7 ways to teach a child how to write an essay

Whether you loved writing essays at school or hated it, there’s no getting away from it: essay writing is an important skill that can help your child achieve academic success.

With Bluebell due to start secondary school this year (I know!) essay writing is something that’s been on my mind, mainly because it’s not something she’s got much – or any – experience in, but I know she’ll have to do.

I’m keen to help her as much as possible (I actually quite liked writing essays at school, but don’t tell anyone!) so, in this collaborative post, I thought it would be useful to share some top tips on teaching your child how to write an essay.

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1. Encourage them to read about topics of interest

You could approach writemyessayforme.co.uk to order customised online essays on how you can develop your child’s interest in reading books. Reading can help your child improve their writing because it provides them with the necessary knowledge they need to write essays with good content. Ask your child to read as many books as they can to improve their knowledge. The more they read, the better equipped they’ll be to write essays on different topics.

Encourage them to dedicate an hour daily to reading books. Once a child develops an interest in reading, it will help them write good essays in the future because it will improve their vocabulary and help them learn new words and terminologies. They will also learn how the meaning of words can change when they are used in different contexts, which can later be applied in their writing. While reading, kids also learn how sentences work together and create a certain effect. All this learning will positively affect the essay writing skills of your kids.

2. Think about different writing methods

For example, some children do best with handwriting, while others might be more comfortable typing their essays. Whatever their choice, encourage and support them to polish their skills. Choose a method according to your child’s needs and comfort level because the process of essay writing will become easier if you give them the option of writing in a method of their preference. Children with visual impairments might need alternative writing methods such as speech-to-text programmes. You can visit Essay Kitchen to order a detailed well-researched essay on different writing methods for kids with special needs. This essay will help you work out how to best support your children’s writing needs.

3. Refresh their basic writing skills

One of the best ways to teach kids to write good essays is to ensure they get the basics right. They will become more confident in their writing skills if they learn to avoid basic spelling and grammatical errors. Build their foundation on a strong basis by making them realise the importance of writing grammatically correct sentences. Explain what mistakes they commit and ask them to rectify those errors. This process may take time, and you need to remain patient while working with them.

4. Start with a thesis

Writing a clear thesis for an essay is key to essay writing success. It might not be easy to explain to your kids what a good thesis statement is and how to write one, so you could order an essay on the topic from an online writing service and analyse the thesis statement of that essay.

5. Show them how to write an outline

Familiarise your kids with the basic structure of an essay by teaching them how to write an outline of their essay. Teach them how each outline element works and help them understand their significance for a logical layout. Ask them to write a proper introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. Show them examples of good introductory paragraphs to learn the skill.

6. Practice makes perfect

Kids can improve their essay writing skills through practice. They might not get the proper time to practice their essay writing skills in the classroom, so give them a different topic each day and ask them to write about it.

7. Encourage them to revise and edit

Encourage your child to develop the habit of revising their essays once they are done with the writing process. Make sure your kids read their essays twice to revise and edit. Then, ask them to take the following steps for revising and editing their essays.