Writing across the curriculum helps students gain practice writing about a full range of academic subjects, not just literary topics.
As your child's teacher, you will have her practice writing across the curriculum when she writes sentences, paragraphs, and essays from all of her subjects, not just English. Each subject has its own method and technique for presenting material. But if you "get in its face" now, writing will be a pizza pie in no time. |
![]() I'm ready; are you? |
Your child will begin the habit of writing across the curriculum by describing, summarizing and evaluating her science, reading, and history worksheets.
After each assignment in each subject, ask her a question about the material.
Here's an example: Your child has finished a lesson about the importance of healthy teeth. |
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You ask her what she thinks is the most important point to remember about this. She responds: "It's important to brush your teeth before bedtime." That becomes the sentence that she writes at the bottom of the worksheet.You |
Think about this for a moment. In one eight-word sentence, your child has
Your child did all that in one lesson for one subject. You've just witnessed a miracle. Do you think I've gone overboard?
Try it yourself. Sit down and write one paragraph explaining how to wash a load of dishes. Writing crystallizes our thoughts. It clears out the cobwebs. Well, I better stop now or this will become a book. |
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I have good reasons for asking you to have your child write her sentence/s at the bottom of the worksheet pages, and this is why:
Homeschooling is legal in all 50 states, but who can be sure that will last.
![]() Writing doesn't need its own page or heading. The idea that It can't have scratch outs or be "outside the lines" needs to be killed before it ever takes hold. |
kills the idea that "neatness counts." |
Writing can be done anywhere, even at the bottom of a napkin, my personal favorite.
The fact is that fewer taboos about where and how one should write, such as at the bottom of pages, in the margins, on the back of letters and other scratch paper, will liberate and unblock many writing skills.
By writing across the curriculum, writing can become a honed skill.
If they're going to learn to write, children must get their ideas on paper. Tweet This
Another fact of life is that Ideas are often fleeting, and the quicker an idea gets "put to paper," the quicker the writer can move on to the next great thought.
Repeat this same writing process with history. When your child studies a lesson, ask her to describe two or three characteristics about the person.(This habit of listing three adjectives that describe the character will help her when she must write a paragraph for each one by the 7th grade.)
Have her describe at least two characteristics of the historical figure. When she gives one adjective describing, let's say, Thomas Jefferson, ask her, "What else did the paragraph say about him?"
To learn more about the five-paragraph essay, click on the link.
In a relaxed and easy tone, try to draw out more details from her, but never let your child be self-conscious or nervous about the writing process.
Eventually, the reading, the string of adjectives, and the writing will all come together, bit by bit, and as it flows from one subject to the next, your child will become more competent in her writing across the curriculum. If you'd like to study more about this concept, this is a really good downloadable booklet.
Before the end of the first grade, your child will be writing three and four sentences until it's a full, descriptive paragraph as she works her way through the second grade.
Go to Writing across the curriculum for other grades by clicking on the link.
Have you seen my "Your Child's Writing Sample"page? Are you ready to do that? Let me encourage you to share your child's first sentence or first paragraph. I'd love to see it and publish your child's words. Just fill in the form below and you're halfway there. All comments will be sensitive and encouraging. I promise.
Do you want to help your child write better, but can't find a trustworthy, economical service? I have found no free editing or revision service on the web either.Therefore, in the box below, type in up to 100 words (about two paragraphs) of your child's writing and click submit. I will personally review her writing sample and make comments on her strengths and areas for improvement. If you would like to keep your child's information confidential, that's fine. If you would like to publish her photo next to her writing, you can do that too! It's all good.
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