Entering the high school years can be cause for a freak-out moment. However, looking back from a future vantage point, many parents and tutors agree that students who are prepared with a few key tools can transition well into high school.
So here’s your magic WAND:
Writing
Much of high school requires written communication. Being able to write a well-developed paragraph by 6th grade (with a clear topic sentence and supporting facts), moving into three paragraphs by 7th grade, and the traditional five-paragraph essay by 8th grade can be a huge help for high school and beyond.
Bag of Tricks: If your student struggles to get words onto a blank
Ask most students in a traditional school environment and
they’ll likely tell you that there is little room for creativity in their daily
curriculum. So much information must be
covered and crammed into a short time to prepare for the overwhelming amount of
standardized testing they’ll take in the span of a school year. Many students will go one step further and
exclaim that they hate writing. They dread the 5-Paragraph essay, the closing
sentence, the reference pages, the topics, and the checklist of requirements. They roll their eyes at rubrics and book
reports and research papers, often waiting until the last possible moment to
try to pull off yet another writing assignment.
College writing is
