Essay Writing

Does your child often disappear into his own world? Instead of snapping him back to earth, foster his imagination by encouraging him to write. Ask your child to write an essay every week, on Saturday or Sunday. Your child may have a hard time deciding what to write on, so it may help if you just give him a topic or a heading. Here are some ideas: In this articleReal lifeAutobiographical EssaysProfilesReal life It is best to start your child off on essays with themes that are based on real life. These do not stretch their imagination too far, and your kids will find it fairly easy to come up with subject matter on topics close to their heart. As they breeze through these exercises, they gain confidence and will look forward to the next essay session. Some ideas are: My Favourite Pet My Family I Love My Grandpa My Best Friend Autobiographical Essays Ask your child to write about what he did the previous day or that week. Not only is this an exercise in essay writing, but it also sharpens his memory as it encourages him to remember the events of the day. If you think about it, not many of us can immediately recall the events of the past day unless something of consequence happened. He can write about what time he woke up, went to school, what happened at school, what happened at home when he returned, what he wore when he got back, and so on. Profiles An older child of around ten or eleven could do a profile of his favourite singer, sportsman or idol. If he idolizes Sachin Tendulkar for example, he could include facts on Sachins age when he started batting for India, Sachins birthday, the name of his wife, what she does, how many children they have, his city… the list is endless. It would help if you give your child a few guidelines such as these so your child knows what he is looking for, and of course, access to relevant information. Pretty soon your child will not need any guidelines. Profiles also prove to be sources of inspiration. Essay writing can be a lot of fun, and your child will look forward to finishing it off and showing it to you. Dont criticize him too much, and dont focus on correcting all the grammatical errors. Correct some, and focus on praising him for his imagination. If you find he has shown great improvement, you could even give him a star! Be accessible to your child when he is writing the essay, so he can come to you for spelling help.

Does your child often disappear into his own world? Instead of snapping him back to earth, foster his imagination by encouraging him to write.

Ask your child to write an essay every week, on Saturday or Sunday. Your child may have a hard time deciding what to write on, so it may help if you just give him a topic or a heading. Here are some ideas:

Real life

It is best to start your child off on essays with themes that are based on real life. These do not stretch their imagination too far, and your kids will find it fairly easy to come up with subject matter on topics close to their heart. As they breeze through these exercises, they gain confidence and will look forward to the next essay session.

Some ideas are:

• My Favourite Pet
• My Family
• I Love My Grandpa
• My Best Friend

Autobiographical Essays

Ask your child to write about what he did the previous day or that week. Not only is this an exercise in essay writing, but it also sharpens his memory as it encourages him to remember the events of the day. If you think about it, not many of us can immediately recall the events of the past day unless something of consequence happened. He can write about what time he woke up, went to school, what happened at school, what happened at home when he returned, what he wore when he got back, and so on.

Profiles

An older child of around ten or eleven could do a profile of his favourite singer, sportsman or idol. If he idolizes Sachin Tendulkar for example, he could include facts on Sachin's age when he started batting for India, Sachin's birthday, the name of his wife, what she does, how many children they have, his city… the list is endless. It would help if you give your child a few guidelines such as these so your child knows what he is looking for, and of course, access to relevant information. Pretty soon your child will not need any guidelines. Profiles also prove to be sources of inspiration.

Essay writing can be a lot of fun, and your child will look forward to finishing it off and showing it to you. Don't criticize him too much, and don't focus on correcting all the grammatical errors. Correct some, and focus on praising him for his imagination. If you find he has shown great improvement, you could even give him a star! Be accessible to your child when he is writing the essay, so he can come to you for spelling help.