Teaching Writing...

...using every other subject!

Writing...one of those subjects that we know we should teach...but how? Either we feel uncomfortable or unhappy with our own skills, or we just plain don’t know how to teach it, let alone grade our children’s work!

Last year I had the privilege of attending a workshop given by Susan Wise Bauer, of The Well-Trained Mind fame, on the topic of teaching writing. Towards that goal, I was always one of those moms who had my children complete a book report after they’d finished reading a book. My thought was that these served as a log for their reading and taught them (somehow) how to analyze, summarize, whatever... Well, Susan shared some wonderful insights that day, but the one that freed me the most I want to share here: don’t have them do book reports! “But...but...but...” I stammered, “Why not?” In Susan’s view, they serve no real purpose (perhaps that was why they bucked those assignments so much?)and so the "exercise" only discouraged them from writing anything! They do, however, need to learn to write: essays, research papers, directions, explanations; in other words, practical, informative writing. This I can teach!

I always like to tackle as much as I can “across the curriculum”. I find that by incorporating multiple subjects, it gets the creative juices going, and really makes school more interesting and fun! It also shows the kids that subjects, and life by extension, is all interconnected, and learning does not have to be a “drag”.

**Ask your children to choose a topic they’re studying in Science, History, or Social Studies; consider a character or event in a book they’re reading; or perhaps approach a Math concept or problem, and...

...explain, describe, narrate, analyze, characterize, interpret

In History, apply these to...a leader, an event, a discovery, an attitude. Perhaps make a connection to your family’s genealogy and write about that (this project doubles as writing, history, research, organizational skills, etc).

In Science, apply these to...a process, an observation, a theory, a scientist, an invention. If you connect any of these to the time period they occurred in, you have an assignment that covers writing, Science and History.

In Math, apply these to...word problems, a mathematical operation, a formula or principle, a specific mathematician. Again, if you connect any of these to the time period they occurred in, you have an assignment that covers writing, Math and History.

**Online, you can have your student start a blog (with appropriate parental supervision, of course), and write responses to other blogs or educational websites they may be visiting while conducting research for another assignment. Plus, there are lots of online publishing venues that they can post on, but you have to check for the minimum age allowed to post in each.

My Homescool Place provides a free, moderated, safe place for your child to communicate with other homeschoolers online. Follow the user-friendly directions to create a page, and then add to it whenever you'd like.

Patrick Henry College offers a really neat option to help you teach writing. Their Writing Mentorship Program offers your child one-on-one time (via mail, email or phone) with a graduate or undergrad student at the College, who will help with and/or provide assignments and tips to develop their creative or non-fiction writing skills. The cost is $10/hour with a minimum of 5 hours. Check out their website for more information.

**A letter to the Editor of your local newspaper or a magazine your children read is always an opportunity to practice writing skills. If they know it’s going to be in print, there’s an extra incentive to at least get the punctuation right!


You may also want to check out The Well-Trained Mind, by Susan Wise Bauer. Her approach to teaching writing is to focus solely on the mechanical skills at an early age, so that the physical act is not a chore; segue way into “copywork”, where they copy select pieces of literature to learn the nuts and bolts of grammar and punctuation; and finally begin to complete writing assignments with a more critical or analytical approach. Her writing lessons are spread out according to the age-divisions described in the book.