One reason parents home school is the an opportunity for their children to learn authentically.
What exactly does that mean?
I remember when my own son came home to ask when he would even need to know how to write an essay about a book.
“In college?” I answered.
“Besides school, I mean…” he waited, patiently. I’m sure he was convinced that since I was a high school English teacher and regularly made my own students write essays about books, I would have a better answer.
“The assignment is full of many transferable skills like analyzing themes and critical thinking and -”
He cut me off. “So, never. Right?”
I was tempted to launch into my back up speech about jobs and careers which required good writing skills, but from my experiences with my own students I knew this line of logic would be met with the question: “But essays about books, what jobs will require that I write those?”
Rather than make the case that someday he may become a book reviewer or an English professor who must publish or perish, I nodded. “Right.”
Fortunately, when parents choose to home school, they can allow their children to pursue authentic writing or allow them to write about things which interest them and which are useful to them.
Like Caleb Warner in the article, “Happily Home Schooled,” who explains he is writing short stories and a novel and songs. You might wonder when he will ever write any of these things for a job. Well, if he is lucky enough to become a novelist or song writer… but more importantly, each of these writing assignments falls into the category of a narrative, which is done in any job requiring an employee to write an incident report – most jobs.
Now I admit that I do “guide” the students I tutor to write essays exploring issues or analyzing themes of books, but because the instruction is individualized, the writing assignments are authentic or grow out of the child’s interests and knowledge.
I do have a student who is currently writing a novel, but I also tutor students who write about their own experiences with chronic illness, about their family stories, about the effectiveness of the Israeli West Bank Barrier, and a student who is writing a children’s book.
Authentic writing for Home Schoolers is about helping children to write about what they are interested in and in the genre they are interested in because out of these writing assignments they will learn the conventions of writing.
Here are the steps I take for guiding students to authentic writing.
1. Examine which genre fits the student’s interest and ability.
For example, a student interested in astronomy may want to write a children’s picture books as a summary for what he knows, may want to write a persuasive essay for why Pluto should be considered a planet, or may choose to write an autobiographical narrative about his first time viewing the stars and why he’s so interested in them. The choices are an endless series of mix and match of interest and genre.
2. Review examples of the genre.
To prepare to write in a particular genre, it is imperative that the writer review how proficient and professional writers are successful. When I teach writing “family legends” I have students read a variety of legends so we can examine the difference between a narrative and a legend.
3. Begin writing but be open to revision of expectations.
Most professional writers have had the experience of sitting down with a writing project in mind only to figure out that the genre does not fit the topic – or at least the treatment of the topic the writer is interested in pursuing. It is a sign of a good writer when she can revise her own expectations to produce the best product.
4. Find an audience.
All authentic pieces of writing have authentic audiences. Whether the audience is a student’s younger sibling, an uncle who works for NASA, the local paper letters to the editor page, or a personal blog, nothing motivates writers like writing for an authentic audience. Usually an authentic audience means someone other than the “teacher.”
Helping your child to write authentic pieces for an authentic audience will help him to be more motivated to write and, hopefully, more successful.
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