In the previous article, we talked about helping your child improve their speaking abilities.

Here, we’ll discuss ways to help your child write well and even ace composition writing in school.

Besides doing well in school, learning to write well will also be essential for your child’s daily life. Amongst many things, effective writing skills will give them better job opportunities, improves their ability to express themselves, and thus the ability to connect with people around them more meaningfully.

Here are seven tips to hone your child’s writing skills.

Tip 1 - Brush Up on Basics

The foundation for a great composition writing is proper spelling and good grammar. This also enables them to write effectively and communicate their ideas well.

With this, you have to be patient and understanding. Your child may not be able to have perfect grammar or spelling right straightaway, and that’s okay as practice makes perfect. That’s why it’s important to encourage them from an early age by reading books and having regular conversations at home.

Tip 2 - Read, Read, Read

Reading regularly will help your child improve their vocabulary, spelling, and also their imagination. By reading various storybooks, they learn the different ways to use words, and also how to describe things with varied phrasing. The more they read, the more their language skills will improve!

If you want to know more about how to encourage your child to love reading, check out this article.

Tip 3 - Start With Their Interests

If your child has an interest and love for animals or even cartoon characters, this can be a great starting topic for them to write about!

It’s typically easier for a child (or even adults!) to write about something that interests them.

Once they get comfortable with writing about their topics of interest, you can start venturing into other topics to expand their abilities.

Tip 4 - Teach Them How To Write An Outline

As much as writing is about imagination and creativity, it also requires organisation and structure. Creating an outline before jumping into the actual crafting of a composition is a great way to organise your child’s thoughts in their essay.

It’ll also help them to familiarise themselves with the basic structure of an essay -- introduction, main body, and conclusion.

It’s important that they note that the main body is the longest part of the composition. That portion can be further broken down into introduction of a problem, a climax, and a resolution.

The conclusion of your child’s composition should tie up any loose ends in the story and also summarise the whole story thoughtfully.

Tip 5 - Teach Them How To Proofread

Proofreading is important, especially when crafting a full composition. Luckily, there are a few ways to teach your child to do so.

For starters, ask your child to read their story out loud. This enables them to discover errors or awkward phrases, which they may not have realised if they’d just read it in their head.

You may also want to give them a list of items to double check on. This could include common mistakes to look out for, such as spelling errors, grammar mistakes, wrong use of punctuation or even irrelevant word choice!

You can even make proofreading a fun activity by rewarding your child with something such as their favourite ice cream on the condition that they identify and correct all the errors in their checklist. As they get used to this process, proofreading will become second nature to them.

Tip 6 - Play Word Games

If they don't really take an interest in the idea of writing, make it fun by playing games!

There are a lot of games and activities that encourage writing. Try ones like word hunts, crossword puzzles, Hangman, or even Scrabble.

These will slowly build your child’s vocabulary and even sentence structures if you ask them how to use each word in a sentence!

Tip 7 - Embrace Technology And Online Tools

Technology can be a huge distraction for kids. However, with proper guidance and assistance, these devices and the Internet can be leveraged on as great learning tools for kids.

If your child prefers to read on their mobile tablets, let them. If they prefer writing stories on the computer, encourage them to create a blog (under your supervision, of course).

You can also look into resources like online enrichment classes, like the ones run by PAL Learning. PAL Learning is a primary school tuition centre that can help your child build a strong English foundation -- all while attending lessons from the comforts of your own home!

Find out more about how our primary english tuition programmes can build your child’s love for writing and strengthen their composition skills! Speak with us today to find out more.