Reading and Writing

Of the most basic skills required to be successful in education, and life, are the ability to read and write effectively. What does it mean to read and write effectively? Good question. Synthesis of reading material; different sources, subjects, ideas, and more into coherent thoughts used to inform or persuade. Without the ability to write effectively, synthesis of information cannot reach fruition – it dies on the vine so to speak. A lot of people writing about students' ability to focus on long texts tend to think we should adapt teaching to shorter texts; since students have shorter attention spans and bore easily, why not make it easy on them by exposing them only to shorter texts which will not tax their abilities? This does nothing but lower expectations of students, leading to lower standards, and leaves them ill prepared for higher education. What can be done? Make sure your child is exposed to news articles, editorial pieces, or other sources of current news and have them write a response to it. It doesn't have to be long. If they can do it on a computer, have them clip the article and write their response in the same file. Have them review their writing once a week. If they change their opinion about something, have them add that to their file and explain what lead them to change their mind. Attach any pertinent articles. This will help tremendously over time in their ability to put their thoughts into words. If they can share their writing with family members so much the better. Remember the focus should be on forming cogent thoughts, don't worry about spelling, punctuation, or grammar at this point. The point is to become comfortable forming logical responses and putting them into words. Have fun with it!