What is the definition of writing? Think about it a minute...it might be as simple as making marks on a piece of paper, to writing our initial alphabet, or forming words that make since, or a more technical definition from the Merriam -Webster Dictionary which says this..."the act or process of one who writes; the activity or skill of marking coherent words on paper and composing texts."
The majority of the work of composition is done in your head. The actual "writing" is simply a way of recording what you are thinking.
Tips from Charlotte Mason on Composition *Taken from Simply Charlotte Mason (SCM)
Grade Suggestions:
Grades 1–3
Do mostly oral narration. You can include occasional written narrations, but the majority of the composition work should be oral to give your child plenty of practice in organizing his thoughts. If he does attempt to write all or part of a narration, do not worry too much about mechanics like punctuation and capitalization at this age. And don’t worry about direct teaching of composition yet. Encourage his efforts and concentrate on the mental part of composition at this level.
Grades 4–6
Now you can require more written narrations than you did in the lower grades. We all know how much faster the brain can work than the fingers can. At this level, give your child plenty of practice in getting his thoughts recorded on paper, but still don’t worry about any direct teaching of composition. As your child shows interest, you can work on some aspects of mechanics or word choice, but approach those aspects one or two points at a time. For example, you might focus on how to do punctuation within dialogue (She said, “Don’t forget the comma before the quotation marks.”). Once your child has mastered that particular point, work on another one.
Grades 7–9
By this level your child should be writing most of his narrations. You can continue working on improving his mechanics and word choices one or two points at a time, and at this age you can start asking for some of his narrations to be written in poetry form. But still there need be no direct teaching of composition.
Grades 10–12
By these grades your child should have developed his own style of writing, influenced by the many great authors he has read over the years in his CM education. So you can now give him some definite teaching in the art of composition, but not too much, still using the one-or-two-points-at-a-time method. This teaching will be more of an attempt at shaping his individual style, rather than trying to force it into a particular formula. “Having been brought up so far upon stylists the pupils are almost certain to have formed a good style; because they have been thrown into the society of many great minds, they will not make a servile copy of any one but will shape an individual style out of the wealth of material they possess; and because they have matter in abundance and of the best they will not write mere verbiage” (Vol. 6, p. 194).
Do mostly oral narration. You can include occasional written narrations, but the majority of the composition work should be oral to give your child plenty of practice in organizing his thoughts. If he does attempt to write all or part of a narration, do not worry too much about mechanics like punctuation and capitalization at this age. And don’t worry about direct teaching of composition yet. Encourage his efforts and concentrate on the mental part of composition at this level.
Grades 4–6
Now you can require more written narrations than you did in the lower grades. We all know how much faster the brain can work than the fingers can. At this level, give your child plenty of practice in getting his thoughts recorded on paper, but still don’t worry about any direct teaching of composition. As your child shows interest, you can work on some aspects of mechanics or word choice, but approach those aspects one or two points at a time. For example, you might focus on how to do punctuation within dialogue (She said, “Don’t forget the comma before the quotation marks.”). Once your child has mastered that particular point, work on another one.
Grades 7–9
By this level your child should be writing most of his narrations. You can continue working on improving his mechanics and word choices one or two points at a time, and at this age you can start asking for some of his narrations to be written in poetry form. But still there need be no direct teaching of composition.
Grades 10–12
By these grades your child should have developed his own style of writing, influenced by the many great authors he has read over the years in his CM education. So you can now give him some definite teaching in the art of composition, but not too much, still using the one-or-two-points-at-a-time method. This teaching will be more of an attempt at shaping his individual style, rather than trying to force it into a particular formula. “Having been brought up so far upon stylists the pupils are almost certain to have formed a good style; because they have been thrown into the society of many great minds, they will not make a servile copy of any one but will shape an individual style out of the wealth of material they possess; and because they have matter in abundance and of the best they will not write mere verbiage” (Vol. 6, p. 194).
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