All About English Composition

[tamarind]

csc:

[quote]If a child has not been reading extensively, then no creative writing class can help.

Agree with this. If a child has been reading widely and extensively, no English tuition is even necessary. There is no need to teach comprehension skills even. They could just score full or almost full marks most of the time. And it is the same with the cloze passages. It is just natural to fill in the blanks with the appropriate words as they are so used to seeing and understanding the contextual clues given in the passage.

Guess the best investment for my children is on the number of books I've bought for them and the amount of time spent bringing them to the library and reading to them since they were babies.

It's really worth it! :D[/quote]
I totally agree that there is no need for English tuition, and no need to teach comprehension and cloze. I find that I don't even need to teach grammar and vocabulary. My kids just seem to know what is correct, because they have been reading extensively. I just let them learn in their primary school and that is more than enough.

I also think that books are the best investment and I paid a lot less than the fees of English enrichment classes.

[sleepy]

My dd is reading extensively and way beyond her level. No trashy books. She only read books from my approved list. We have hundreds of classics and award winning books in our home library.


Problem is good reader doesn't automatically translate to good writer. I think her writing remains at infancy stage. She just 交行货, although good enough for exam but definitely beneath what she's capable of achieving.

My challenge is how to teach her to apply what she read. I don't see the application. That's why I turned to enrichment centers. I guess that's not working out either. Back to mama learning lab

[tamarind]

sleepy:

My dd is reading extensively and way beyond her level. No trashy books. She only read books from my approved list.


Problem is good reader doesn't automatically translate to good writer. I think her writing remains at infancy stage. She just 交行货, although reasonable good enough for exam but definitely beneath what she's capable of achieving.

My challenge is how to teach her to apply what she read. I don't see the application. That's why I turned to enrichment centers. I guess that's not working either. Back to mama learning lab

sleepy,
I am not sure about your dd, but I think sometimes kids may not fully understand what they read, especially if the books are very advanced for their age. That is why when my kids read books of my choice, which are usually very good books written by the grand masters, I will discuss with them about what they have read everyday. They tell me their opinions about the story, and even invent alternative plots, and then I know that they really understand what they are reading.

I think creative writing classes can enhance the writing of a child who is already reading extensively, but I will only go for those classes conducted by native speakers. I think they know the correct way of teaching, and they can stimulate kids to write interesting essays.

[sakura_2009]

sleepy:

My dd is reading extensively and way beyond her level. No trashy books. She only read books from my approved list. We have hundreds of classics and award winning books in our home library.


Problem is good reader doesn't automatically translate to good writer. I think her writing remains at infancy stage. She just 交行货, although good enough for exam but definitely beneath what she's capable of achieving.

My challenge is how to teach her to apply what she read. I don't see the application. That's why I turned to enrichment centers. I guess that's not working out either. Back to mama learning lab

I totally agree with Sleepy. There maybe kids who read extensively yet may not be very fluent when it comes to actual application, be it essay writing or attempting comprehension passages/cloze passages etc. Much also depends on how the kid 'reads'. Some are able to read and understand beyond the 'surface' of the story while there may be others who just read for content etc. That is why there are many parents out there who asked their kids to memorise compos etc simply because they realized that no matter how many books their kids have read, or how many tuition lessons their kids have attended, they never seemed to improve. On the other hand, there are kids who are simply born to be 'linguistically intelligent'. Assuming given the same headstart - 2 kids who started reading at around the same age and assuming the same number of books, it doesn't mean both will score as well in that language, coz the one who is born with talent for languages (or a particular language) will have a definite advantage...

[tamarind]

sakura_2009:

There maybe kids who read extensively yet may not be very fluent when it comes to actual application, be it essay writing or attempting comprehension passages/cloze passages etc. Much also depends on how the kid 'reads'. Some are able to read and understand beyond the 'surface' of the story while there may be others who just read for content etc.

That's why I think it is important for parents to read with the kids, and stimulate the kids to think beyond the surface of the story. Ask questions like \"Why do you think this character did this ?\", \"What will you do if you were that character ?\", etc.

Also note that many kids do not read every word in a book, they may be skipping words or sentences as they read.

When kids memorized model compositions, are they supposed to simply regurgitate, copy out sections from here and there, pieced together to form an essay ?

[tisha]

tamarind:

My kids just seem to know what is correct, because they have been reading extensively. I just let them learn in their primary school and that is more than enough.

I also think that books are the best investment and I paid a lot less than the fees of English enrichment classes.

Hi tamarind,
Could you suggest some good books for 12 year olds. MTIA.

[tisha]

sleepy:

My dd is reading extensively and way beyond her level. No trashy books. She only read books from my approved list. We have hundreds of classics and award winning books in our home library.

Hi sleepy,
Could you please share the list of books suitable for 12 yr old. Sure the book stores and the library are full of good books. But I'm at a loss as to choose age appropriate books. MTIA.

[tamarind]

tisha:

tamarind:

My kids just seem to know what is correct, because they have been reading extensively. I just let them learn in their primary school and that is more than enough.

I also think that books are the best investment and I paid a lot less than the fees of English enrichment classes.

Hi tamarind,
Could you suggest some good books for 12 year olds. MTIA.

Hi tisha,
For boy or girl ?

Ella enchanted by Gail Carson Levine is a fantastic book for girls age 10 to 16. Try books by Judy Blume, Diana Wynne Jones, Louis Sachar, Neil Gaiman, Ursula Le Guin, Michael Ende, etc.

You also will not go wrong with these award winning books :
http://www.ala.org/ala/mgrps/divs/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newberymedal/newberyhonors/newberymedal.cfm

[metz]

Hi Chenonceau,


You have got mail.


Hi jasmineong, atutor2001 & pixiedust,

Thanks for the compliments. :oops:

[metz]

jasmineong:

Hi Chamonix,


I think the creative writing class alone does creative writing, should be taught in same way as normal class just no grammar, compre and all.

Your son seems to write very well from what you have shown, does he still need creative writing classes?

Hi jasmineong,

Thanks for shedding more light on TAS.

Sigh, he will probably need some creative writing classes to adjust himself to the topics and writing styles required by the Singapore Education System when we return to Sg. (We are currently residing overseas.)

Besides that, I also hope that the classes will help a little in igniting his passion for writing. He only puts in effort on topics he find interesting. But for topics that he finds boring, his writing couldn't be more bland.

But most importantly, I am keeping a lookout for centres or teachers/tutors/books that will highlight and bring out the magic in writing to kids.