Well, I can tell you as I am starting to write my second blogging post ever, that it is really difficult to decide what to write about next – long-term preservation of children, fate of the world, etc... As it happens, what follows my first post about reading better than a second post about writing? By the way, my CPU (that’s central processing unit or brain for all you un-nerdish people out there) is currently overloaded, and many of my human circuits are fried, so if you find a spelling mistake or anomaly in this paragraph, it’s not my fault. ;-)
So, on to writing. There are so many absolutely cool applications out there on writing that it would be next to impossible to go into all of them, but I am going to try. You’ve probably already figured out that I love writing, as I am “writing” a blog. Now that I am in college, almost all of the assignments have been “written.” Seldom are oral presentations given, and those are a whole other topic in themselves. Writing falls under one of the key ways humans communicate with one another, and so it is one of the most important things I think you can teach. (Wait and see – every time I bring up a topic it is going to be one of the “most important” things you can teach) Now, there are different types of writing, but I would say, as with everything, you can break it up into work and pleasure. I have actually done both, and I will explain both. The good news is that if your children are excellent pleasure writers, chances are that they will be good work writers. And trust me, after working for a professor of mine over the summer to help write a technical paper, there is a real need for better writers. Eeesh! It is amazing how many engineers are incomprehensible.
All writing, and especially good writing, starts with grammar. Now, I’m not sure what curriculum everyone is using, but I can say that Rod and Staff English is awesome. Oh, I’m not denying that growing up, we kids hated it because it was so hard, but we really learned to appreciate it after going to college. I actually remember my first English 101 class, and being amazed that most people in the class could not pick a noun and a verb out of a sentence. That astonished me. Grammar is important, and so is spelling. The scary thing is that after all the extensive writing and editing I have done, I’ve found mistake in teacher’s instructions and even textbooks. On the bright side, it is good to know that everyone makes mistakes and it is totally the most pleasing sensation in the world when you can correct your teacher on a spelling mistake they made. And I wonder why they lock their doors when I walk by their office.
Most of the work part of writing that I’ve experienced so far is writing papers in college. These range anywhere from a simple essay, to a 25-page technical research paper. Let me tell you – there’s a reason I hate research papers. Something interesting that I was never taught in homeschool but use ALL the time, and I do stress ALL the time, are citations. Although you probably all know what they are, citations are how you cite a source where you found information. Teachers are usually tremendously strict about this, as otherwise it can be considered plagiarism and you can get a 0 for a grade. So yes, citations are very important. The most commonly used format is the APA format. MLA is slightly outdated and not used much anymore, and I won’t bore you with the IEEE standard, with is an electrical engineering standard that I have to use. How many citations in a general research paper? Depends on the paper, but I had almost 20 in my last research paper of 6 pages. Is it hard? Yep. However, after twenty or so citations, you get really good at it. Just for fun, a citation usually looks like the following: Pewter, D. (April 3, 2015) How to train a horse. Berkely Press. Retrieved October 17 from http://www.horsetraining255.com. (And I just made up that url, so I have no idea where it really goes.) I would encourage teaching about citations and plagiarism just because it would be oh so helpful once your children get to college. I will see if I can imbed one of my most recent papers into this post so that you can get an idea of what teachers nowadays expect and all that fun stuff. The file is located at the bottom of this post. You probably won’t understand the content, but that’s not important.The format is what is interesting. How do you teach technical writing? I’m not going to go into that as I took an entire painful class last semester on it. It is an extensive topic that I will leave to your imagination.
And, now the fun part. Creative writing. It is awesome! Of course, I am not prejudiced at all, having written two books and around 1000 script pages. Doesn’t that take a lot of time? Uh, yeah. Lots of it, but I love it. Now, I will say that creative writing is something that not everyone enjoys. My brother hates writing of all kinds, including creative writing. Me? I love it. Story after story of some adventure in some far away land, and with not only the question of where, but when? I have an extensive knowledge of 18th century fashion, medicine, ships, politics, beliefs, and legends. How? My trilogy of books is set in 1769 through 1776. So, case in point, writing can teach other things besides just writing. My personal opinion on creative writing is that what makes it so much fun is dialogue. Dialogue is the rule breaker of grammar, because you don’t have to follow grammar rules in dialogue. People don’t talk in complete sentences, so if you want your characters to “come alive” you have to use short, choppy sentences and contractions like ain’t and y’all. Perhaps the greatest part of creative writing; however, is the fact that it is a brilliant place for imagination and expression. For me, writing was an outlet of emotion – if I was having a bad day, so was my character. There’s a funny quote I once saw: don’t annoy the writer – she may put you in a book and kill you. Well, it’s slightly true.
Good writing is a great skill and one that I guarantee all of your children will use extensively. If you can convince them, writing is the opening to a world of adventure and imagination. You want to sail with Sir Francis Drake around the Cape? Awesome! You can write about trade winds and sea monsters and savage Indians and the Spanish Inquisition. How about a future where you can travel between planets in your space ship shaped like a boomerang and you discover little pink gooey creatures? Ok, I told you my brain was fried, and it’s late, which makes me worse than usual. To sum up and echo the wisest man to ever walk the earth, of the writing of books there is no end, and excessive devotion is wearying to the body. I should seriously write that verse in my classroom the next time the teacher assigns a research paper, except change books to papers, so it reads ‘of the writing of papers there is no end...’ Back to my conclusion: writing is a grand skill and a rewarding pastime, so do more of it!
So, on to writing. There are so many absolutely cool applications out there on writing that it would be next to impossible to go into all of them, but I am going to try. You’ve probably already figured out that I love writing, as I am “writing” a blog. Now that I am in college, almost all of the assignments have been “written.” Seldom are oral presentations given, and those are a whole other topic in themselves. Writing falls under one of the key ways humans communicate with one another, and so it is one of the most important things I think you can teach. (Wait and see – every time I bring up a topic it is going to be one of the “most important” things you can teach) Now, there are different types of writing, but I would say, as with everything, you can break it up into work and pleasure. I have actually done both, and I will explain both. The good news is that if your children are excellent pleasure writers, chances are that they will be good work writers. And trust me, after working for a professor of mine over the summer to help write a technical paper, there is a real need for better writers. Eeesh! It is amazing how many engineers are incomprehensible.
All writing, and especially good writing, starts with grammar. Now, I’m not sure what curriculum everyone is using, but I can say that Rod and Staff English is awesome. Oh, I’m not denying that growing up, we kids hated it because it was so hard, but we really learned to appreciate it after going to college. I actually remember my first English 101 class, and being amazed that most people in the class could not pick a noun and a verb out of a sentence. That astonished me. Grammar is important, and so is spelling. The scary thing is that after all the extensive writing and editing I have done, I’ve found mistake in teacher’s instructions and even textbooks. On the bright side, it is good to know that everyone makes mistakes and it is totally the most pleasing sensation in the world when you can correct your teacher on a spelling mistake they made. And I wonder why they lock their doors when I walk by their office.
Most of the work part of writing that I’ve experienced so far is writing papers in college. These range anywhere from a simple essay, to a 25-page technical research paper. Let me tell you – there’s a reason I hate research papers. Something interesting that I was never taught in homeschool but use ALL the time, and I do stress ALL the time, are citations. Although you probably all know what they are, citations are how you cite a source where you found information. Teachers are usually tremendously strict about this, as otherwise it can be considered plagiarism and you can get a 0 for a grade. So yes, citations are very important. The most commonly used format is the APA format. MLA is slightly outdated and not used much anymore, and I won’t bore you with the IEEE standard, with is an electrical engineering standard that I have to use. How many citations in a general research paper? Depends on the paper, but I had almost 20 in my last research paper of 6 pages. Is it hard? Yep. However, after twenty or so citations, you get really good at it. Just for fun, a citation usually looks like the following: Pewter, D. (April 3, 2015) How to train a horse. Berkely Press. Retrieved October 17 from http://www.horsetraining255.com. (And I just made up that url, so I have no idea where it really goes.) I would encourage teaching about citations and plagiarism just because it would be oh so helpful once your children get to college. I will see if I can imbed one of my most recent papers into this post so that you can get an idea of what teachers nowadays expect and all that fun stuff. The file is located at the bottom of this post. You probably won’t understand the content, but that’s not important.The format is what is interesting. How do you teach technical writing? I’m not going to go into that as I took an entire painful class last semester on it. It is an extensive topic that I will leave to your imagination.
And, now the fun part. Creative writing. It is awesome! Of course, I am not prejudiced at all, having written two books and around 1000 script pages. Doesn’t that take a lot of time? Uh, yeah. Lots of it, but I love it. Now, I will say that creative writing is something that not everyone enjoys. My brother hates writing of all kinds, including creative writing. Me? I love it. Story after story of some adventure in some far away land, and with not only the question of where, but when? I have an extensive knowledge of 18th century fashion, medicine, ships, politics, beliefs, and legends. How? My trilogy of books is set in 1769 through 1776. So, case in point, writing can teach other things besides just writing. My personal opinion on creative writing is that what makes it so much fun is dialogue. Dialogue is the rule breaker of grammar, because you don’t have to follow grammar rules in dialogue. People don’t talk in complete sentences, so if you want your characters to “come alive” you have to use short, choppy sentences and contractions like ain’t and y’all. Perhaps the greatest part of creative writing; however, is the fact that it is a brilliant place for imagination and expression. For me, writing was an outlet of emotion – if I was having a bad day, so was my character. There’s a funny quote I once saw: don’t annoy the writer – she may put you in a book and kill you. Well, it’s slightly true.
Good writing is a great skill and one that I guarantee all of your children will use extensively. If you can convince them, writing is the opening to a world of adventure and imagination. You want to sail with Sir Francis Drake around the Cape? Awesome! You can write about trade winds and sea monsters and savage Indians and the Spanish Inquisition. How about a future where you can travel between planets in your space ship shaped like a boomerang and you discover little pink gooey creatures? Ok, I told you my brain was fried, and it’s late, which makes me worse than usual. To sum up and echo the wisest man to ever walk the earth, of the writing of books there is no end, and excessive devotion is wearying to the body. I should seriously write that verse in my classroom the next time the teacher assigns a research paper, except change books to papers, so it reads ‘of the writing of papers there is no end...’ Back to my conclusion: writing is a grand skill and a rewarding pastime, so do more of it!
security_in_networks_hhhsadmin.docx |