So, your kids don't want to write. They feel that it is a cumbersome exercise. Well, it is a problem with nearly all of them. How to bring them down to the writing table and, to write ultimately?
The word ‘Writing’ has originated from the verb ‘To Write’.
Merriam Webster dictionary defines the verb ‘To write’ as ‘the act
or art of forming visible letters or characters’.
Why write
Writing is important to record the spoken word. Mankind owes its
progress to the written texts of all the inventions and discoveries. It is the
writing only that has preserved our ancient heritage and great history. Power
of writing is very important to take us forward on the path of progress.
Writing Skills
· Writing skills are the ability to convey our thoughts and ideas in
a written form.
· It requires knowledge of letters, words, sentences and grammatical
rules.
· Knowledge of the language begins with knowing the letters or
alphabet.
· These letters join each other to make a meaningful combination
called ‘Word’.
· ‘Words’ join each other to form the ‘sentences’.
· The art of writing or skill involves correct and proper
arrangement of the letters, words and the sentence to produce a decent write-up.
· Writing skills are very important in life. Students may have all
the knowledge in the world but they cannot prove it until expressed by way of
good writing skills.
How to teach writing skills to
the children
Writing is learnt at the toddler stage itself and is progressively
developed through all the years of education and even later. Small children may
be encouraged to just scribble. They may copy some shapes or use their
imagination. You would be surprised to see that this scribbling would gradually
take the shape and form of the letters. This process of evolution takes them to
become greats like Shakespeare and Milton.
Brief step-by-step details are follows:
Toddlers’ stage-
Active toddlers just need to catch hold of pencil, chalk, pen or
any such writing device and a surface to draw or write upon. This may be your
costly diary or old newspaper. They will begin to scribble the way they like.
At this stage, it is important for them to hold the writing instrument properly
and not injure them with it. They may observe a particular shape and try to
copy it. For example, after seeing an apple, they may try to draw circles.
Teach them at home even before
the school:
It is very important to prepare the child before sending them to
the school. He or she should at least recognize letters. This may be followed
by making them draw standing, slanting or lying down lines. Don’t worry if the
lines are straight or irregular. Gradually letters such as an “A” or “B” may be
taught.
Reading and writing go together
If you read with the child and then ask him or her to write some
letters of the words, he or she may pick up with some effort. For example, a
picture of a dog with its name written may prompt the child to try making the
letters D.
Have patience
Please remember this has to be in a joyful manner. Your anger or
impatience may put them off. Don’t keep correcting them off and on. Just let
them understand their own mistakes or tell them sweetly about it. It is a slow
process for them. They are just raw. Don’t expect them to be the masters from
the first day.
Pre-school- These toddlers go to a pre-school. Here, they learn in a playful manner. Their teacher is properly trained to teach them. With the passage of time, you would be surprised to see properly written alphabets in their notebooks. They will enjoy learning new words
with the help of Montessori games, models and pictures. Soon they will develop
a vocabulary of small 2-letter and 3-letter words. They also use Phonics to
learn the words with the help of their sounds. They are taught to write these
small words and even their names at this stage.
Primary School- Before this stage, they have built a very small
vocabulary of their own and know how to write some of these words as well,
though it may vary from child-to-child. This is the stage where their study of
various subjects begins. Their vocabulary and sentence-making prowess grows at
each level from classes 1 through 5. They also need to learn spellings; add
more and more words in their vocabulary; and, know and use proper grammatical
and punctuation rules. They also need to pick up speed and accuracy besides
good hand-writing from this stage onwards. This verbal as well as
written command on the language stands them in good stead. Proper writing
expresses their knowledge and understanding of the subject matter. This is the
stage where they have to begin with some creative writing, as well.
Junior School onward- As for the writing skills, if they have learnt and practised it at the Primary level then junior, secondary, senior secondary, graduation, post-graduation and even
research levels require the students to keep developing the language skills, as
much as possible. It can only be said that more the proficiency in writing
skills, better would be the academic performance of the students. As explained
earlier, written word is the only medium to ultimately prove the students’
command on the subject-matter. You can appreciate that, two students, ‘A’ and
‘B’ may respond very well verbally in the class. One of them may even have
better knowledge of the subject but any kind of inability in writing, such as-
· Improper expression
· Bad Grammar
· Poor or illegible Handwriting
· Spelling mistakes
· Wrong usage of the words
· Other miscellaneous writing shortcomings
-may take away the advantage of good academic performance from him
or her.
Admission Tests- Prowess of good writing
with good knowledge of the subject matter proves to be elixir for admission to
the Professional courses, foreign universities, or sometimes, even for
employment also. Recruitment examinations for banks, railways etc. are good
examples. Educational institutions in many countries like the USA, UK,
Australia, Canada and many other countries specifically consider scores of
language examinations like IELTS, TOEFL, etc. Writing skills form one of the
important parameters in these examinations.
# HowToImproveWritingSkills #EnglishWritingSkills #AcademicWritingSkills #ImportanceOfWritingSkills
One can refer to the following website for more intricate details on the subject.
https://www.drugs.com/cg/writing-skills-in-children.html
The writer R. C. Verma has laid emphasis on good writing skills in this series of two articles. Please post your comments in the box or mail to vermarajesh55@gmail.com
No comments:
Post a Comment