Home School Heartbeat Radio Program

Do you have a high school student looking ahead to college? Perhaps you're wondering how to prepare him for the next step in his education. Join Michael Farris on Home School Heartbeat as he talks with Dr. Robert Stacey about getting your high schooler ready for college.

Michael Farris:
I'm joined today by Dr. Robert Stacey, Chairman of the Department of Government at Patrick Henry College. Bob, one of the most important skills for college is the ability to write well. How can parents help lay a foundation for these skills?


Dr. Robert Stacey:
I think good writing is necessary if you want to be taken seriously, not just as a student but even beyond into the professional world. I suggest to parents usually a three-part strategy for building good writing skills. I think the first and best plan is to start early; lay a good foundation in the basics of grammar and mechanics from the beginning and keep it up all the way through high school. Second I would say, assuming that you're doing that, then make sure that your child is reading a lot of good writing. One of the best ways, I think, to learn anything—from writing to ice hockey—is to see how the great ones do it in any given field. A reading list loaded with plenty of good, classic literature, I think, will build your student's writing skills by example. Finally I think that good writing is really just the outward manifestation of good thinking. So make sure that you challenge your child with a rigorous and stretching all-around academic program. As homeschoolers, this should be our specialty, I think. Ask your student probing questions. Teach him to examine a question from multiple perspectives. Challenge the pat answers. It's impossible to write well if you can't think well.


Mike:
Bob, I think the very best thing I ever did to improve my own writing was to read the Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis out loud to my children several times. The prose of C. S. Lewis is second to none. I'm Mike Farris.