Writing Rockstars Blog 

There are so many different aspects to good writing. It’s very difficult to know exactly how and when to give feedback to our young budding writers at home. Non-homeschooling parents struggle with this too. Often their kids aren’t given either a rubric to follow or work samples to model when working on writing assignments at home.

So what can a parent do?  First and foremost, children need to let their ideas flow. Interesting, thoughtful content is the first goal. Urge them to express and explain their ideas in writing as fully as possible. Why do they take that position? Can they give an example or tell a story to illustrate? Nothing they write is wrong. If their ideas don’t make sense, calmly ask them questions until they do. 

Make no comments about grammar rules, punctuation, syntax and so on. If you harp on those before your children are confident about sharing their thoughts and expressing their ideas, their creative flow will shut down right away.

Kids have to be fearless about expressing their ideas. Once they’re confident about taking risks in their writing, you can begin working in grammar rules, a little at a time. Until then, do grammar lessons separately from writing.

Last but not least, remember to have fun with this part of the writing process and make it fun for your kids!