, as in, "try a quick first draft and see (if the zoo topic can work, etc.)." I think that's different than a parent pointing to the bedroom door and saying, "Go and write, there's only 3 weeks left." A kid must struggle with it, but I think sometimes it's very hard for them to begin.</p>
<p>I stand by this and say that at all times the kid is iin charge of his work. I would not like to be thought less of because I sat in the room or opened my mouth to say "whaa?" WHen kids PM their essays on CC to a stranger parent, I think that's similar support.</p>
<p>My H has to assign 13-year-olds to write Bar or Bat Mitzvah speeches. At age 13 he specifically tells the parents TO work with the kids, talk over the topic,
and come up with an approach. Yes it's apparent from the first draft that comes in next whether the parent was heavy-handed by the body language of the kid in the office. At that point, it can be reframed as a group discussion so the kid goes off writing in a direction that is all his own. (And almost every kid needs to be reminded to thank people as part of a gracious speech.)</p>
<p>The SAT writing is a completely different form: thesis sentence on an objective topic, followed by one or two examples as evidence to support the thesis sentence, followed by a brief conclusion. It has NOTHING personal in it, unless it's a personal example for evidence which is one option and not always thought to be a good solution if you can come up with a literary character or history episode instead. </p>
<p>I think if a college admission officer just glanced at it, s/he could tell whether the writer was skilled or not, so that could discredit anyone who had their college personal essay ghost-written. But it's no substitute for the college essay, as it has a very different intention. If you can write for the SAT, you can presumably take an inclass exam, write a report in a timely way, discuss an idea in a seminar class, and these are all college-related skills. This does NOT tell the admissions officers anything about who the kid is who might move into Barrows Room #6 next year, and that's who they want to meet in the college personal essay. Not how Harriet Tubman demonstrates that freedom is a precious gift, which is about what the SAT writing section demonstrates.</p>