We taught our kids to tie their shoes by tying them for years in front of them, then with explicit teaching and supervision.
We taught them to load the dishwasher, brush their teeth, run a load of laundry, and buckle up in the car the same way.
When it’s time to learn how to research a topic for writing, you can use the same tactics!
Model what it looks like to do an online search.
Show them how criteria changes the search results.
Discuss how to differentiate reliable and unreliable sources.
Look at viewpoints in conflict with each other.
Discuss the key ideas that each source wants to convey.
Each of the search ideas below shift the focus slightly to seek and include more data from a variety of sources.
Search Terms
[topic] data
[topic] experts
[topic] interview
[topic] vocabulary
[topic] eyewitness
[topic] controversy
Try this exercise even if you aren’t working on a writing assignment. The practice of conducting these searches, even with topics like “Yu-Gi-Oh cards” or “swimming” or the “Olympics” will call up controversy and aspects of the topic you and your kids have never considered.
See what you find!
This post is originally from Instagram and @juliebravewriter is my account there so come follow along for more conversations like this one!
Let’s discuss a specific essential skill that Brave Writer can help you tick off your list. It’s the heart of a successful expository essay: a good thesis statement!
A thesis statement is the risky claim a writer aims to prove in an essay.
A strong thesis statement:
Identifies a risky proposition
Implies a counter-thesis
Clarifies or enlarges a position
Surprises the reader
Is defendable with science-backed proofs
How do we help students get there?
In one exercise, we help them work through three types of thesis statement for one topic.
Notice the writing coach’s kind support and gentle instruction for improvement. The yellow portion is the student writing and the white is the writing coach feedback.
Throughout the course, your kids are nurtured into better and better writing, while also giving their minds a chance to flex and grow as well!
Your teen embarking on a new hobby and devouring tutorials on YouTube
Your budding naturalist learning all the types of birdsong in your neighborhood
Your tween playing different versions of a song to find the one she likes best
Your university student using an online encyclopedia or academic journal
Your three-year-old asking a ton of questions—why? why? why?
Answer: ALL OF THE ABOVE!
While we’ve come to think of research as something particularly grownup and laborious, kids naturally do research every day as they explore and learn about the world.
They’re passionate about monster trucks, princesses, or insects. They want to know MORE.
As we grow older, this inquiry becomes more complex and formalized as our research is
evaluated,
recorded,
synthesized, and
shared.
Wrangling Research Webinar
Research doesn’t need to be intimidating! Join us for a webinar where we’ll show you how to wrangle research in your homeschool.
Don’t miss our webinar (free for those taking Brave Writer classes this semester):
Teens write every day. On their phones! In texts, social media, and chat rooms, they freely express their opinions and ideas.
Time to level up: academic writing is the original chat room!
Higher education is all about making those opinions precise and well supported. Just with a more narrow set of rules.
We want to show students how to
navigate difficult topics
avoid ranting, emotional language
use research and logic to make their points
understand someone else’s opinion
disagree respectfully, without resorting to personal attacks
These skills are essential to the academic enterprise and to all communication!
Need more help?
Brave Writer’s Essay Prep: Research and Citation teaches your kids how to find reliable, essay-worthy information on the Internet. We also tackle the nitty-gritty when it comes to current expectations on how to format an essay and cite sources.
Students will:
keenly observe and examine an idea
use inquiry as the basis for writing
research with search engines and local library databases
evaluate the credibility of a source
take efficient notes
summarize, quote, and paraphrase
plan and write a research project
cite sources using MLA format
Rescue your kids from hours of fruitless Internet research and let us teach them tools to find reliable information quickly. Register for Essay Prep: Research and Citation today!
Brave Writer writing coach, Jean Hall, and I hooked up for an online conversation about the SAT/ACT Essay class and what students get out of taking it.
Jean is a former newspaper reporter and literary magazine editor who homeschooled three children from birth—now they’re grown up, but Jean still has a house full of animals. We chatted via Zoom (which is like Skype), and I got to hear her dog, Dobby (who had a lot to say), and meet her lovely yellow cat, Fireball (the name Snowball had already been taken by her white cat).
After talking to Jean, I was convinced that no one should walk into a timed-essay test without the benefit of her experience. When the SAT and ACT tests changed, Jean redesigned the class to reflect those changes.
Find out more by listening to the podcast below. Summer is a great time to take this class—but I’ll let Jean tell you why.
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