Help your child build the habit of proofreading!

Help your child build the habit of proofreading!

When a child reaches Creation to Christ (and the guides that come after it), it is time to work on proofreading. Typically, proofreading does not come naturally to children. This means children must practice this skill in order for it to become a habit.

How can you build the habit of proofreading?

To help ingrain the habit of proofreading, have your child read his written narrations out loud to you. As your child reads the narration aloud, have him pause and correct any mistakes he notices right away.

Don’t be surprised if your little honey reads right past his mistakes. If so, gently stop him and point out obvious mistakes that should be caught when reading aloud what was written. Some examples of obvious mistakes include the following: a word written twice, an omitted word, a lack of punctuation, an important letter missing within a word, or a problem in grammar or usage.

After your child has read the narration aloud, you should read the passage out loud next. As you read, guide your child in correcting any remaining errors in spelling, capitalization, or punctuation.

Use your child’s written narrations to build the habit of proofreading.

Written narrations are scheduled weekly in each of our guides from Preparing Hearts on up. This schedule makes the weekly written narration a perfect forum to practice good proofreading habits! Practice proofreading together each week, and you’ll eventually see the fruit of this exercise. Your child will begin to automatically read aloud and proof his narrations prior to handing them in to you. Having a weekly expectation for proofreading starts to establish a pattern for proofreading work.

Try this method for proofreading once each week using your child’s written narration.

Practice this method for proofreading with your child each week. I think you’ll see a new habit begin to slowly form as the years pass! I know this method has worked with all three of our older sons, and we’re already seeing progress with our fourth son too. Try it, and see what you think!

Blessings,
Carrie

PS: For a way to begin teaching this skill to younger students in Bigger Hearts and Preparing Hearts, have a look at this blog post!