HELP! My Student Hates Writing!
First of all—you’re not alone!
Homeschooling parents and teachers alike will struggle with reluctant writers. Writing is an essential skill to develop—but how do you convince your student to write at all, much less learn to enjoy it?
Young writers need ownership of their writing projects.
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Give Your Student a Creative Project
At Clear Water Press, we believe part of the problem with traditional writing programs and assignments is that they leave out what writing is for. This is why we’ve designed every one of our programs as a creative project students can complete in one school year (but you can set your own pace!). The beauty of creative projects is that young writers have ownership. Creative projects with real applications give meaning to the writing that students do. Assignments shouldn’t be random. We don’t invent writing assignments to serve concepts; the concepts and techniques we cover in our programs serve the stories students are telling. Approaching writing this way invites participation and assists them in the purpose of writing in the first place.
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Cultivate a Desire for Communication
Every person has something they want to communicate; even if they wouldn’t think to write a magazine, a novel, or a newspaper. Students feel very differently about writing when we show them how to communicate what matters to them. A way you can see this is in action is in the magazine showcase from real students who’ve completed our Cover Story program. We absolutely love how individual interest shines through the writing of our students.
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Make it Immersive!
Learning should be story-centered— which is another way of saying immersive learning. In our programs, we don’t make students write stories we came up with. Students need creative boundaries—no one is inspired by a blank page!—but they need a lot of room within the guidelines, and that’s what we guarantee.
At Clear Water Press, we offer programs for middle and high school students providing instruction that inspires. Cover Story takes Middle School students through the process of creating their own magazine. For high schoolers, Byline teaches journalism as a bridge to phenomenal essays that will set your student apart. One Year Adventure Novel takes your student on a journey to writing their own novel in one school year!
If you’re struggling with a reluctant writer, check out more about how our creative project programs could help here!
