It is impossible to imagine studying at school without regular essay writing. In recent years, due to changes in the curriculum of educational courses, this type of work is assumed not only in the native language but also in a foreign language. However, the skills for writing creative work are required to be the same, so it is very important to teach in time, or rather to help your child learn to write essays.
If your child is constantly asking “can you write my paper for me?” then it’s time to help them to understand how the essays are done. According to the paper writing service Writingapaper, the writing process improves creativity, and the ability to express thoughts and make clear points.
Types of essays in different grades of secondary school
An essay is a creative written work by a student on a given topic.
In the process of learning in school, students must master the skills of writing essays of several types.
According to the source of the material for the work, essays can be based on one’s own experience, an excursion, a book read, or impressions from a work of painting.
According to the degree of independence, written opuses can be individual or group. As for the latter, this form is most often used in the younger grades, when it is still difficult for children to organize their thoughts and impressions independently. Gradually the student learns to write individual works.
According to the genre, there are descriptions, narratives, and argumentation. In the primary grades, the genre of narration with elements of description is used. This is because the narrative talks about some action, and it is quite easy for children to deal with storylines. For description, you need more complex skills, particularly observation. After all, it is required to point out the signs of some particular phenomenon, the character of the book or a movie, and all of these require attentiveness. As for the argumentative essays, this genre requires logical inclusion of their judgments in the work, so such essays are written only in high school.
The style of creative work can be of everyday life, everyday business, documentary, scientific and journalistic essays. The style of the essay is chosen according to the genre and subject matter.
Requirements for essays
Essays are an integral part of the school curriculum. Therefore, there are some established requirements for writing this type of work:
- the ability to comprehend the facts necessary for writing an essay;
- the ability to observe, to highlight the necessary information;
- the choice of words and phrases appropriate to the topic and genre;
- construction of sentences according to the laws of grammar;
- ability to make a plan of the future piece of work;
- organization of what is written by the plan;
- observance of spelling and punctuation norms of language.
Why do we need a plan?
Many children are wondering why they need an outline if it is clear what they should write. The task of the teacher and parents is to explain to the pupil that without a plan, the essay will not work. Or rather, you will get a text with a chaotic presentation of thoughts. A finished paper should be structured, so that the reader can easily comprehend what he or she has read, on the one hand, and the topic was fully disclosed – on the other. Therefore, it is easier to write an essay if there is an outline. It usually consists of three parts: the introduction, the main part, and the conclusion. In the introduction, you should argue the choice of topic, in the second part – to set out the essence of the work, and in the conclusion – to summarize all of the above. For each genre, these points are supplemented following the teacher’s recommendations. By learning to work with the plan, the child will be able to quickly cope with the task of writing an essay.
Recommendations for parents
Parents should work with their children to practice essay writing skills based on the age of their child. Still, there are some general tips for every grade level:
- be sure to make your child aware that he or she should carefully write down not only the topic of the essay but also listen to the teacher’s recommendations regarding the requirements for the written work (especially the genre of work, because very often a student gets a low grade because he or she made a description instead of a narrative or in the description switched to an argument);
- by no means give in to the temptation to do the work instead of the child (it is his/her creativity, there must not be someone else’s ideas, even if they are mom or dad’s!), be patient if the kid is setting up for a long time or paraphrases several times. Of course, if your child is sick or just not feeling well, or overloaded with other tasks you can always help you find on reddit essay writing service if you are busy too, and the deadline is soon. However, later even after your pupil has already received the mark from this assignment, you should help your child do this essay so as not to lose an opportunity to practice;
- use a rough draft (writing an essay is a creative process, so mistakes are possible that the child will want to correct while writing or at the end)
- stimulate the child’s thinking (if your student is having trouble focusing on a topic, hint at some related details, for example, if you need to write about how his summer was, remind him of his strongest summer impression, such as a trip to an abandoned cave)
- avoid plagiarism (it is very important that the child learns to express his thoughts, even if someone has already successfully expressed himself on this subject; besides, by copying off someone else’s texts, a schoolchild will never learn to think independently).
How to take into account the child’s age peculiarities
As mentioned above, when working on a creative skill such as essay writing, the age specifics of the child should be taken into account.
For younger schoolchildren, this involves a playful methodology. Pedagogues advise starting with writing essays (a retelling of the read text). Only building the work should be interesting. For example, “Let’s write in two hands”: offer the child to write an exposition together, each for himself, and then compare and highlight each other’s mistakes. Over time, move on to the essays with their continuation – and you’ll be surprised how your little pupil’s imagination has developed.
Offer your child to describe pictures and illustrations. And not necessarily in writing. At this age, the main thing – learn to express their thoughts in any form. But for middle school, only a written description of such tasks is needed – at this age, literate writing skills are strengthened.
Also in grades, 5-9 children can be offered to describe architectural objects, and write reviews of movies or plays they have seen. It would be good to allow them to imagine: “How would I make this movie, build this house”, etc. As for the upper grades, the leading genre is argumentation. Again, as in junior high, offer as many oral reasoning assignments on the topic as possible. Topical disputes with evidence of one’s point of view and tolerant reputation of another’s are not bad for practicing essay-writing skills.
Writing an essay is an essential part of the learning process but not only. It is also an opportunity for personal growth. After all, in the process of work, the child must defend his/her ideas and prove his/her point, and for this, the child needs to have a sufficient amount of information on a particular topic. To teach a schoolchild to write an essay, you have to teach them to think. This requires the parents’ constant attention to their child, an interest in his or her life, and a great deal of patience.