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Blog — WriteShop

How to Encourage Your Child to Write- Model it

Posted by Michelle Osborn on

One of the most constructive ways to encourage a young writer is through modeling.

Why Model and Teach Writing?

Kim from WriteShop explains how teaching writing needs to be more like teaching geometry.

Imagine saying, “OK, Ryan, find the hypotenuse of this triangle. I’m not going to teach you different strategies to solve the problem. Just get started . . . continue reading

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How to Love Your Kids’ Writing

Posted by Michelle Osborn on

 

It can be frustrating as all get-out to edit a paper that’s riddled with errors.

So how can we put a positive spin on editing and grading when we’re feeling peevish?

Here are three heartfelt tips for how to love your kids’ writing, especially when you’d rather wad it into a ball and toss it across the room..... continue reading

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Your Reluctent Writer

Posted by Michelle Osborn on



In January 2008, in faraway Nottingham, England, my then-23-year-old son Ben turned in a 63-page dissertation. In so doing, he capped off a year of grad school and became a candidate for a master’s degree in philosophical theology.

Why do I share this? Because…

  • Your eighth grader can’t spell his way out of a paper bag.
  • Your sixth grader keeps wadding up his paper in frustration and hurling it across the room.
  • Your kitchen table has become a battleground.
  • This very morning, you asked yourself why you even bother homeschooling.
  • Most days you just can’t believe your child will actually grow up, mature into a productive adult, and find his place in the world..... continue reading

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Homeschool writing—overcome the obstacles and accomplish your shoulds.

Posted by Michelle Osborn on

We've heard all the obstacles. And we know they are real! 

  • I'm a math and science person. Writing doesn't come easily to me. So we skip it.
  • My kids hate writing. It's like pulling teeth! I avoid the battle altogether.
  • I have no idea how to grade my children's writing. So I don't.
  • We do a little creative writing and report writing here and there. I know it's not enough, but I don't really know how to teach writing in a comprehensive way.
  • I have great plans, but they never seem to come to fruition. I'm not good at spontaneously adding writing to our other lessons like history and science.

We've heard all of your guilt-filled shoulds:

  • I know I should teach more writing. My kids are now in middle school, and they still can't write a decent essay!
  • We should spend more time on writing. I just don't know where to start. I get overwhelmed.

Now, here's the solution: continue reading

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