My 9th grade dd at a boarding school has been complaining about strictness in her English and History classes, such as;
"You can’t put any analysis before the quote, you have to have it in topic, evidence, analysis, the thesis has to be like a mini directory for the entire essay…
If you put a single sentence out of order, you’re screwed.
You can’t just write it out, you have to spend hours editing and moving each sentence to fit his perfect, unbelievably strict format.
Who cares if the secondary body sentence is after the analysis of GE quote."
Something like this is new. As she had never been into K-12 English/History/Writing class until now. I heard about this requirements in public schools, but was hopping that it could be more relaxed in a private school with so small class size. What do you think about it? Does it get better as she moves on to upper grades or not?
Why would you think that a private school would be more relaxed in teaching how to write an effective essay? That’s part of why parents send their kids to private schools.
Do the requirements relax? Certainly not. Does it get easier because one knows what needs to be done? Yes.
I had a couple of very strict teachers in high school - chemistry and English. When I got to college, I thanked my lucky stars for them! I still remember their names. They were very “rigid” in their expectations, and that made college lab reports and writing assignments much easier.
@skieurope, Well, as a homeschooler of 8 years, I tend to put more weight on contents, and less on structure as long as the grammar is correct. With small class size, I hoped that teachers could individually evaluate quality of essays overall instead each paragraph is stickily conforming writing formulas.
On one hand, I sure hope that daughter would learn “what needs to be done” in colleges and job. But I was also hopping that she could skip some formulas for the formulas sake which won’t be used once you are out of high school system.
Before she went to the boarding school, she was asked to always rephrase researched information on her own words, with own analysts heavily added. Now she is more often recite texts word by word on exams or points taken off, and use a lot more quotation of original texts. I mean, that’s not what top college professors would expect from college students, isn’t it?
This can ultimately be very liberating because you only need to figure out what to write, not how. I attended one school during HS years (when I wasn’t fighting off dinosaurs or waiting for someone to invent electricity ) that provided 2 grades on every paper, one for the quality of ideas and one for style. I attended another school (tougher prep) that believed that if you couldn’t write properly, your ideas, no matter how great, would be so unpalatable that they deserved a single poor mark. Harsh indeed, but there was nothing to be gained from fighting that mentality.
Most schools have creative writing options in the upper grades, so if your DD wants that later, I suspect it’ll be there.
Most of the schools that I’ve looked at have some form of a writing “boot camp” Freshman/Sophomore year. They’re trying to get everyone up to the same standards in terms of how to write effectively. You start with learning the basics, and then branch out from there. This will all pay off in the long run!
Kids must conform to the style of their particular teacher. They need to pay close attention to what the teacher says and what they put on the syllabus. The sooner they learn this the better, it is a skill they will use in life- especially at work when they have to conform to their bosses style.
Would I be hoping too much if I want mine to have such a career that she doesn’t need to be micro managed in her writing style, so long as her writing is clear and convincing?
I guess you didn’t understand my post. My post was not about writing style specifically it was about the fact that a student needs to learn to be perceptive of what the expectations are of their teacher. Whether it’s writing style, how to speak up in class, what they expect in tests/papers, etc… this will be a great thing to learn because when she does get a job she will have to do the same for her boss- no matter what job she has after college.
It seems like you object to anything new your daughter may be struggling with. I think sending her to border school was a wonderful thing (the best thing you could have ever done), she is learning that there are things she doesn’t know and how to deal with people. Vs. being homeschooled where she’s on a pedestal and focusing on things that she’s good at and excels in.
Sometimes kids just want to vent. your response to this venting should be understanding but not a “Fixit” kind of response. My response would be “I know that it’s frustrating but this is what your teacher is looking for so focus on giving your teacher what she/he is looking for. This will make you a better student in all your courses”.
I’m with those who think you ought to be grateful your daughter is learning how to add structure to her writing. She’s spent most of her life being taught to write by a loving dad whose command of English is imperfect. Loving dad=less structure. Imperfect command=mistakes not noticed. There is indeed a prescribed structure for essays in English (especially English-class essays!) and 9th-grade English teachers ought to be teaching it and enforcing it rigidly. And, as others have pointed out, unless it is illegal, immoral, or dangerous you must do what the teacher - or the boss - tells you to do.
Because kids are coming from such different backgrounds and school, whether that be public,boarding,or private, they want to get everybody up to the same speed. This might just be something that your daughter isn’t used to because they weren’t as harsh at her old school. I wouldn’t worry about it and just give it time. She will adjust quickly and be happy when she emotes to upper grades because she will have a strong foundation.
I think there is a reason that schools teach writing skills this particular way. Soon will come a time where your daughter has to take standardized writing tests: SAT, AP exams, etc.
Teaching kids to write in this structured format is indeed boring, but helps graders, and ultimately helps in getting high scores.
The upper level English classes at boarding schools emphasize a less structured approach, and is one that your daughter may like more.
Thanks for the advises. My daughter loves the English class and teacher very much, despite the difficulty of adjusting. And yes, in brain I understand that this is probably helpful and even necessary.
One thing I can tell you is that when my BS kids transitioned to college, they had no problems with the writing requirements at the university level, not something many of their peers can say. Best to learn now.
^Good point. My college freshman took IB English at her tough high school. It made a huge difference in her writing proficiency, and she has told me that her college writing classes are easier than the IB classes! A lot of her friends are really struggling with the work load, but she is doing well (which is saying something since she suffers from anxiety).
Agreed. Many top colleges have a writing requirement. Mine is one of those where there are no exemptions ever. So, I had to suck it up. It’s also one of those classes where A’s are limited to 15%. While it was a fair amount of work, many of my classmates struggled, where I did not. And I scored an A.
Better to learn the skills now as opposed to later.
As stated above, she will most likely always have a boss.