When you ask your student to compose a writing assignment, does your student: A.   groan as loud and long as their lungs allow B.   slump in their chair, slide off to the floor, and lie there face down like a slug C.   pick up a pencil and start eating it while vacantly staring at anything except the paper in front of them D.   pick up a pencil—then pick up another pencil and start practicing for their …

I have an acquaintance who will text me once in a while, and her texts always leave me in confusion. She writes like she is picking up in the middle of a conversation we never had. It’s lengthy; it references things that I don’t understand; and when I reach the end of the message, I’m not sure what she was contacting me about in the first place. It’s only a text message, but it’s written very poorly. Now, …

Want to know one of the secrets of writing well? Read. This may seem strange and even counterintuitive. If you want to be a better writer, then you should read more? If you want to be an artist, should you frequent museums? If you want to be a professional sports player, do you watch as many games as you can? As a matter of fact, yes! You do! Exposure to an ideal is instructive. If you want to …

When Your Smart Homeschool Student Struggles with Writing Although I have no children of my own, I do have a thirteen-year-old brother. My mother is homeschooling him, and the kid is very bright. He whistles instrumental movie soundtracks after hearing them once. He designs and builds complex Lego creations, complete with moving parts and intricate backstories. He watches scientific debates on YouTube in his free time. And the boy will not capitalize the first words in his sentences …