{"id":63668,"date":"2022-08-23T07:19:48","date_gmt":"2022-08-23T11:19:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/?p=63668"},"modified":"2026-02-12T10:04:13","modified_gmt":"2026-02-12T15:04:13","slug":"teaching-writing-homeschool","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/simplehomeschool.net\/teaching-writing-homeschool\/","title":{"rendered":"Teaching Writing in Your Homeschool"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Teaching<\/a>
\nTeaching Writing in Your Homeschool ~
\nWritten by <\/em>Melissa Camara Wilkins<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

At our house this year, we\u2019ll be homeschooling two high schoolers, one middle schooler, and an elementary schooler.<\/strong> Our oldest kiddo graduated from college last spring, and our next oldest has just moved back to school for his second year of college.<\/p>\n

Which means I\u2019ve been homeschooling one or more of our six kids for every one of the last seventeen years. Oh my. <\/em><\/p>\n

Alongside our homeschooling adventures, I\u2019m also an author – Have you read my book, Permission Granted<\/em>?<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(afflinks). My husband was an English Literature major once upon a time, too. We\u2019re all about words and language around here.<\/p>\n

Not every one of our kids is going to grow up to be a writer, of course, but they all get to practice using their words in the meantime!\u00a0Here\u2019s how we\u2019ve helped our kids on their homeschool writing journeys.<\/strong><\/p>\n

8 Tips for Teaching Writing in Your Homeschool<\/strong><\/h2>\n

1. Read Lots of Everything<\/h2>\n

Reading is the best way that I know to teach writing.<\/p>\n

Kids are learning about story structure and characterization and plot from reading, sure, but they\u2019re also learning grammar, and spelling, and vocabulary, and sentence structure, and how to listen for the musicality of language. They\u2019re absorbing so much, whether you\u2019re reading aloud or they\u2019re reading to themselves.<\/p>\n

Our kids read all kinds of things: fiction, poetry, nonfiction, news<\/a> (when they\u2019re teenagers), even product packaging and advertisements (a form of persuasive writing!). They learn to write by seeing it done well first.<\/strong><\/p>\n

For kids who are still learning or who struggle with reading to themselves, audiobooks count as reading. Following along in a physical book as they listen can be helpful, too.<\/p>\n

2. Take Dictation<\/h2>\n

Kids don\u2019t need to know how to write their letters to be able to write stories or letters or ideas.<\/p>\n

If your kids are still learning handwriting, or if the act of writing letters is still difficult, let them dictate their stories while you write them down.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Or try a dictation app or setting on your phone\/computer. (Tip: read over the dictation app\u2019s translation for accuracy\u2014kid voices can be tricky for apps to understand, and those apps know a whole bunch of words that your kindergartener doesn\u2019t. I\u2019m just saying. ;))<\/em><\/p>\n

3. Encourage Writing Just For Fun<\/h2>\n

Buy (or make) fun stationery or cards and encourage your kids to write letters to friends and relatives. Let them write stories on printer paper or in journals.<\/p>\n

Or suggest that they create a story out of pictures, and then tell you what\u2019s happening in each drawing.<\/p>\n

4. Play Word Games<\/h2>\n

This could include word searches or Scrabble or Banangrams or Boggle, but also games like the license plate letter game: on the road, make up a phrase using the letters on a license plate as the first letters of your words. (Ignore the numbers.) <\/strong><\/p>\n

RDW in the middle of a plate becomes rhinos dancing wildly, or robots devouring wetlands, or raspberries dunking on wildebeests. You\u2019re teaching your kids that words are tools they can use to create, even if they\u2019re just creating quick, funny images.<\/p>\n

\"Teaching<\/a><\/p>\n

5. Decide What They Need to Know<\/h2>\n

By the time my kids finish high school, we want them to have experience writing lots of different things, like short fiction, poetry, informational essays, persuasive essays, literary analysis, and MLA-style bibliographies.<\/strong><\/p>\n

But your goals might be different. Maybe you want to be sure your kid understands business communication. Maybe writing plays and skits is more important to your kid than writing short stories. Choose what\u2019s important for your own family\u2019s goals, and start there.<\/p>\n

Please notice that I said by the time my kids finish high school!<\/em><\/strong> We don\u2019t try to learn everything at once. And when they\u2019re younger, reading and playing with words is our whole goal.<\/p>\n

6. Use a Curriculum, or Don\u2019t<\/h2>\n

We\u2019ve tried a few different types of homeschool curricula for writing, and I\u2019d love to hear about your favorites. But we haven\u2019t found one that sticks for us.<\/p>\n

We\u2019re usually more comfortable deciding together what to learn next, then finding resources for learning that type of writing and giving it a try.<\/strong> Our resources might come from books, online videos, or just a parent explaining.<\/p>\n

7. Expect Messy First Drafts<\/h2>\n

When we\u2019re learning to do something new, we don\u2019t do it perfectly the first time. Of course not!<\/p>\n

So make sure your kids know they\u2019re not meant to know how to do this yet, and that getting words (any words!) on the page is the first goal. <\/strong><\/p>\n

After that, they can decide how to revise to bring what they\u2019ve written closer to their vision. But the first step is just to get anything<\/em> out.<\/p>\n

8. Edit Respectfully<\/h2>\n

Remember that writing is subjective, and that\u2014unlike arithmetic\u2014there\u2019s no one right answer when it comes to a writing project.<\/p>\n

Try to see what your writer is trying to create, rather than judging it against your ideas of what it should be. Praise the stuff your kids are doing well before pointing out what needs more work.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Not sure what to praise? Maybe point out their creative ideas, their voice, their interesting word choices, or even their careful spelling.<\/p>\n

\"Teaching<\/p>\n

Our Favorite Writing Supplies<\/h2>\n

Want even more ideas? Here are our favorite writing supplies that may also come in handy as you’re teaching writing in your homeschool.<\/p>\n

For Encouraging Play With Words<\/h3>\n