How Do I Help my Child Start Their Paper?

Imagine this, your child comes to you a night or two before a paper is due.

They don’t have a word written and aren’t even sure where to begin.  They ask for your help, but you wonder – Where do I begin?  How do I help?

Here are some simple tips that I do with my own children.  First, I tackle the prompt. What is being asked of the student?  I underline the direction words like – Write, Explain, Summarize.  I also circle the question marks to ensure that my child knows how many things they are being asked to answer.

I then give my child a chance to answer the questions without it being in the paper form. They often fight me on this because they want to just sit and write the paper.  I tell them if they are going to put in the effort to write it that they should try their best. I do not force the idea of A work because they can be paralyzed by perfectionism.

There are a few basic essay formats, but one of the most common is the 5-paragraph essay. This essay includes an introduction, three body paragraphs and a conclusion. 

The Introduction should have:
A hook: A line to grab the readers attention
A claim: The argument
A supporting detail: Three reasons that support the argument

Three Body Paragraphs should have:
A topic sentence to state each supporting reason.
Evidence to support the topic sentence
Closing Sentence

Conclusion:
Summarize the points again. 

This standard essay should get your child a passing grade as long as it fits the prompt.  There are other types of essays such as compare and contrast, personal essay, cause and effect essay, procedural essays - but this basic outline should be fit for any writing prompt, unless otherwise stated in the essay question.