how to teach a child to write an essay

How to Teach Your Child to Write an Essay – Step by Step

Children are naturally creative, and essay writing should come easy to them. But it usually doesn’t.

So, how can you teach your child essay writing while making the process enjoyable for both of you?

I’m Tutor Phil, and in this article I’ll show you how to teach your child how to express thoughts on paper, even if some resistance is present.

We’ll first learn three principles that will help you make progress fast. And then we’ll go through the step-by-step process of teaching your child how to write an essay.

Principle 1. Clarity equals motivation

We’ve all heard the expression: “You can lead the horse to the water, but you can’t make it drink.” One of your concerns can be your child’s motivation.

You may be convinced that your child hates writing or is really bored with it. Perhaps your child will do anything to avoid sitting down to write.

And you know what – any or all of the above may be true. But your child can still learn how to write an essay because it is not the lack of motivation per se that is the problem.

In this short video, Dr. Lee Hausner gives some eye-opening advice about motivating a child:

Here are the key points Dr. Hausner makes:

You cannot create motivation in somebody else.
Strong parents often mistakenly feel that they can transfer their motivation onto their children.
Motivation is internal.
Simplistic formula: “ Activity + Satisfaction = Motivation .”
Conversely, “ Activity + Stress & Pressure = Avoidance .”
Create an environment where your child can be successful and enjoy what he does.
Encourage and reward any small success and bit of progress.

Let’s apply these principles to motivating a child in writing an essay.

How to motivate a child to write

Chances are that if your child would rather not engage in writing, that is primarily because the process is fuzzy in his mind (and I’ll use the pronoun “he” to refer to your child throughout the tutorial, for the sake of elegance and brevity).

You see, essay writing is not really taught in school. It is taught kind of sort of, but not really.

Assigning a topic, grading the essays, and making suggestions for improvement is not teaching. It’s only a part of the process.

To teach is to give the student a method, a step-by-step process, in which every step can be measured and improved.

That’s what I’m about to give you. And that’s what you will need to effectively teach your child.

But when a child does not have a step-by-step method, the process is fuzzy in his mind. And whatever is fuzzy is viewed as complicated and difficult because it’s like eating an elephant whole.

Let’s revisit Dr. Hausner’s formula: “ Activity + Satisfaction = Motivation .”

Activity can be satisfying only if it is successful to some degree. When your child succeeds at something, and you acknowledge him for it, that becomes fun, enjoyable, and satisfying.

But you see, it’s hard to succeed at something without knowing what you’re doing. And even if you succeed, if you did not follow a recipe, then in the back of your mind you suspect that you probably can’t repeat or replicate the success.

Not knowing what to do while being expected to do it is a recipe for avoidance. And guess what – your child probably got his share of fuzzy instructions.

For example, consider this instruction:

“Tie it all together.”

This statement is meaningless – to a child or even to an adult. What does it really mean to “tie it all together?” And yet, this is how they usually teach how to write a conclusion paragraph, as an example.

But such a statement only creates fuzziness and demotivates.

So, in this tutorial, we’ll be cultivating clarity. I’ll be giving you crystal clear instructions so you could develop clarity in yourself and help your child develop it, too.

Principle 2. Writing is thinking on paper

An essay consists of sentences. The word “ sentence ” comes from the Latin word “sententia,” which means “thought.”

Thus, to write literally means to express thoughts on paper. Why is this important?

This is important because by teaching your child how to write an essay, you’re really teaching him how to think .

Your child will carry this skill through his entire life. It will be useful, even indispensable in:

Acing standardized tests
Writing papers in college
Putting together reports and presentation professionally
Defending a point of view effectively

You can tell I take essay writing seriously 🙂

But if you ever run out of patience yourself, just remember that you’re really teaching your child how to think.

Principle 3. Essays are built not written

When you child hears the word “ write ,” he gets that queasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

We’ll make it a lot easier for him by thinking of writing an essay and referring to it as just “ building an essay.”

If your child has ever loved playing with Lego, then the method you’re about to learn will feel familiar, both in terms of motivation and developing the skill.

By the way, if you want to brush up your own essay writing skills before you sit down with your child to teach him, I highly recommend this article: Essay Writing for Beginners .

All right – without further ado, here are…

Six steps to teaching your child essay writing:

Step 1. Pick a topic and say something about it

In order to write, your child must write about something . That something is the subject of the essay. In this step, you want to help your child pick a topic and say something about it.

In essence, you’re asking your child these two questions:

What will your essay be about?

What about it?

For example,

“My essay will be about grandma’s lasagna.”

“Okay. What about grandma’s lasagna?”

“It’s my favorite food.”

The result will be a complete main point, also known as the thesis. A thesis is the main point of the entire essay summarized in one sentence:

“My grandma’s lasagna is my favorite food.”

Boom! Now, the reader knows exactly what this essay will be about. It is also clear that this is going to be a glowing review.

Here’s my short video explaining what a thesis is:

When teaching a child, it’s important to keep the topic unilateral. In other words, it should be either positive or negative. It should be one simple idea.

Don’t start out trying to develop a more complex topic that offers a balanced perspective with positives and negatives. Don’t do a compare/contrast, either. Keep it simple for now.

This is the first step because the main point is the genesis for all other ideas in the essay .

How to help your child pick a topic

Encourage your child to pick a topic he can get excited about because then he’ll be enthusiastic thinking and talking about it.

Try to think of some of the things you know he is interested in. He can write an essay about absolutely anything.

It doesn’t have to be a serious or an academic subject. It could be anything from apple pie to Spiderman.

Of course, the subject should be informed by your child’s age, as well. But once you sit down to work on essay writing, make it clear to your child that he can pick any topic he wants.

Ask your child what he would like to write about or “build into an essay.” And whatever he chooses, just run with it. That’s what your first essay together will be about.

Once you’re settled on the topic, just have your child write it down on a piece of paper or type it into the computer.

Here is a list of suggestions for essay topics to give a try:

What I love the most about the summer
My favorite thing to do on weekends
John is my best friend because…
Essay writing is…
My least favorite day of the week is…
My favorite season is…
It is important to be brave (intelligent, skillful at something, etc.)
If I could have any animal for a pet, it would be…
My sister (brother) makes my life (exciting, difficult, etc.)
Holidays are fun times (or dreadful times).

Remember – this is not the only or the last essay you’ll write together. Just encourage your child to pick a topic and write it down. Now, you’re ready for the next step.

Step 2. Practice the Power of Three

We’re building our essays, remember? Not writing them. At least at this point, all you’ve done is encouraged your child to pick a topic. No writing involved yet.

In this step, no real writing is involved, either. It’s just a mental exercise, really.

In writing or building an essay, it is necessary to break things into parts. Young children love to break things because they want to see how something works or what it looks like inside.

How do you write an essay about an egg?

You must first divide the concept of an egg into parts. How do you do that? I highly recommend this simple technique I call the Power of Three.

Three is an optimal number for a young brain, and really for adults, as well, to think about and process. Our brain thinks like this: “One, two, three, many.”

One doesn’t help us because you’re not dividing. Two is okay but not quite enough ideas to develop.

Three is easy to deal with while giving your child a challenge. And let’s set the record straight – thinking is not easy. It is challenging. This is why so few people teach it.

But we’re making it fun by breaking it into steps and providing clear instructions.

Okay, so back to the egg. Let’s apply the power of three to the idea of an egg:

You see, if we only have a whole egg as an idea, it’s like staring at the blank screen or sheet of paper. Nothing causes the writer’s block better than one solid piece.

But now that we’ve divided this idea into three sub-ideas, or supporting ideas, this makes our life discussing eggs a lot easier.

Now, if we wanted to write an essay about eggs, we can discuss:

The yolk and its color, taste, and nutritional content
The egg white, its color, taste, and nutritional content
The shell, its color, texture, and shape

Note that when we divide a topic or an idea, each part must be different from the other parts in some important ways. In other words, we want three distinct parts.

You can use this part of the tutorial and ask your child to think about how to divide an egg into parts. It’s a very intuitive step, and your child will love the challenge.

And by the way, you child may get very creative about it because the answer is not necessarily the yolks, the white, and the shell. It could be:

Chicken eggs
Ostrich eggs
Boiled eggs

Whatever way to divide eggs into three concepts your child comes up with, approve and praise it. Now, let’s apply the power of three to an actual topic.

We need a topic that we’ll use for the rest of the tutorial. Here it is:

“If I could have any animal for a pet, it would be a panther.”

Applying the Power of Three to an essay topic

Let’s apply what we just learned to this topic about a panther. Note that we have the entire thesis, a complete main point. Our subject is “a panther as a pet.”

We’re just using this example with an understanding that panthers don’t make good pets and belong in the wild. But since we asked, we should roll with the child’s imagination.

Now, you want to encourage your child to come up with three reasons why he would choose a panther as a pet.

This is a challenging step. The first one or two reasons will come relatively easily. The third reason usually makes the child, anyone really, scratch his head a little.

Let’s come up with three reasons why a panther might make a great pet.

Reason 1. Panthers are magnificently beautiful.

Great! That’s a good reason.

Reason 2. A panther is more powerful than virtually any other pet.

That’s another legitimate reason to want a panther for a pet – you’re the king of the neighborhood, if not the whole town.

And now, we’re thinking of reason 3, which will be the most challenging, so be ready for that.

Reason 3. Panthers are loyal.

I’m making this one up because I really have no idea if panthers are loyal to their human owners when they have any. But I need a reason, this is just a practice essay, and anything goes.

When your child comes up with a reason that is not necessarily true or plausible, let him run with it. What really matters is how well he can support his points by using his logic and imagination.

Working with facts is next level. Right now, you want your child to get comfortable dividing topics into subtopics.

The only criterion that matters is whether this subtopic actually helps support the main idea. If it does, it works.

Step 3. Build a clear thesis statement

Once you know the topic and the supporting points, you have everything you need to write out the thesis statement. Note that there is a difference between a thesis and a thesis statement.

Here’s a short video with a simple definition and example of a thesis statement:

Once you and your child have completed steps 1 & 2 thoroughly, step 3 is really easy. All you need to do is write out the thesis statement, using the information you already have.

In fact, at this point, you should have every sentence of your statement and just need to put them all together into one paragraph. Let’s write out our complete thesis statement:

“If I could have any animal for a pet, it would be a panther, for three reasons. Panthers are magnificently beautiful. They are more powerful than virtually any other kind of a pet. And they are loyal.”

Note that we added the phrase “ for three reasons ” to indicate that we are introducing the actual reasons. In other words, we are building an introductory paragraph. We’re just presenting our main and supporting points here.

When you read this opening paragraph, you unmistakably come away with a clear idea of what this essay is about. It makes a simple statement and declares three reasons why it is true. And that’s it.

It is so clear that not even the least careful reader in the world can possibly miss the point. This is the kind of writing you want to cultivate in your child. Because, remember, writing reflects thinking. It would be impossible to write this paragraph without thinking clearly.

Note also that there is no need for embellishments or other kinds of fluff. Elegant writing is like sculpture – you take away until there is no more left to take away.

And guess what – we now have a great first paragraph going! Without much writing, we have just written the first paragraph. We were mostly building and dividing and thinking and imagining. And the result is a whole opening paragraph.

Step 4. Build the body of the essay

The body of the essay is where the main point is supported with evidence. Let’s revisit one of the rules of writing – to write an essay, you need to divide things into parts.

The body of the essay is always divided into sections. Now, since your child is presumably a beginner, we simply call the sections paragraphs.

But keep in mind that a section can have more than one paragraph. An essay does not necessarily have the standard 5-paragraph structure. It can be as long as your child wants.

But in this tutorial, each of our sections has just one paragraph, and that’s perfectly sufficient.

How many sections will our body of the essay have? Well, we used the power of three, we came up with three supporting points, and so the body of the essay should naturally contain three paragraphs.

How long should the paragraphs be? Let me show you how to gauge word count.

This is just an example of how you can teach your child to distribute the number of words across paragraphs.

As you can see, our body paragraphs should probably be longer than the introductory paragraph and the conclusion.

This is how I always teach my students to go about a writing assignment that has a certain word count requirement. The essay above will contain about 400 words.

If your child needs to write 600 words, then the following might be a good distribution:

Introductory paragraph – 75 words
Body paragraph 1 – 150 words
Body paragraph 2 – 150 words
Body paragraph 3 – 150 words
Conclusion – 75 words

By doing this kind of essay arithmetic, it is easy to map out how much to write in each paragraph and not go overboard in any part of the essay.

Body paragraph structure

A paragraph in the body of an essay has a distinct structure. And this structure is not restrictive but it is rather liberating because your child will know exactly how to build it out.

The first sentence in the body paragraph is always the lead sentence. It must summarize the contents of the paragraph.

The good news is that this sentence is usually a form of one of the sentences that we’ve already written. How so?

Well, in our thesis statement, we have three supporting points. Each of them is essentially a lead sentence for that section or paragraph of the essay. For example, consider this sentence from our thesis statement:

“Panthers are magnificently beautiful.”

This is the first reason that your child would like a panther as a pet. It is also a very clear standalone sentence.

It is also an almost perfect lead sentence. I say “ almost ” because we don’t want to repeat sentences in an essay.

So, we’ll take this sentence as a base and add one or two words to it. We can also change a word or two by using synonyms. That way, we’ll expand it just slightly and turn it into a perfect lead sentence for our first body paragraph:

“ Panthers are very beautiful and graceful animals.”

Okay, so we added the epithet “graceful,” but that’s okay because grace is virtually synonymous with beauty. And now we have a great lead sentence and are ready to proceed.

Let’s write out the entire first body paragraph and see how it works:

“ Panthers are very graceful and beautiful animals. When portrayed in documentaries about animals, panthers are nicely balanced. They are not as huge as tigers or lions. And their size allows them to be nimble and flexible. Their size and agility make them move very beautifully, almost artistically. When I imagine walking with a pet like that on the street, I can see people staring at my panther and admiring its beauty. It would definitely be the most beautiful pet in my entire neighborhood.”

The first sentence, as we already know, is the lead sentence. The next three sentences explain how panthers’ balanced size and agility make them graceful.

The following sentence is an explanation of how these qualities make them beautiful through the power of movement.

And finally comes the most specific bit of evidence – an example. This child paints a perfect picture of himself walking his pet panther on a leash. People admire the animal’s beauty, and the kid gets a tremendous kick out of this experience.

It is an example because it contains imagery, perhaps even sounds. It is a specific event happening in a particular place and time.

As you can see, this paragraph proceeds from general to specific. It also follows the structure in the diagram perfectly.

Guide your child through writing two more of these paragraphs, following the same organization. And you’re done with the body.

Proceeding from general to specific

Argumentative (expository) essays always proceed from general to specific. Our most general statement is the thesis, and it’s the first statement in the essay.

Then we have our supporting points, and each of them is more specific than the thesis but more general than anything else in the essay.

Each lead sentence is slightly more specific than the preceding supporting points in the thesis statement.

Then, an explanation is even more specific. And finally, examples are the most specific elements in an essay.

When working with your child, cultivate this ability to see the difference between the general and the specific. And help your child proceed in that manner in the essay.

This ability is a mark of a developed and mature writer and thinker.

Step 5. Add the conclusion

I almost always recommend concluding an essay with a simple restatement. Meaning, your child should learn how to say the same things in different words in the conclusion.

Why did I say, “almost?” Because some teachers will require that your child write a conclusion without repetition.

In that case, the teacher should instruct the student what she expects to read in the conclusion. A great way to deal with this situation is to approach the teacher and ask what kind of a conclusion she expects.

And she’ll say what she wants, and your child will simply abide.

But in the vast majority of cases, simple restatement works just fine. All it really entails is writing out an equivalent of the thesis statement – only using different words and phrases.

Here is our thesis statement:

And here’s our conclusion:

“I would love to have a panther as a pet. Panthers are such magnificent animals that everyone would admire my pet. People would also respect it and keep some distance because of its power. And the loyalty of panthers would definitely seal the deal.”

All we did was restate the points previously made. Let your child master writing this kind of a conclusion. And if you’d like a detailed tutorial on how to write conclusions, I wrote one you can access here .

Step 6. Add an introductory sentence

The final step is to add one sentence in the first paragraph. I didn’t use to teach it because it’s perfectly fine to get straight to the point in an essay.

This little introduction is an equivalent of clearing your throat 🙂

However, teachers in school and professors in college expect some kind of an introduction. So, all your child has to do is add one introductory sentence right before the thesis.

This sentence should be even more general than the thesis. It should kind of pull the reader from his world into the world of the essay.

Let’s write such a sentence as our introduction:

“Not all pets are created equal, and people have their choices.”

And here’s our complete introductory paragraph:

And this concludes the tutorial. You can keep coming back to it as often as you want to follow the steps, using different topics.

If you’d like the help of a professional, don’t hesitate and hit me up .

Tutor Phil is an e-learning professional who helps adult learners finish their degrees by teaching them academic writing skills.

Step 1: Develop Fine Motor Skills

Step 2: introduce prewriting skills, step 3: teach letter recognition, step 4: practice writing letters, step 5: connect letters to sounds, step 6: encourage writing words, step 7: introduce writing instruments, step 8: expand writing contexts, step 9: encourage reading.

Ever felt a mix of joy and worry watching a kid clutch a crayon for the first time? If you’re nodding, you’re not alone. Figuring out how to teach kids to write is a common puzzle for many of us. It’s that first big step from messy lines to meaningful words.

Math & ELA | PreK To Grade 5

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Watch your kids fall in love with math & reading through our scientifically designed curriculum.

Surprisingly, teaching kids to write doesn’t have to be a head-scratcher. With some simple steps and fun activities, it can become an exciting journey for you and your little one.

In the following sections, we’ll dive into a detailed step-by-step guide on how to teach kids to write. Each step is crafted to build upon the last, ensuring a solid foundation is laid for your child’s writing skills. By the end of these strategies, your kids will be equipped with the tools to express their thoughts and ideas clearly and creatively.

9 Easy Steps to Teach Kids to Write

Fine motor skills are the foundation of learning to write. They involve using small muscles in the hands and fingers to perform tasks like holding a pencil, turning pages, and eventually writing letters and words. Developing these skills is crucial for teaching kids to write because it directly impacts their ability to control writing instruments and make the precise movements required.

When to Start:

The journey to develop writing skills begins long before a child ever picks up a pencil to write. It starts as early as toddlerhood. Children can begin engaging in activities to enhance their fine motor skills from as young as 18 months old. Starting early is important to ensure they have a strong foundation to build upon as they grow.

How to Do It:

Engage your child in activities that encourage using their hands and fingers. Play with clay, finger painting, and threading beads are excellent ways to strengthen these muscles. Using safety scissors for cutting simple shapes out of paper is another beneficial activity.
Incorporate fine motor skills development into daily tasks. Encourage your child to help with buttoning clothes, zipping up bags, or using child-safe utensils during meal times.
Provide toys and tools that promote fine motor development. Puzzles , building blocks, and age-appropriate art supplies or online fine motor skills games are great choices.

Here are some fun fine motor skills games to get started:

Explore More!

Key Milestones:

Initially, focus on your child’s ability to grasp and hold objects. This is the first step towards holding a pencil correctly.
Children should be able to manipulate objects more precisely as their skills advance, such as turning pages or unscrewing lids.

Prewriting skills are the early writing skills children need before they can form letters and words. These skills include drawing lines, shapes and eventually combining these to make letters. Introducing prewriting skills is critical in teaching kids how to write because it helps children understand the basic strokes involved in letter formation.

Children are ready to start developing prewriting skills around the age of 3. This is when they typically have enough control over their hand and finger movements to begin drawing basic shapes and lines.

Begin with simple shapes like circles, straight lines, and curves. These shapes are the building blocks of letters.
Use tracing worksheets or apps that allow children to trace lines and shapes. This helps them understand the motion of writing and builds their confidence.

Here are some fun shapes worksheets to get started:

Being able to draw circles, lines, and crosses is a sign they’re developing the necessary control for writing.
Successfully tracing over dotted lines or shapes shows they’re ready to start forming more complex figures, like letters.

Letter recognition is the ability to recognize and name all the letters of the alphabet. It’s a fundamental aspect of learning how to teach kids to write because recognizing letters is the first step towards understanding that letters represent sounds, which combine to form words.

Letter recognition can begin as early as age 2 or 3, alongside or shortly after introducing prewriting skills. At this stage, children are usually curious about letters and eager to learn more about them.

Using alphabet books is a great way to familiarize children with letters. Read together and point out each letter, discussing its shape and sound.
Engage children with games that involve finding and naming letters. This could be as simple as a letter hunt around the house or structured games like alphabet puzzles.

Begin with these letter games:

Naming each letter, both uppercase and lowercase, is a key milestone in letter recognition.
Recognizing letters not just in books or games but also in the world around them, like on signs or in their favorite storybooks .

Practicing writing letters is a crucial step in teaching a preschooler to write. It’s where the physical act of writing starts to take shape, moving from recognizing and drawing shapes to forming actual letters. This stage is essential for children to learn how to express themselves through writing.

Once children are comfortable with prewriting shapes and have a good grasp of letter recognition, usually around ages 3 to 4, they’re ready to start practicing writing letters.

Motivating children by teaching them to write their names first is a powerful tool. It makes the learning process personal and engaging, giving them a sense of pride in their writing.
Providing worksheets for tracing and writing letters helps children understand the form and structure of each letter. Start with uppercase letters, which are generally easier to write, and then move to lowercase letters.

Begin with these letter tracing games :

Being able to write their own name is a significant milestone for preschoolers.
Moving from tracing to independently writing letters shows progress in their writing skills.

By introducing letter sounds, children begin to understand that letters are not just shapes but symbols that represent sounds. This understanding is crucial for developing reading skills and is a fun way to teach writing as it makes the process more interactive and meaningful.

This step can begin concurrently with practicing writing letters, typically around ages 4 to 5, as children’s understanding of the alphabet solidifies.

Introducing letter sounds with phonics games and flashcards makes learning dynamic and engaging. Phonics activities help children make the connection between letters and sounds, a critical step in learning to read and write.

Start with these letter sound games:

Start forming simple words to emphasize the connection between writing and reading. This can be as straightforward as writing C-A-T and sounding it out together. It reinforces the idea that combining letters creates words with meaning.
Being able to associate specific sounds with their corresponding letters.
The ability to write and sound out simple words marks a significant advancement in their writing and reading journey.

Encouraging writing words is a pivotal step in how to teach kids to write. It transitions them from understanding individual letters and sounds to recognizing and forming whole words. This stage boosts their confidence and demonstrates the practical use of writing in communication.

After children are comfortable with letters and simple phonics, usually around the age of 5 or when they show interest in creating words, it’s time to introduce this step.

Teaching common sight words for recognition and writing is essential. Sight words are frequently used words children are encouraged to recognize on sight. Start with a small, manageable list and gradually expand as they become more confident.

Begin here:

Encouraging the formation of simple sentences helps children see how words come together to express ideas. Begin with sentences that are relevant to them, like “I like my cat” or “The sun is hot.”
Being able to write and recognize common sight words .
The ability to string words together to form basic sentences.

Introducing a variety of writing instruments is crucial for children to explore and find what they are most comfortable using. It’s also an opportunity to teach the proper grip, which is essential for writing efficiently and avoiding hand fatigue. This step is about refining their physical skills for writing and offering writing tips for kids to enhance their writing experience.

This can be introduced as soon as children start showing interest in drawing or writing, and should be continuously adapted as they grow and their skills develop.

Allow children to experiment with different writing tools such as pencils, crayons, markers, and chalk. Each tool offers a different grip, resistance, and experience on paper, helping them develop a versatile skill set.
Teaching the correct way to hold a pencil is fundamental. Show them the “tripod grip,” which is holding the pencil with the thumb, index, and middle finger. This grip controls the pencil, making writing easier and more comfortable.
Experimenting with Different Tools: Children should feel comfortable trying out various writing instruments and expressing a preference.
Mastering the Tripod Grip: Successfully using the tripod grip when writing or drawing is a sign of developing fine motor control and readiness for more advanced writing tasks.

Expanding writing contexts is about broadening a child’s understanding and application of writing across different genres. This step is crucial to improve writing skills as it exposes children to a variety of writing forms, structures, and purposes. It encourages them to think creatively and apply their writing skills in diverse ways.

This can be introduced once children are comfortable writing sentences and simple paragraphs, typically around ages 6 to 8.

Introduce various writing forms such as stories , letters, poems , and reports. Discuss the structure and purpose of each genre. This variety keeps writing exciting and shows its practical uses in real life.
Use prompts to inspire creativity and interest in different topics. Prompts can be questions, pictures, or scenarios that spark ideas for writing. This is one of the effective ways to improve writing skills for students by making them think and write creatively.
Successfully writing a simple story, letter, or poem.
Being able to create a coherent piece of writing in response to a given prompt.

A strong reading habit is foundational to writing well. Reading regularly exposes children to a wide range of vocabulary , sentence structures , and styles, enhancing their language skills and understanding. This, in turn, significantly improves writing skills as children learn to emulate the structures and styles they encounter in their reading.

Encouraging a love for reading should start as early as possible, even before a child begins to write, and continue throughout their education.

Foster a love for reading by sharing books together, visiting libraries, and discussing stories. Encourage children to explore books on topics that interest them, which will keep them engaged and motivated to read more.
Talk about the books they are reading. Discussing characters, plots, and what they enjoyed helps deepen their understanding and appreciation of writing.
Establishing a routine where reading is a daily activity.
Being able to talk about what they read, including story elements and what they liked or didn’t like.

How SplashLearn Can Encourage Children to Write

SplashLearn is a fun and interactive platform designed to make learning an exciting adventure for children. When it comes to writing, SplashLearn offers a variety of resources and activities that can significantly encourage and improve children’s writing skills. Here’s how SplashLearn can be a valuable tool in your child’s writing journey:

Interactive Writing Games: SplashLearn includes a range of writing games that are not only engaging but also educational. These games are designed to teach children the basics of writing, from letter recognition to word formation, in a fun and interactive way.
Personalized Learning Paths: One of the key features of SplashLearn is its ability to adapt to each child’s learning pace and style. This personalized approach ensures that children are not overwhelmed or bored but are constantly challenged in a way that’s just right for them. This tailored learning experience can help children progress in their writing skills more effectively.
Rewards and Motivation: SplashLearn uses a system of rewards and achievements to motivate children. As they complete writing tasks and games, they earn points or badges, which can motivate young learners. This positive reinforcement encourages children to keep practicing their writing, helping them improve over time.
Parental Involvement: SplashLearn also provides tools and reports for parents to track their child’s progress. This feature allows parents to see how their child is advancing in their writing skills and identify areas where they might need extra help. It also offers suggestions for activities outside the app that encourage writing practice.
Educational Resources: Beyond games , SplashLearn offers a wealth of worksheets to support writing learning at home. These resources can be used alongside interactive games to provide children with a comprehensive writing learning experience.

5 Benefits of Teaching Kids How to Write Effectively

Writing is a fundamental form of communication. Teaching kids how to write effectively helps them express their thoughts, ideas, and emotions clearly and confidently in academic settings and their personal lives.
Good writing skills are crucial for success in school. From completing homework assignments to writing essays and taking notes, the ability to write well can significantly impact a child’s academic achievement and future educational opportunities.
Writing offers children a unique outlet to explore their creativity and imagination. By learning to write stories, poems, or even journal entries, kids can develop their creative talents and discover new ways of seeing the world.
The process of writing involves complex thinking skills such as planning, organizing, and problem-solving. Teaching kids to write effectively helps enhance these cognitive abilities, contributing to overall intellectual growth.

Conclusion

Learning how to teach kids to write is a journey filled with opportunities to enhance their communication, creativity, and cognitive development. By embracing this journey, we can help our children build a strong foundation in writing, setting them up for success in school and beyond.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

What is the best age to teach a child to write.

The best age to start teaching a child to write is around 3 to 4 years old, beginning with basic prewriting skills and gradually moving to more structured writing tasks.

How should a 4 year old be writing?

A 4-year-old should be practicing prewriting skills such as drawing lines, shapes, and beginning to recognize and attempt writing letters, especially those in their name.

Should a 3 year old be able to write their name?

While some 3-year-olds may start showing interest in writing their names, it’s more common for them to recognize and trace letters rather than write their names independently.

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Teach Your Child Essay Writing in 6 Steps

Start with the basics.

Before you dive into that essay you’ll want to make sure your child has a good grasp on basic writing concepts. Grammar and spelling are the foundation on which you can help your child build that first essay. Once you’re satisfied with their understanding of these concepts, begin teaching them what a thesis is, and how to write one. “A lot of kids have trouble writing in a focused way, so help guide them and keep them on track. You’ll probably want to reinforce the idea that the thesis guides everything else they write in their essay,” recommends Paul Winston, educator at PaperFellows .

An outline is a plan or a description of the essay, showing the most important parts of it. Every essay includes an introduction, exposition, and conclusion. Outlines help people get organized when writing, and this should help your child as well. Write down the topic and their main goal which helps them clearly identify their main idea and their opinions about it. There are plenty of outline types out there, so you can easily find one that best suits your child. Then all you have to do is pull it together – creating a list of all the parts that will be in the essay.

Get them practicing

Kick start your child’s creative process by giving them some examples. It’s a lot easier to show them a concrete example, rather than trying to explain what you want them to do. As they practice they will get closer and closer to where you want them to be. Practicing is where the real improvement will come from, but be sure not to overwork them. Give them breaks and reward them for their hard work.

There are plenty of ways in which they can develop their essay writing skills. You just have to find something that sparks their interest. For instance, if your child likes video games, you can ask him to write a report on that. If they like books or comic books or TV shows, ask them to write reports where they'll compare two similar stories etc.

Encourage reading

Reading is a great way for your child to soak up all kinds of information about vocabulary and how sentences work together. The more you read to your child , or they read on their own, the better their writing will become. If they’re just not showing an interest in reading , explore your child’s favorite things in order find the right material. Once you get them interested and reading on their own, you’ll notice them picking up new words, which can be very exciting and rewarding for a parent.

Harness the power of technology

Technology gets a bad rap for distracting kids (and adults) from reading and writing, but technology can be a useful tool in enhancing your child’s experiences with the written word. Pinterest can be useful for the writing process. Your child will be identifying lots of topics and resources they may want to use for their essay, and Pinterest is a fantastic way of organizing those ideas. Just create a few boards and show your child how to pin sources onto a board. You might even find that the reason your child is struggling with an essay is because they prefer using an iPad to writing on paper or a laptop.

Try out these resources for extra help teaching essay writing

Writing can be tricky, and so can teaching writing to children. Check out these online tools for help teaching your children essay writing:

StateofWriting & Studydemic

These are grammar resources you can use to check over your child’s writing for grammatical mistakes.

Boomessays & Essayroo

These are online proofreading tools, listed by Simplegrad , you can use to make sure your child’s essay is polished and error-free.

ViaWriting & Academadvisor

Check out these academic blogs for ideas and suggestions on how to teach your children essay writing. There are lots of posts here by parents who have successfully helped their children with essay writing.

Academized & UKWritings

These are editing tools, recommended in Academized review , you can use to go over your child’s writing for typos and other mistakes.

My Writing Way & Writing Populist

Check out these essay writing guides for help improving the writing in your child’s essay. If you struggle with writing yourself, these guides can prepare you to help your child with their essay.

Though there might be challenges as you teach your child the methods of essay writing, do your best to make the learning process fun, and eventually your child’s understanding will grow to excelling at essay writing.

about the author... Grace Carter is a teacher at Big Assignments and Assignment Help services. She teaches academic writing and curates edtech processes. Also, Grace tutors at OX Essays writing website.

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How to teach my child to write an essay

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Navigating the internet, you can find multiple articles about the nuances of writing academic essays and improving the writing skills of adults. However, when teaching children the nuances of essay writing, you should be very careful and attentive. The first knowledge on how to write an essay plays a fundamental role in a kid’s development and further learning.

Thus, the techniques, secrets, and explanations should be as effective as possible. So, when asking yourself, “how do I teach my child to write an essay?” be ready for not-so-hard and exciting work ahead! Also, don’t forget to get computer science assignmen t help or you can find more information on assignment topics to be more free while studying.

The first knowledge of essay writing plays a fundamental role in a kid’s development and further learning.

Before starting an essay writing journey

Before teaching kids details of essay learning, the initial work is crucial. Although writing skills and techniques are important, a child should know the benefit of writing essays, how to enjoy the process of writing, and what opportunities are available if one succeeds in this activity. For example, understanding the role of a custom essay writing service can provide insights into professional writing standards and the various styles and structures used in essays.

Thus, before exploring working tips, let’s have a look at several actions that would prepare the groundwork for the smooth and entertaining teaching:

Start with familiarizing a kid with the genre of the essay. Find what a child likes the most – stories about wizards or space, adventures or nature, and encourage one’s interest in the genre. Further, tell a kid that anyone can create such captivating texts – it’ll boost their confidence and commitment.
Become a kid’s superhero – show by your example that writing essays is cool, and many adults do it. Besides, regular writing can be your way of emotional recharging and memory stimulation and even prevent mental health problems!
Train to write essays without rules : indeed, further, you’ll know how to teach your child to craft essays according to standard requirements, but it’s good to start with something easy. For example, make a deal that you and your kid will write an essa y together or individually, describing the weekend or vacation you’ve spent together. First and foremost, demonstrate that essay writing can be fun!
You must have patience and encourage your kid even if they make mistakes : after all, our falls teach us something new.

Simplicity and basics of essay writing with kids

So, you’ll start wondering: “how to teach my kid to write an essay, and where should I begin?.” The key to success lies in the basics of essay writing. First, start with evaluating your kid’s writing skills and knowledge.

For instance, assign them to write an essay on any subject and analyze the text together. Explore grammatical errors (often, children repeat their mistakes), and look at the essay’s structure and construction of sentences.

After you work on errors, it is paramount that you teach your kid to:

Create an outline. This prewriting phase of crafting an essay saves a bunch of time and allows writing the text without losing your way. So, basically, an outline is the plan of your future text – it represents the structure of the essay, including a number of paragraphs, introduction, topic sentences, and conclusion. Due to the outline, your kid won’t be distracted and will stick to the initial plan.
Develop an insightful thesis statement. In this last sentence in the introductory paragraph, your kid will present the central thought of the essay; therefore, practice creating concise and informative thesis statements.
Keep the balance. In most cases, essay writing includes strict requirements. The word count, topic, and type of essay are the essential orienteers that an instructor can change. However, there’s an aspect that remains forever stable: your kid’s essay should be balanced. The paragraph size should be the same, and the introduction and conclusion should not exceed the word count of one paragraph. Such nuances are simple to memorize and effectively implement!
Analyze different sources. Writing essay s often requires learners to read various articles, blogs, or books to craft a response or discussion essay. Therefore, teach your kid to assess various materials: read a piece together and discuss how it relates to the assigned topic. Alternatively, ask your kid to browse the web and find several articles on the same issue. Markedly, technology is one of the greatest advantages for today’s adults and children!

After learning these fundamentals and practicing several times, your child won’t have any difficulty crafting essays. You won’t have to relive this shiver of hesitation asking yourself, “how to help my child write an essay?” a hundred times.

Other effective tips for teaching a child to write an essay

None of us is born a genuine mentor or teacher able to teach a kid to be an excellent writer easily. However, due to some effective tips, even a person with no prior experience in writing can explain to a kid the nuances of writing and, more importantly, explain how to write with joy!

So, pay attention to such recommendations: ● Encourage your kid to read. Don’t limit yourself to essays – any text, either scientific or fiction, can significantly expand one’s vocabulary. ● Share your experience of writing essays when you were a student. Tell your kid what you liked about the process, which topics inspired you, or what writing strategies you used. ● Practice writing by composing essays about your child’s favorite movies or series. For example, assign them to write a response essay after each watched episode. You’ll notice the progress even in the middle of season one! ● Luckily, we live in a digital age when maintaining quality educational assistance is a piece of cake! If you feel that your confidence and experience are not enough, feel free to use the help of expert writing services, whose specialists possess great experience in creating papers of various formats and can consult you about crafting original and properly structured essays. Thus, if you still feel a little lost when your kid again asks you, “please, help me to write my essay!” there’s no nothing to worry about.

If you’ve ever asked yourself the question, “how can my child learn how to write an essay?” Now you’ve got numerous working tips that can help you and your child genuinely enjoy writing essays.

After learning the basics of writing essays, your kid will approach the assignment without a shadow of a writing block or discomfort. And becoming a creative writer will not take long – when a kid is surrounded by support, exciting topics, and interesting practice options, one is definitely about to succeed!

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7 Tips to Teach Essay Writing to Your Children

Writing is one of the most important skills for your child’s education. The unfortunate thing is that classroom settings often don’t provide enough practice time to really hone those writing skills. Experts from Ace Papers can provide good lessons and instruction, but there’s still a lot of slack for parents to pick up. Follow these seven tips to teach essay writing to your children.

Refresh on basic writing skills

Before you dive into essay writing, make sure your child has a good grasp on the basic elements of writing. Make sure they know the importance of things such as proper spelling and the rules of grammar. Remember to teach them these concepts at an age-appropriate level; you don’t need to deliver a huge lecture. Be patient and correct them when they make a mistake and explain what the proper way to do things is. These fundamentals are the basic building blocks that you’ll be building their essay skills on. Additionally, consider exploring paper writing services to understand various approaches and techniques used in writing.

Here is an assortment of ideas to choose research paper help , combine or alter in order to come up with the answer that works best for your kid.

Start with a thesis

“Explaining an abstract concept such as a thesis to child can be challenging, but it’s a necessary understanding if they are to write an essay. Give them clear direction and simple examples to help explain what a thesis is and why it’s so important to an essay. Provide some prompts to get them started or give them some examples of what a good thesis statement is,” writes Carolyn Kirsch, educator at Academized . Try and emphasize that the thesis is the core of an essay, everything else is built out from it.

Show them how to write an outline

Your outline is a master plan for your essay and will include all the important elements. A lot of children aren’t comfortable expressing their thoughts in writing, and an outline is a great way to encourage them and show them the logical context of their essay. Show them the basic structure, including the introduction, main body, and conclusion. Explain to them that the main body is where they will make their arguments and the conclusion should be a thoughtful summary of their main points.

Encourage them to read

One of the best ways for your child to improve their writing is simply by teaching them to love reading. Reading is great because it gives them plenty of good writing examples to soak up and learn from. Reading is also a good way to increase their vocabulary and that is key for improving writing skills. The more your child reads the more they will learn about how sentences work together and the stronger their essay writing skills will be.

Practice lots

Writing practice is very important to building essay writing skills. A lot of kids don’t get very much writing practice in the classroom. Teachers will explain the basics and give them some exercises, but the time spent writing in the classroom is very limited. Encourage your child to write at home. Help them by giving them a theme to write about for the day. The next day, you can build off that theme by having them write an essay about it.

Use technology to help your child

Chances are you associate technology with distracting your child from reading and writing. But used properly, certain technologies can be very helpful to improving your child’s essay writing skills. Don’t be afraid to let them use the tablet if they prefer to read and write using that device. Just remember though to ensure your child doesn’t copy information from other resources online. We asked online expert Adam Collins regarding how lenient colleges & schools are when it comes to plagiarism in essays, he said “Most establishments now have comprehensive plagiarism checkers when marking essays, its important children steer clear of the temptation on copy a sentence of two from different resources, as this will now be flagged easily by the tools. Pinterest can also be a great tool because it is very useful for organizing materials, and since essay writing involves research, Pinterest can be very helpful.

Online tools can help teach your kid essay writing

There are a lot of resources on the web that can help you teach essay writing to your child. Here are a few to get started with:

ViaWriting and WritingPopulist – These grammar resources are great for simplifying the writing process and making grammar a bit more approachable.
BigAssignments and EssayRoo – Proofreading is something a lot of children struggle with, and it requires a lot of attention to detail. These proofreading tools, suggested by Revieweal , can help.
StudyDemic and StateofWriting – Read through these blogs with your child and you’ll get access to lots of helpful suggestions on essay writing.
BoomEssays and UKWritings – These are editing tools that have been reviewed in Boomessays review and are very helpful at catching the mistakes you are likely to miss on your own.
MyWritingWay and LetsGoandLearn – Check out these academic writing guides for help teaching your child to write an essay. They are simple and will walk your kid through the writing process step by step.

Conclusion The writing skills you teach your kid now will serve them for the rest of their life. Writing is a huge part of success not just in high school, but especially in college and the working world. Use these seven tips to teach essay writing to your children.

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Grace Carter is a mom who works remotely at Coursework Writing Service and Paper Fellows websites. There she manages blog posts, works with a team of proofreaders. Also, Grace teaches academic writing at the Elite Assignment Help services

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How to teach your children essay writing in 5 steps

When you sit down to teach your children essay writing you might not initially know where to begin. Essay writing is the cornerstone of any education and half or more of the subjects your kids are likely to tackle in their school lifetime will require essay writing skills. Writing tips for kids are something that will take them from being a mediocre student to one that shines. Confidence when writing is something that can truly be learned – very few people are born with this important skill. That’s good news, in fact. Like anything worthwhile doing, all great writing takes is practice and dedication.

How to inspire your kids to love writing

How to Teach Your Children Essay Writing | Easy Essay Tips for Kids

Teach Your Children Essay Writing in 5 Steps

Step 1: start with basics.

Lots of kids aren’t great with grammar. Grammar takes time to learn and many parents and guardians simply don’t correct their young children enough, which is doing them a disservice. Some parents might even find these little mistakes cute, funny or charming – but that’s where very young children get into trouble later in life. Some common grammatical errors made by children are listed by writer Amanda Morin here . Phrases like, ““I goed to the store with Daddy so we could buy traps to catch the mouses ,” or, “I’d rather have cookies then cake.” You need to correct your children and equip them with the basics of spelling and grammar. You don’t have to deliver a massive lecture on writing concepts or run the whole grammar gauntlet in one day. Do this step by step, correct them gently when they make a mistake and select grammar and spelling practices which are appropriate for their grade, age, and essay requirements.

Step 2: Create an outline

When spending time with young children we can see them struggling to find the correct words when speaking; this is even more apparent when they’re tasked with writing. The vast majority of children are not initially confident when expressing their thoughts on paper, so it’s an important step to teach your children essay writing in a sensible way. To help your children with essay writing, teach them how to create a structure of the message or story they want to tell. When they perfect this, creating an outline for an essay becomes easier. Once your kids understand “logical context”, their mission is half accomplished. Impart the importance of structure: an introduction, body of the essay (including arguments and structured thoughts), and a well-thought out conclusion. Have them practise with something fun, such as an age appropriate story or fairytale.

Step 3: Provide examples and practise a lot

Give your kids examples! Children work better when they have some examples of what they are trying to do lying in front of them. This tactic, called “learning by example”, will help your children get more ideas about creating their own essay papers. Work on these together and add some creativity to the task. If your kids are young, find fun examples of coordinated text and ask them to point out what structure a piece of writing has – for example, where the beginning, middle and end is. Make sure you don’t overload your kids with tasks either; do the work in small bursts and keep them engaged. Reward them with something fun, such as stickers or colourful pens, or even a new book or two.

Step 4: Don’t push your kids too much

Essay writing is a very hard and complex task; even most adults find it challenging! Striving for perfection is never the best way to get your children immersed in a writing task. Give them plenty of breaks and lots of encouragement. When they make an error, make sure you are gentle with them so you don’t affect their confidence levels. Setting them up for success in this way will give them more confidence at school. Praise them when they do well and offer positive reinforcement.

Step 5: Read to your children and encourage them to read on their own

It should go without saying but all great writers started as readers. Make reading fun! When kids are little (even from when they are babies) read to them: fairy tales, interesting stories and books designed for kids. Find out what subjects your kids love; they might surprise you! Do they love dinosaurs, science, bugs, or stories about witches and wizards? Choose age appropriate books that they will find a genuine interest in. When you are reading to your children, you’ll notice that they’ll definitely catch some words out of the text, and even remember them almost perfectly. This increases their word capacity and vocabulary. Educate your children to love reading on their own. Give them a couple of different books of one or two genres, and ask their opinions.

Essay writing skills help children throughout their school lives

It’s true – writing can be as difficult a subject to teach and assess as it is to learn and for this reason, you, as a parent, need a lot of patience while teaching your children. Remember to enjoy your time together and build a stronger rapport with your kids. This is where parent involvement can make a big difference to their learning outcomes.

When you teach your children essay writing you are giving them a lifelong skill. Encouraging your children to develop strong writing skills at a young age is worthwhile and may make all the difference to their future school success. Essay writing skills can have a lifelong positive impact on a child’s writing and may make essay writing an easier and more enjoyable process throughout their lives.

Essay writing skills for pre-teens and teens

Once your children reach the age of ten, their essay writing needs may ramp up as school requires more of them. However, some students still struggle with essay writing skills in junior or primary school with one study revealling , that “even with spell check and a thesaurus on hand, just 27% of students are able to write well-developed essays with proper language use.” It might be worthwhile to encourage older children to seek out help and to gain lots of feedback. Advise them to break tasks down into workable sections and give themselves ample time to complete tasks. Use these 12 tips to create a school essay when you get stuck.

12 tips on creating an essay outline and plan

Before you begin: Clearly and carefully read the essay task before you begin
Beginning, middle & end: Think about narrative, structure and formatting; and then create a writing plan
Experts: Remember to include arguments from expert references and highlight your main points with examples
Individual expression: Express your own individual thoughts on the essay topic, framed in context of the wider narrative
Problem solving: Look to solve problems that arise in different, unique ways (think ‘outside the square’)
Thoroughness: Analyse what is required of you and ensure the task has been covered end-to-end

Most school essay requirements are similar, when you break them down to their bare elements. Master these simple points:

Cover a topic fully: make sure you consider all relevant arguments and include a sufficient number of individual ideas, based on your research.
Be critical! Edit out all info that isn’t necessary to the final draft and be select only the most important arguments for your final essay.
Annotate: Find evidence and examples; use thorough research from accredited sources.
Planning: Preparing a plan will help you write logically and consistently as well as adhere to the overall essay structure.
Proofing: Avoid mistakes; proofread your content at least twice before submitting.
Formatting & flow: Make sure you include a strong introduction and satisfying conclusion.

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Teach Your Kids How to Write an Essay

With four kids in school, homework is done daily in our home. Now that our kids are getting older, they are brought home with more in-depth homework. But how do you teach your kids to write essays when they do not comprehend how? I know this is the same for many households, so we wanted to offer tips for teaching your kids how to write essays.

Writing comes naturally to me, but my girls haven’t gotten there yet. So when our friend Christopher Mercer from Citation offered his top tips for teaching your kids how to write an essay, it was perfect timing to help !

Everyone learns differently, but some tried, and accurate tips can help anyone learn to write. Check out these excellent tips to teach your kids essay writing in no time!

Most children are usually not excited when they sit down and learn how to start writing an essay. Even though this is very important for their future and academic success, they are often too young to realize this.

That’s why your kids would instead ask a professional to write me an essay rather than spend a few hours crafting it. Of course, sometimes, students need expert guidance to get things rolling. But they will have to develop their writing skills at some point anyway.

Look no further if you want to help your children understand and learn the basics of writing an essay. Here are the best tips for teaching your kids how to write essays and maintain a systematic approach.

Now that our kids are getting older, they are brought home with more in-depth homework. But how do you teach your kids to write an essay when they do not comprehend how?

Always start with the basics.

The most important thing about teaching your kid essay writing is to ensure they have a basic understanding of grammar and spelling appropriate to their grade and age.

If your children are too young and their teacher hasn’t taught them some particular things, you will only end up confusing them, and you will not be able to teach them something more complicated than what they already know.

Once you make sure that your children have enough knowledge that allows them to follow your teaching, you should start by introducing them to the idea of a thesis. A thesis in an essay is the main point they are supposed to write.

If they understand that and keep it in mind since the beginning, they will find it easier to progress in essay writing.

Creating the outline of an essay

You should teach your child to always create an outline for the essay they intend to write. Make sure to let them know that they should always keep a logical order when they write by explaining that all the paragraphs should be around the same topic and the sentences should have an order that connects them.

This is the first step in explaining the outline of the essay. The whole essay should consist of an introduction, the body of the essay, which should consist of different arguments, the sentences and paragraphs in their logical order, and the conclusion.

You can help your child by telling them to write down their ideas and what they believe would be best to write in each part of the structure in just a few words. This way, they will never forget what they want to write, and it will help them stick to the outline easier.

Make sure to allow them to practice.

The best way for a child to learn is indeed through practice. Make sure to give them plenty of examples to push themselves to create more ideas and practice while they are still young. The most important thing here is to help them understand both the writing process and how to learn to cite sources online, so they can find the appropriate materials to work with.

Not being scared of a bad grade will allow them to be more creative, and they will learn much more through this tactic than they will under the pressure of school assignments. Ensure that the tasks you give them are compatible with their grade and that you offer them enough help and support so they can do even better.

Don’t overwork your kids.

Even if practicing is good, there is always a limit. Many adults find writing an essay quite challenging, so you can only imagine how that must seem to a young child. Make sure that you let them know that they will not be great at this overnight. It’s all a matter of hard work, but keeping a good balance is also essential. Give your children enough breaks and always tell them when they are doing a good job.

When making mistakes, ensure that you are understanding and patient enough to help them fully understand their error and encourage them to try again on their own instead of pushing them to find or correct their mistake at that moment. This will positively impact their self-esteem, and they will be able to work better under the stress that schools bring upon them.

It’s all about patience.

All in all, you can’t expect your kid to become a genius at essay writing overnight . You will have to be patient and take them through these simple steps one step at a time, so they can learn to adapt to all the new information and memorize everything well by putting it to use.

Remember that kids learn a lot easier when you offer positive reinforcement. Essay writing can be as tricky as any other school subject, so you need to make sure that you are supportive and help them acquire this lifelong skill in a fun and easy way.

How to Teach Your Kids to Write an Essay

The top tips for teaching your kids how to write an essay will make life a little bit easier for your child and you. To get more great parenting articles like this, use that purple button below to sign up for our updates!

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How to Teach Essay Writing to Kids? Here’re the Best Guidance for Parents

Essay writing for kids is an important skill essential for academic excellence and personality development. Children with good essay writing skills are able to develop expression and creativity through language and ideas.

But not all kids get the opportunity to practice and learn essay writing as an important task of their curriculum. This is because we often assume that children need to get done with essay writing within a particular time frame, but every child requires his or her own time to think and write.

Children should be given plenty of time to practice essay writing, which can happen perfectly at home under the guidance of the parents.

Tips to Teach Essay Writing for Kids

As a parent, you can help improve your child’s essay writing skills through regular practice at home. To help you, here we have some important tips for you to teach essay writing for kids:

Always Start with the Basic

Essay writing for kids requires the basic knowledge of grammar and sentence formation; without these basics, your child may end up getting confused with the extra knowledge of essay formats and structures. Therefore, before moving ahead, improving your child’s basic grammar and sentence formation is necessary.

It is really necessary to build excellent writing skills, and kids need to develop the knowledge of sentence formation as per their age or school grade. For this, you can boost their reading exercise; the more kids read, the more they get to know about sentences and increase their vocabulary.

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Teach about Creating an Outline of the Essay

Creating an outline of an essay can help your children to follow an uninterrupted mode of writing. When your child knows what to write and how to write it, it helps save them time and effort and provides them with a structure for a guided progression. Through a rough outline of an essay, kids are more active in generating ideas linked with a particular part of the outline.

For an outline, they can make a basic skeleton of what they have to include in an introduction, in the body (deciding how many paragraphs to write), and in the end, the conclusion.

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Give Space for Practice

For kids, learning is a process of mistakes and improvements. Instructions alone may not be enough for them, but regular practice can bring them closer to perfection. Make sure to give your kids plenty of familiar topics on a daily basis.

Be Patient, and Avoid Overwork

Ask them to create outlines and write essays for more related topics and their immediate environment. Instead of giving them your direct opinions, be gentle and appreciate their efforts. Give them your advice on how their essay can be reorganised and written in a better language. Try to keep a stable balance between practice and breaks. Make sure not to overwork your kids.

Essay Writing for Kids: Basics and Writing Formats

What is essay writing? It is a written piece that describes, argues, and analyses a subject or an idea. It is composed of three basic elements: introduction, body, and conclusion . Let’s see how these three components form an essay as a whole.

Considering essay writing for kids, suppose a child is asked to write an essay on the title, ‘Save Environment’; then, the essay writing formats for kids will be:

Introduction

The introduction should have two important constituents:

#a. A sentence that will clearly tell what the essay is about. Here, this sentence can be,

“Our environment is being affected rapidly by human activities; it is our duty to save the environment we live in.”

#b. A sentence that tells your point of view on the topic. It should be attractive enough for the audience.

“Environmental damage is causing global warming, floods, droughts, and other crises around the world.”

The body of an essay follows the introduction and includes detailed information on the topic. It can be divided into three-four paragraphs, depending on the word limit. For the topic ‘save the environment’, the following can be included in the body:

Paragraph 1

What causes a threat to the environment? Mention the harmful human activities, like excessive industrialisation, deforestation, and growing pollution.

Paragraph 2

What are the effects on the environment?

Mention global warming, growing diseases, and scarcity of resources.

Paragraph 3

Why do we need to save the environment?

Elaborate how resources are depleting, which will cause scarcity for future generations; explain the effects of pollution on human health; mention how global warming is leading to disasters like earthquakes and melting of glaciers.

Paragraph 4

How can we save the environment?

Add activities like rainwater harvesting, use of public transport (less carbon production), abolition of plastic substances, use of environment-friendly daily objects, like wooden brush and comb, use of steel buckets and others.

The conclusion of an essay summarises the whole essay in two or three lines. Avoid mentioning any new point or idea in the conclusion. You can also rephrase the topic in an elaborated way. Let’s see how we can conclude the above essay.

Adopting eco-friendly activities and general awareness around the globe can make a huge impact on our degraded environment. It’s the need of the hour to stand together and save our environment.

How to Write a Good Essay?

In order to boost your child’s essay writing skills, you should teach the following tips:

#. Understand the requirement of the essay through the title.

#. Create a rough outline of the paragraphs you want to include.

#. Prepare your reference material through good research.

#. Follow the three basic components of an essay: the introduction, body, and conclusion.

#. After finishing, always proofread thoroughly. This will help them spot grammatical mistakes and poor organisation of paragraphs.

#. Make sure to add some real life-based examples.

#. Focus on the language and see if it is clear enough.

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Good essay writing skills come from practise; hence, the basics mentioned above of essay writing and plenty of practice at home can help your child become an excellent writer in the future. Don’t forget to stay patient with your children’s growth and keep following their progress. At The Real School Of Montessori , we mentor children with personalised training programmes, which aims at making children problem solvers and thinkers. For more information on our one-on-one mentoring programmes, visit The Real School Of Montessori today.

About the Author

Shilpa is a professional web content writer and is in deep love with travelling. She completed her mass communication degree and is now dedicatedly playing with words to guide her readers to get the best for themselves. Developing educational content for UPSC, IELTS aspirants from breakthrough research work is her forte. Strongly driven by her zodiac sign Sagittarius, Shilpa loves to live her life on her own notes and completely agrees with the idea of ‘live and let live. Apart from writing and travelling, most of the time she can be seen in the avatar of 'hooman' mom to her pets and street dogs or else you can also catch her wearing the toque blanche and creating magic in the kitchen on weekends.

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Teach Your Child How To Write Essay

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For many parents, the concept of teaching their children how to write an essay can be daunting. Unlike straightforward subjects like mathematics, essay writing involves a mix of creativity, structured thinking, and personal expression, which can be challenging to convey. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed at the thought of helping your child craft an essay, you’re not alone. It’s common to feel a bit out of your depth, but with the right approach, you can provide the support your child needs to succeed in writing.

The journey to mastering essay writing doesn’t have to be a solo one for your child. With your involvement and the right strategies, you can make this learning curve less steep and more enjoyable. You should understand how to choose essay topics and structure thoughts coherently. In this guide, we’ll walk you through five straightforward steps to enhance your child’s essay writing skills.

Step 1: Decode the Essay Prompt

The first step in writing an essay is understanding the prompt. This can make a significant difference in how your child approaches the task. Start by sitting down with your child and reading the prompt together. Discuss what the key question is asking for and identify any specific requirements or constraints, such as word count or formatting.

Next, highlight the main themes or issues that the essay needs to address. If the prompt says, “Write about the impact of global warming on marine life,” your child should note that the focus is on ‘global warming,’ ‘impact,’ and ‘marine life.’ This helps narrow down research and brainstorming efforts. Also, check for any clues about the required essay structure—should it be argumentative, descriptive, or comparative?

Finally, encourage your child to jot down initial thoughts and questions that come to mind. This preliminary sketch will serve as a blueprint for their research and further detailing.

Step 2: Spark Interest with Examples and Facts

To engage your child in the essay writing process, introduce them to compelling examples and interesting facts related to the topic. This approach not only makes the session interactive but also helps them see the practical application of their essays.

For instance, if they are writing about renewable energy, share a fascinating fact like, “Did you know that Iceland generates almost all of its electricity from renewable sources?” Such information can inspire deeper interest and encourage your child to explore further on their own. Additionally, discussing counterpoints or different perspectives helps develop critical thinking skills.

Remember, the goal is to make the research phase as intriguing as possible so that your child feels motivated to dive deeper into the topic. Encourage them to gather their findings from credible sources, perhaps from a library or educational websites that you’ve found helpful.

Step 3: Construct an Outline First

An effective strategy to simplify essay writing is to create an outline. This provides a clear path for your child’s thoughts and ensures all key points are covered. Discuss the main sections of the essay with your child: Introduction, Body (with key arguments and supporting details), and Conclusion.

Have your child start by writing down what they want to say in each section in bullet points. This method reduces the intimidation of facing a blank page and helps them focus on organizing their thoughts logically. Encourage them to tackle one section at a time, which can make the task feel more manageable and less overwhelming.

Step 4: Review the Essay After a Break

Once your child has completed a draft, it’s beneficial to take a short break before revisiting the work. A gap of a few days can provide fresh perspectives and new ideas. Encourage your child to read their essay with fresh eyes, pretending they are an outside reader. This can help them catch inconsistencies, unclear passages, and opportunities for improvement.

Discuss the essay together and suggest gentle revisions. This collaborative review can be a great learning experience and helps reinforce the skills they are developing. It was a revelation for me that there is a place where I can write my paper online with expert support. Throughout the whole process, you can receive feedback from an expert, explaining what and how things need to be done. But what was best for me, and might be useful for your child, is the opportunity to completely outsource the writing from scratch.

Step 5: Avoid Common Pitfalls

A crucial piece of advice for any young writer is to avoid the temptation to copy and paste material directly from sources. Encourage originality and personal expression in their essays. Explain the importance of using their own words and adding unique insights, which will make their essays stand out.

If your child struggles with this, help them take notes separately from their writing to prevent plagiarism. Teach them to summarize information in their own words and then integrate these summaries into their essays. This skill is invaluable, not just for school assignments, but for all future writing endeavors.

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