As a parent, we know how great our children’s imaginations are but why is it sometimes so difficult to put their creativity on paper? There’s no worse feeling than pondering over the first sentence and feeling deflated that you can’t put your thoughts across. This can only be made worse in a classroom where everyone else seems to be flying ahead, making the process appear even more daunting.
At Achieving Success, our private English tutors can give your child the confidence they deserve in their writing, helping them to excel in the classroom and encouraging them to put pen to paper. At our tuition centres, we believe teaching English is a holistic process and should develop several skills like creativity, communication and problem-solving.
To help support your child to think more openly about their creative writing skills, it’s important to know the real benefits it can give them. In a world that is so heavily tech-driven, your children mustn’t lose their ability to express themselves.
Creative writing can be beneficial in building confidence and boosting imagination, skills that in their adult life will allow them to push boundaries, stand out from the crowd and think more innovatively. Not only this, creative writing can enhance your child’s empathy and communication skills and is proven to better their emotional, mental and physical health.
Some of the best creative writers will have years of experience under their belt, but we hope these five steps will help encourage your child to have confidence in their creative writing ability.
1) Read, read and read!
To write well, it’s important to read well. How do you expect your child to learn how to write more creatively if they don’t read from those who already do it so well?
Reading more will allow your child to explore different writing perspectives and give them inspiration for their writing. It is also one of the best ways to improve and expand their vocabulary, as it exposes them to new words which they can use in their writing. Try treating your child to a book that will excite and engage them from the very beginning.
If getting your child to sit down with a book seems out of reach, try diversifying their reading material. How about a biography, an e-book or compelling magazine? Reading more will support them in developing an eye for what makes an interesting piece of writing that will leave the reader wanting more.
To ensure your child is taking in what they are reading, it’s also important to give them time to talk about what they’ve read. Ask them to share what they thought made it a good piece, what words they used and perhaps how it could be improved to them? All these thought-provoking questions should inform their thinking next time they come to write something.
2) Become an expert
When it comes to creative writing, it can often seem like the sky’s the limit. However, this isn’t always the case and your child could be posed with a specific topic or situation that they will need to form a piece of writing on.
To help prompt their creative flow, it’s important for your child to know and understand the subject or industry as best as they can. Encourage them to find a private room and take the time to use the internet or read magazines to help find information to inform their writing.
Did you know that sometimes the more visually engaging their notes are, the better this will help you formulate your child’s writing? Becoming an expert in their field will help them save time and allow for a much smoother writing process. Achieving Successes’ bespoke learning materials will be able to support your child at every step of the process. As well as this, our highly skilled tutors will continuously monitor their learning and ensure your child’s progressions is at its maximum.
3) Write it down
Sometimes an idea can spark at the least expected time or place. To avoid losing these precious thoughts, ensure they have a small notebook with them at all times so they can always jot their ideas or thoughts down.
Encourage them to think about their writing when they are doing mundane tasks or out with you for lunch, something might just spring to mind that is too good to lose. You’ll be surprised at how inspired your child will be when they’re not sat behind their own desk.
This is where having a private tutor can also help your child. Achieving Success offers a fresh, new learning environment with classrooms that have projectors, smart boards and whiteboards to help them thrive above and beyond.
4) Think outside the box
It might be an overused phrase, but to ‘think outside the box’ aims to push you outside your comfort zone and express your thoughts in a different and potentially more unique way. For example, its common that children are good at talking about the character involved but can often forget what’s happening around the character.
Encourage them to enhance the story by thinking about the location and setting and be creative in how they want to present these elements and explore what else comes from it. The larger they can widen the lens, the broader their imagination will travel.
5) Have they really proofread?
Again, this seems like an obvious way to ensure their writing is at the very best standard, but you’d be surprised how many forget this step.
When your child finishes their writing it will feel like the best feeling in the world until they remember they have to read through it all again – but this is so crucial. Proofreading helps to correct mistakes and teaches them to not make them again in the future.
Not only should your child proofread their own work but getting someone else to do it as well can be equally as useful. Other people can spot the mistakes they couldn’t quite see themselves. Although it’s the last step, proofreading is an important part of their creative process and can help shape their overall results.
Private tutoring can be a great way to receive additional support for your child’s writing. Not only can the tutors at Achieving Success act as an additional pair of eyes, but also teach your child the most effective ways to check their work and give them the confidence to do themselves in the future.
Why you should choose Achieving Success to support you?
Does your child need support with their creative writing? Our private English tutors are highly equipped to ensure your child is reaching their maximum potential in whatever area this may be.
Regardless of whether you are looking for 11 plus tuition, GCSE tuition, SATS or Grammar School Tutoring in Birmingham – Achieving Success are the premier private tutoring agency in Birmingham.
An experienced tutor will create bespoke curriculums that will keep your child engaged and guide them down the path to success.
If you are looking for English tutors in Birmingham – contact us today!