“Screech, screech, screech.” You wonder what is happening in your child’s room. Then you realize violin practice is underway and sigh in relief. When a child is learning to play an instrument, we expect it to sound awkward. We even applaud their efforts. Learning to write is similar to learning to play an instrument; therefore, we should not be surprised when a student’s initial efforts sound awkward. Let’s talk about why we allow awkwardness and how we can help while keeping the goal in mind.
Learning to write requires that awkwardness be permitted. Like any other skill, no one is a master when they start. It takes years of practice. In fact, there is a Japanese proverb that says, “Ten thousand times and then begins understanding.” (See Andrew Pudewa’s talk Mastery Learning, Ability Development, and Individualized Education.) Allowing students’ writing to sound clumsy helps students avoid perfectionism and prevents students from feeling overwhelmed. Playing with words also helps students develop their own writing voice, which we do not want to stifle. Therefore, as long as a student’s word choice is grammatically correct and fits the context, permit it with a smile. In the words of IEW’s founder: “Hands on structure and style, hands off content.”
While we allow awkwardness when students are learning to write, there are subtle ways that we can guide students to more sophisticated writing. First, we continue to model it for them. Copywork is a great way to do this. Second, we provide them with word lists, such as those found in the Portable Walls™ for Structure and Style® Students and IEW® Writing Companion, which helps expand their vocabulary. According to Andrew’s talk Nurturing Competent Communicators, in order for students to get “reliably correct and appropriately sophisticated English language patterns” out of their brains, they must furnish their minds with them. The two most powerful ways to do this are reading aloud to them and memorizing things. From my twenty years of teaching IEW methodology, I can assure you that the awkwardness is worked out with time and practice.
Becoming a skilled writer takes time and cannot be accomplished without some clumsiness. Allow it. Fill your home or classroom with beautiful language. Most importantly, keep the end goal in mind: confident and competent communicators and thinkers. When someone is learning to write, it is the process that is key, not the product. Just like learning an instrument, learning to write well is a continuous pursuit, and we do well to remember this when teaching.
by Deanne Smith
