Be it a story or a short non-fiction paragraph, it needs to have interesting content to keep the reader tuned in. Here is how reading extensively and analysis of texts can make a big difference to your child's writing abilities.
We encourage children to read. Very often we don't talk about the book that they read. At the most we might ask if they liked the story and the response would be in the lines of, "Yes, it was nice." The discussion ends there. But if one were to probe a little further and ask questions such as "What was good about the story? Was there something you did not like? Was the writing style interesting to read? etc." children often tend to stumble. Very few children can specifically comment on their reading experiences. Here is an interesting response from a teenage reader while reading a book in the River of Silver Daevabad Trilogy by S.A. Chakraborty. "The book has several characters and it is sometimes hard to remember all of them. As long as I am reading continuously, it is alright and interesting even. The problem arises if I take a break." When asked if too many characters is a bad idea for a story, he said, "More characters bring a variety of perspectives to the same story. That makes the story become even more interesting."
To enable that line of thinking, picking up small paragraphs to analyze is a good starting point. "Is the text interesting to read or boring?" "What do you like about it?" "What would you add or delete to make it interesting?"
These thoughts might have gone without being formed at all as there wasn't a trigger and because there wasn't a forum to talk about it on. Book clubs provide fertile grounds for leading questions that enable readers to look at the book they are reading from perspectives that they may not have thought of at all. To enable that line of thinking, picking up small paragraphs to analyze is a good starting point. "Is the text interesting to read or boring?" "What do you like about it?" "What would you add or delete to make it interesting?" We tried it out at the Young Readers' Club. After the initial hesitation, ideas began to flow. Adding all those and experimenting with the order led to fascinating discussions that ended on a very satisfying note. Why? Because together, we had managed to create a captivating paragraph on birthdays for any reader to read and enjoy.
Both weekday and weekend batches are available at the Young Readers' Club. While this program is for the 8-12 age group, the Young Writers' Club program for the 13-15 age group offers a weekly platform to read and discuss curated articles from the news, observe writing approaches and practise one's writing skills.
NEW! Musings from the Young Writers' Club is an online magazine showcasing the work we do at the Young Writers' Club.
Need more information? Please fill in the contact form below and we will reach out to you asap.