Helping your child develop essay writing skills

Writing essays is something every child should be shown how to perfect as they will be required to write many of them during their school days. They are a big part of GCSE exams, with the combination of coursework and exams making it imperative for students to perfect their writing skills. Essay writing is also great for helping individuals develop their critical thinking and debating skills. As a parent, it is important to do your best to help your child acquire these skills early on. Not too sure where to start? Don’t worry. Below is some advice from this independent college in Somerset on helping your child develop essay writing skills.

Start at the basics

In order for a child to be great at something, they need to start at the very beginning. This rule applies to developing essay writing skills too. Instead of jumping in the deep end and getting your child to write pages of work, begin by asking them to write something small. Try and make some time to sit with your child and ask them to write a bit about what happened in their day. Ask them to include details such as how they felt and what they got up to. The idea is to get your child in the flow of writing. Use things that are relevant to your child such as their most recent holiday or hobby. This will make it easy for their words to flow better.

Show them how to lay it out

Essays are all about how you present your work. An incredibly important factor through all of this is the layout. Instead of focusing all of your child’s energy on picking up new pieces of vocabulary or working on tone, it is best to focus on the outline of their work instead. This will work as a guide for them and make the entire process much easier to complete. If they have not already got into the habit of following a set layout, here is how to do so; Begin by showing them how to write an introduction, consisting of what the piece of writing will cover. Then show them how to divide their points into paragraphs that fill the middle of the essay. Finally, give them pointers on how to write a strong conclusion, one which ties any loose ends up nicely. The layout can be drawn out like a sandwich to give your child a better visual understanding. Once they have got the hang of this, all they will need is a whole lot of practice!

Collaboration.

Follow