June 4, 2025 – Teaching Writing: How Hard Can it Be?

Mercy Every Minute

Deborah Wuehler, TOS Senior Editor

The Best Words Ever Written

I am a writer—not necessarily a grand one—but when given the right amount of focused time and outlet, the words do come. Our children need the same. Most often, I throw my thoughts on paper, spending more time rearranging them than writing. The children will do the same. I move words around like a dump truck, praying they make sense to the reader. Teaching writing will be a very similar process.

I can’t simply hand them a curriculum and hope for success—they need guidance. So, we journey through word crafting together. They learn that writing involves more re-writing than actual writing—thinking, rearranging, polishing.

With young children, even non-readers, I write their dictated thoughts, asking guiding questions to help them process ideas. This frees their mind to think rather than have to work on the laborious process of getting their thoughts on paper, broadens vocabulary, and builds confidence. As they grow, they write about all that interests them: hobbies, poetry, letters, creative stories, and devotionals. In junior high we work on book reports, and in high school we focus on essays and style. Reading good writing also helps us analyze style and improve our own.

We put aside other language arts work when we are working on a writing project. We refine our writing by replacing weak words, strengthening arguments, and crafting powerful endings. We take our time. We could brainstorm on Monday, write about one of those ideas into a full paragraph on Tuesday, etc. Consistency in small steps eventually leads to confident writers.

And God is the ultimate writer. His words are the best words ever written. Studying His writing teaches children how to understand words, and how to live. Pray continually, and trust that God will guide each child’s journey. Teach them to write with His strength, for His glory, and He will bless the process.

~Deborah

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Guest Contributor

Teaching Handwriting – Minimize the Monotony with Music!
Nikki Wilson, OTR/L

Rhythm & Writing: The Handwriting Program

Whatever your homeschool reasoning, and whether you’re new to this or blue (in the face) to this, your goal is to prepare your kiddos to become successful adults. Underlying skills must therefore be mastered, and even in our high-tech, Android vs. Apple World, handwriting is one of them.

Despite the proven significance of handwriting development, this skill is often overlooked and under taught in public schools; our homeschool parents know better!

Regardless of our rationale and explanations, some of our kids hate to write! Whether they
claim their eyes or hands hurt (every time) or just refuse to participate, for some, handwriting practice is torture; either that, or it’s just downright boring. The good thing is that it doesn’t have to be: try minimizing the monotony with music!

Rhythm & Writing is a multi-sensory handwriting curriculum that teaches printing with rhymes, music, and videos. It is effective with kids just learning to write and kids who don’t like to write. It can also be adapted for students with special needs. Experience the excitement as your kiddos learn to print while rocking out, hip-hopping, smooth jazzing, and country cooling to the vibes of Rhythm & Writing. Try it today . . . It works and your kids will love it!

Heather Vogler

From Copywork to Creative Writing

Pinterest boards, unit studies, and even some boxed curriculum all promote the benefits of incorporating copywork into a daily homeschool routine. From practicing basic letters in kindergarten to copying entire sections of historical documents when older, copywork encourages students to focus on presenting their best handwriting while improving grammar and vocabulary. Starting out with copywork is an excellent way to introduce the physical act of writing into your homeschool. It teaches your child basic punctuation while introducing your child to various writing styles of different authors. 

Some of my kids are strong readers which has helped them in writing in the upper grades. The foundations of vocabulary, spelling, and grammar were all laid out in their continual access to quality reading materials. For these students, creative writing came fairly easy. Yet how do we approach creative writing assignments with a struggling reader? Provide a variety of copywork assignments. This will lay the framework of what is needed to get your child’s wheels turning when it comes to creative writing. Provide copywork assignments of a Bible verse that your family is learning, a passage from that week’s science curriculum, a poem, or even a quote from your child’s favorite book that you read to them. Introduce this before any creative writing assignment for the day; that way, when the writing assignment comes, you can use the copywork assignment from earlier as an example—a template.

Writing frustration can often come from not knowing where to begin. When your child has plenty of examples to draw from, they will not have to start from scratch but will have a framework to help them. Be there with them, guiding them through the process in the beginning and, before you know it, they can surprise you! 

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Heather Vogler, her husband, and five children call the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia home where they homeschool and homestead. Heather has homeschooled her children from the beginning and enjoys an eclectic style of teaching. As a freelance writer she has been published in Focus on the Family Magazine, War Cry Magazine, and Brio Magazine. Heather holds a BA in Christian Ministries and currently writes at ThriftSchooling.com.  

Game-changing Language Arts
Who knew writing could be so much fun? https://clearwaterpress.com/

Beth Mora

Unlocking the Mystery of Teaching a Child to Write

Why the moans and groans whenever my little clan was assigned a writing project? Seriously, it was so disheartening. Teaching a child to write is hard. Learning to write is hard. Let’s face it, writing is plain old hard work.

For years, I pondered and researched, asking other homeschool moms for advice. Some days, I avoided writing assignments like a trip to the dentist for a root canal. I searched for anything that would unlock the mystery. We tried all available theories and still ended up enduring the continued groans. 

Then one day . . . I became a writer . . . again. 

While in college, I was a columnist for a Christian magazine, but motherhood and homeschooling replaced my short writing career. Many years later, the Lord presented an opportunity for me to write again. This time, it was a book, and I immersed myself in the familiar professional writing process. My insecurities and rusty writing ability allowed me to experience each step of the writing process as a new writer and discover the missing parts of my writing instruction. 

To my surprise, my children became better writers just by watching me travel through a professional model of the writing process with all its ups and downs. They could see each writing process step as a normal part of writing. My writing experience began to unlock the mystery of teaching my children how to write.

For the first time, my children . . . 

• understood what it takes to travel through every step of the writing process.

• got the big picture!

• saw the steps of the writing process modeled.

•accepted the hard work of writing as a challenge.

• learned about the different tools needed for each step of the writing process.

Talk about an epic revelation! Slowly, I began teaching my co-op using the same tools as a professional writer, and these young authors took flight with even the most reluctant writers! Later, Here to Help Learning’s Writing Program was officially born. 

Every child can learn to write well if guided step-by-step through the writing process. It’s a success story in which God gets all the glory! 

Btw—good news! All six years of Here to Help Learning’s writing instruction are included in SchoolhouseTeachers.com.

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About the author

Beth Mora is a staff writer for The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC and lesson designer for www.Schoolhouseteachers.com. She is the creator/teacher-on-camera for Here to Help Learning’s Homeschool Writing Program Grades 1-6, and a homeschool conference and women’s events speaker. Meet up with Beth at Home To Home, one of her favorite places to encourage. Everything she does, whether laughable or heart-gripping, is done to honor her Lord and Savior, Jesus. God’s grace is the salve that has healed her own life and is what she offers liberally to others.

Easy to use and affordable, Structure and Style® for Students with Andrew Pudewa brings a successful solution to your writing lessons—guaranteed! IEW.com/try-SSS

Stacy Farrell

HomeschoolAdventure.com

Why Is It So Hard?

Years ago, I heard of a famous writer who kept a bucket of water under her desk and put her bare feet in it to keep herself from getting up while writing. 

When I searched for the source of that anecdote, I discovered it may be fabricated—but I can easily imagine why someone might employ such a technique. Writing can be really hard. 

If writing is hard for many professional writers, it’s no wonder that teaching writing can seem impossible for some homeschool moms. Thankfully, there are a few practices that can make the task much easier. 

Separate Skills: Thinking & Writing

Good writing requires clear thinking and clear communication—two distinct skills. 

• Clear thinking involves generating ideas, analyzing information, and/or crafting compelling arguments. 
• Clear communication requires structuring those ideas with proper grammar, flow, and style. 

Expecting students to master both skills simultaneously often leads to resistance. They can feel overwhelmed juggling ideas and mechanics. For young writers especially, tackling both at once is daunting and can lead to frustration and procrastination.

You Supply the Substance

You can ease this burden by providing students with “substance” while they learn “structure.” 

Instead of initially requiring original content from your students, you can use tools that provide ready-made ideas without saddling your students with the burden of coming up with content.

Here’s a list of free writing resources:

• 55 Creative Writing Activities and Exercises
• 20 Picture-Based Writing Prompts and Ideas for Kids
• 31 Free Winter Writing Prompts for Kids [Includes Printable!]
• 35 Free Fall Writing Prompts for Kids and Teens
• Fun Creative Writing Topics and Prompts for Third Grade

You Simplify the Task

You don’t need to use a bucket of water to keep your kids writing.

When you ease them into structure by providing them with substance, you simplify the task of writing and enable students to actually enjoy the writing process. 

With His love,

Stacy 

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Free Picture Writing Prompts!
Is your budding writer a visual learner? Picture writing prompts may be just what you need to get their creative juices flowing! 
Get this FREE printable with two visual writing exercises that solve the “I don’t know where to start!” dilemma: https://homeschooladventure.com/op/freebie-picture-prompts/

About the author

Surprised by Jesus, Stacy went from an unmarried, childless, thirty-something career woman to a Christ-following wife of more than thirty years with two sons she homeschooled K-12.

Author of more than twenty books—including the award-winning Philosophy Adventure and Food Prep Guide: A Plan for Money-Saving, Self-Sustaining Abundance in Hard Times—she loves to equip and encourage homeschool families. Visit her at HomeschoolAdventure.com and at FoodPrepGuide.com.

Would you like to instill a love of writing in your middle school or high school students? Benjamin Franklin embraced writing by mimicking the best writers of his time. Your student can do the same with the Benjamin Franklin Writing Method. These lessons on SchoolhouseTeachers.com will help your student understand what makes a good writer, learn how to embrace his or her own writing style, and develop strong editing skills, all while analyzing classic texts. Also available as an interactive course on iST.