Writing

It’s a great mistake to place computers in the classroom in the early grades.

Young children can become acquainted with computer use at home, or at a local library or family center.

In grades K-4, classroom time is best spent teaching children the skills that will be of use to them when all they can rely on is their own brains and unassisted fingers.

Before being assigned reports, essays, or term papers, children need to learn how to hold a pencil, how to form the letters, how to spell the words they use, and how to line up their writing along a margin. They need to learn the use of capitals, commas, periods, and question marks.

Every year public schools graduate 17-year-olds who have not acquired these fundamentals of writing. These are skills that can be mastered by the fourth grade.

Parents must monitor their children’s schoolwork K-12 to be sure that
necessary skills are being mastered at the appropriate grade level.