Articles

Make Your Child a Punctuation Princess

by Johanna Sorrentino

Grammar. Some love to hate it, others get shivers up their spine when they see someone write, “Thank God its Friday.” Regardless of your opinion, the fact is that grammar rules are still a major part of the high-stakes standardized tests your child will most likely take at some point in her academic career. Yet, at the same time, experts say we are teaching grammar less effectively than we were 30 years ago.

While getting your child excited about a comma may seem like an impossible task, there are ways to give your child a passion for, and understanding of, the written language. One thing on which all the experts agree: a punctuation guide isn't going to do it. In their article “Teaching Grammar Effectively: Learning to Like Grammar” (Place of Grammar and Writing Instruction, Heinemann:1995) two professors of English at Illinois State University, Irene Brosnahan and Janice Witherspoon Neuleib, propose that the majority of students don't learn grammar best by the “drill and kill” method which focuses on a prescribed set of rules. “We found most people learn best by action and exposure,” Neuleib says. In fact, she points to research showing that kids who score highest on writing tests are learning grammar through reading and writing, not by rote memorization. While many charter and private schools are implementing these expressive forms of grammar instruction, many public schools are still teaching grammar rules the old fashioned way. But parents can help kids develop a more positive attitude towards grammar. So, toss that text book, and get a load of these ideas you can implement at home: