Studies indicate that performance can be improved with consistent home tutoring.
Knowing the steps of the writing process will help you guide your child.
Prewriting involves generating ideas. Parents can discuss with their child what they are planning to write about to help facilitate the brainstorming process. For younger children, drawing pictures is often helpful.
Writing is the process of creating sentences and paragraphs. Encouraging the child to write their ideas and not to worry about spelling or grammar will be the most important thing to do at this stage.
Revising is the stage in which the writing is improved by rearranging sentences and choosing better words. Parents can remind the child to keep re-reading to find ways to make their piece more interesting and easier to understand.
Editing is the part of the whole process when conventions (spelling, grammar, and punctuation) and word choice are addressed. Providing proofreading practice with other writing will hone the child’s skills in this area. Younger students especially should only focus on one aspect of writing at a time, such as punctuation.
Publishing is the creation of the final draft, and the joy of sharing. Parents can help make the writing public by providing a way for the child to display it or share with friends or family.
The Six + 1 Traits of Writing, is a popular method of instruction.
Knowing what the traits of writing are will guide you when you read a writing rubric and want to help your child understand how they scored.
You can access the traits at: http://educationnorthwest.org/traits.
The website details each trait, including ideas, organization, voice, word choice, sentence fluency, conventions and presentation.
Similar systems of instruction refer to these components as domains or characteristics of good writing, and label them focus, organization, content, style, and conventions.