Ask Jay: How Can I help my son improve his reading and writing?
Hey Jay,
I was just wonder if their were some ways I could help my son improve his reading and writing? He is 13 years old and goes to a good school in Brisbane. There is nothing particularly wrong with his English grades, but I realise how important English is for his future, and I still think he could do better.
Thank you for your help!
Regards,
Anonymous
Hey,
It is always a pleasure to talk with parents about what they can do to help their children improve their English skills.
Now, you mention that he has nothing particularly wrong with his writing but my advice must be somewhat broad. I’m also going to make an assumption about Currently he is struggling to analyse a text deeply. That is to be expected. The type of analysis we do in my class is more challenging than what they do at school. Further, if a student is not used to reading literature, than it can be difficult figuring out how to talk about a text. In these last few classes we have gone through a number of different techniques on how to extract more meaning out of our stories:
1. Make connections between texts
2. Be sensitive to implied meaning
3. Notice the literary techniques in the story and what they reveal of the characters.
4. Look for a underlying philosophy or motivation that inspires a character.
These require practice to master. My suggestion is to do 2 things:
1. Read more challenging literature. The more he reads, the better he will see things like symbolism and make connections between texts.
2. Spend time studying literary techniques and grammar. These two things help one to be more sensitive to the function of words in sentences and the impact they have on the reader.
