On not teaching writing
I think we must have lost our collective minds. I know that there are so many possible things we have lost our minds about, you have no idea which of the many options I am going to write about. This time, I'm going to head back to one of my favorite things to harp about... the rushing of childhood and the over emphasis of academics. The current item I came across which made me grind my teeth was a query looking for a writing tutor for someone's fourth grader.
Yes, you read that right. Writing tutor. Fourth grader. You know, the grade that G. and L. are in. For the life of me I cannot figure what could possibly call for the need for a fourth grade writing tutor. And if there is something going on at school that calls for one, then might I suggest spending time fighting the system that would create such a ludicrous need, rather then spending time trying to make my child fit an errant system.
Do you want my humble opinions on how to teach writing, especially to grade schoolers? You may not like it, I'm warning you. Because the first item of my list is:
Don't.
See? I told you, you might not like it. I don't actually think it is beneficial to teach formal writing to grade schoolers. Besides, what exactly are you going to teach them? A classic five paragraph essay? They're 9 for Heaven's sake. They don't have any concept of an essay, and they certainly aren't taking the SAT anytime soon. (I hope. Oh, please don't tell me this is could even be a thing.)
Now listen carefully, I'm not saying they shouldn't write. Of course they should write. They should write a lot. They should write a lot of what is important to them. In my experience, this involves a lot of creative writing, lists, maps of made up worlds, letters to friends, labels of drawings, and comics. These are all things which don't need a lot of rules. Heck, around here, we don't even worry about spelling for voluntary writing, and voluntary writing comprises about 90% of their writing output. The most important thing for a child to learn is that ideas can be written down on paper, either to remember for later or to communicate with someone else.
So what do I do to prepare a student to write? There are three main things.
1. Imaginative play. I know, I know, here I am back at this play-thing. But really, you just cannot escape how terribly important it is. Imaginative play helps create narrative skills. There is usually some sort of story being played out. It helps to create dialogue as the players work out how they will interact. It develops an innate sense of drama. And obviously, it develops creativity. Imaginative play helps a child to see the world in different ways, and to work through what is scary. Play and story are so intertwined you can hardly have one without the other, and it is very difficult to know which comes first. A child who cannot play, is unlikely to enjoy stories, and a child without stories is unlikely to be able to play. I do not think it is too strong to say that the ability to play is the foundation for future academic success. (But, please, do not go out and try to find a play tutor.)
2. Listening and reading good books. You cannot become a good writer if you do not have an ear for your own language. If you have not spend years listening to good literature; to attuning your ear to what makes a pleasing sentence, a suspenseful story, or a well made point, how on earth are you ever going to be able to create one on your own? A child needs to be able to understand complex sentence structure before that child can craft a well written sentence. Understanding the concepts of satire, simile, irony, personification, exaggeration, and metaphor is so much easier when these concepts have already been met, but just not named, in books that have been read and enjoyed. Learning to love words and language first makes it so much easier when the more difficult task of writing is undertaken. Plus, all of those stories feed the imagination and provide fuel for the play that will inevitably happen if a child is provided with enough margin to be able to play.
3. Provide a strong grammatical basis. I realize that teaching formal grammar is a bit passe these days, but a strong foundation in basic grammar helps make a decent writer. (Plus it helps a whole lot when learning a foreign language. I finally pieced together English grammar when I was learning French.) Fourth grade is about the time I start my children with formal grammar. This is the brief time in their writing day when we pay attention to picky details... capitalization, punctuation, noun-verb agreement, spelling, subject pronouns, object pronouns, sentence diagramming. Being able to write a grammatically correct sentence is a huge first step in composing coherent writing. This is also where we begin to start to figure out how sentences fit together. I will also add that if a child has spent significant time listening to good literature, the grammar piece is a fairly easy one to pick up. The correct grammar is already in their ear.
Later, when a child is older, and that child's brain has started to develop higher order reasoning skills, more formal styles of writing can be worked on. These will be a natural outgrowth of all that has come before. Imagination, a familiarity with the sound of language, and a grounding in grammar will all combine together to help the adolescent hone their writing skills. Thinking this is going to happen before adolescence is ludicrous. The strong base is missing and the cognitive capacity has yet to be developed. It doesn't matter a fig if the school system thinks this should happen. Just like the deluded notion of forcing early reading, some students will manage and a whole lot more will develop "learning problems," but it is not truly good for anyone.
I will say it again. There is plenty of time for the adult and adolescent things of life for when a child actually gains those stages. Do not push adolescent and adult expectations onto children. They're not developmentally ready for them even if by pushing you can get them to perform. And ask yourself what exactly is the purpose? Where is the prize that is handed out to the child who gets there first? There is no prize; there is no 'there' there to get to; there's not even a race. No one wins when children are pushed too hard too early, but a lot of children lose.
Yes, you read that right. Writing tutor. Fourth grader. You know, the grade that G. and L. are in. For the life of me I cannot figure what could possibly call for the need for a fourth grade writing tutor. And if there is something going on at school that calls for one, then might I suggest spending time fighting the system that would create such a ludicrous need, rather then spending time trying to make my child fit an errant system.
Do you want my humble opinions on how to teach writing, especially to grade schoolers? You may not like it, I'm warning you. Because the first item of my list is:
Don't.
See? I told you, you might not like it. I don't actually think it is beneficial to teach formal writing to grade schoolers. Besides, what exactly are you going to teach them? A classic five paragraph essay? They're 9 for Heaven's sake. They don't have any concept of an essay, and they certainly aren't taking the SAT anytime soon. (I hope. Oh, please don't tell me this is could even be a thing.)
Now listen carefully, I'm not saying they shouldn't write. Of course they should write. They should write a lot. They should write a lot of what is important to them. In my experience, this involves a lot of creative writing, lists, maps of made up worlds, letters to friends, labels of drawings, and comics. These are all things which don't need a lot of rules. Heck, around here, we don't even worry about spelling for voluntary writing, and voluntary writing comprises about 90% of their writing output. The most important thing for a child to learn is that ideas can be written down on paper, either to remember for later or to communicate with someone else.
So what do I do to prepare a student to write? There are three main things.
1. Imaginative play. I know, I know, here I am back at this play-thing. But really, you just cannot escape how terribly important it is. Imaginative play helps create narrative skills. There is usually some sort of story being played out. It helps to create dialogue as the players work out how they will interact. It develops an innate sense of drama. And obviously, it develops creativity. Imaginative play helps a child to see the world in different ways, and to work through what is scary. Play and story are so intertwined you can hardly have one without the other, and it is very difficult to know which comes first. A child who cannot play, is unlikely to enjoy stories, and a child without stories is unlikely to be able to play. I do not think it is too strong to say that the ability to play is the foundation for future academic success. (But, please, do not go out and try to find a play tutor.)
2. Listening and reading good books. You cannot become a good writer if you do not have an ear for your own language. If you have not spend years listening to good literature; to attuning your ear to what makes a pleasing sentence, a suspenseful story, or a well made point, how on earth are you ever going to be able to create one on your own? A child needs to be able to understand complex sentence structure before that child can craft a well written sentence. Understanding the concepts of satire, simile, irony, personification, exaggeration, and metaphor is so much easier when these concepts have already been met, but just not named, in books that have been read and enjoyed. Learning to love words and language first makes it so much easier when the more difficult task of writing is undertaken. Plus, all of those stories feed the imagination and provide fuel for the play that will inevitably happen if a child is provided with enough margin to be able to play.
3. Provide a strong grammatical basis. I realize that teaching formal grammar is a bit passe these days, but a strong foundation in basic grammar helps make a decent writer. (Plus it helps a whole lot when learning a foreign language. I finally pieced together English grammar when I was learning French.) Fourth grade is about the time I start my children with formal grammar. This is the brief time in their writing day when we pay attention to picky details... capitalization, punctuation, noun-verb agreement, spelling, subject pronouns, object pronouns, sentence diagramming. Being able to write a grammatically correct sentence is a huge first step in composing coherent writing. This is also where we begin to start to figure out how sentences fit together. I will also add that if a child has spent significant time listening to good literature, the grammar piece is a fairly easy one to pick up. The correct grammar is already in their ear.
Later, when a child is older, and that child's brain has started to develop higher order reasoning skills, more formal styles of writing can be worked on. These will be a natural outgrowth of all that has come before. Imagination, a familiarity with the sound of language, and a grounding in grammar will all combine together to help the adolescent hone their writing skills. Thinking this is going to happen before adolescence is ludicrous. The strong base is missing and the cognitive capacity has yet to be developed. It doesn't matter a fig if the school system thinks this should happen. Just like the deluded notion of forcing early reading, some students will manage and a whole lot more will develop "learning problems," but it is not truly good for anyone.
I will say it again. There is plenty of time for the adult and adolescent things of life for when a child actually gains those stages. Do not push adolescent and adult expectations onto children. They're not developmentally ready for them even if by pushing you can get them to perform. And ask yourself what exactly is the purpose? Where is the prize that is handed out to the child who gets there first? There is no prize; there is no 'there' there to get to; there's not even a race. No one wins when children are pushed too hard too early, but a lot of children lose.
Comments
Sana
And, if I might add, I do not think it's coincidental that we are seeing a rise in anxiety/depression in children. While I'm not one to readily accept statistics, particularly as they're communicated through the general media, I do think there is something to this. I'm convinced that at least one of the reasons for this is our obsession with forcing adulthood onto children. We do this by forcing them into an adult "schedule," encouraging academic performance and sticking the iPad in their face when we don't want to parent them through a situation.
-Roxana