What follows here is an amplification of chapter nine from my book Writing Exercises: How to Teach Writing and Prepare Your Favorite Students for College, Life and Everything Else .
For what it’s worth, I do not have teaching degrees. Nor do I have any scientific studies to back my teaching approach. Everything here stems from personal observation regarding my own experiences as a student, a parent and a reader, with a dose of applied critical thinking a.k.a. common sense. Oh, and for several years I was a homeschool teacher of English.
This article outlines the method I developed for grading my student’s writing. By grading, I mean the process of working alongside the student and conveying your observations, corrections and encouragement.
Correcting your student’s writing is probably the most important part of the teaching process. Going over the assignment together gives you an opportunity to engage the mind of your child or student and should always be done privately, one on one. First off, criticism and correction can be painful enough even when done privately. Doing it in front of others, whether siblings or public school…
