The Forgotten ‘R’: 3 Ways to Boost Your Child’s Writing Skills This Summer

Despite being an essential life skill, writing is often overlooked in school. At-home exercises like journaling can help your child develop it.

Writing letters is a fun and personal way for kids to improve their writing skills while also strengthening relationships. Biba Kayewich

Educational fads come and go, but the core of any elementary and secondary school curriculum remains the three R’s—reading, writing, and arithmetic. Of this trio, reading and math garner the greatest attention from the media and the public, particularly when some national test revealing student deficiencies in these subjects makes the headlines.

Writing, also known as composition, is the Cinderella in this family, the neglected stepsister who rarely attracts any interest whatsoever. Given that we live in the age of communication—texts, emails, online chats, and a constant river of work-related reports and memoranda—there’s an irony at play in this disregard for the written word. Poor communication, which includes both writing and speaking, costs our businesses up to $1.2 trillion per year. Think of those times when you’ve sent a text or an email that a friend misinterpreted, and you begin to see the problem.