By the time your child graduates from high school, he will probably have to write at least one research paper. While the skills involved in writing a research paper are very important to develop, many children detest the project. Parents should be careful to guide and encourage their children in any difficult homework assignment, but particularly with the research paper.
What does writing the Research Paper Involve?
A research paper involves library work, footnotes, outline, bibliography cards, rough drafts and endless notes. In other words, it is one of your child’s first experiences with an extended assignment. Since most grade school homework is due from day to day, or at most in a week or so, the enormity of a long-term project can overwhelm some students. Parents may assume their child is doing his work, but then discover at the end of the semester that he never completed the assignment. It is a good idea, then, to give your child special help and attention the first several times he writes a this paper. I have found over the years that helping your child learn to deal with long-term projects will be especially helpful to him in college and in the job-market.
Your First Steps for the Research Paper
Your first step should probably be to help your child choose a topic. If he writes on a subject that interests him, he will find the task much more palatable. Next, you organize materials with your child and guide them through the process. Neat, orderly cards and notes and clear outlines will guide your child more easily through the project.
Setting Deadlines
The wise teacher usually gives students deadlines for various section of the research paper. For example, the student would complete an initial outline in one week, review note cards periodically, and submit a rough draft before the final report. Help your child not only to meet these goals, but also to use them gauge his real progress. Children are not beyond making up material, such as sources for footnotes, to get by deadline.
Learn the Mechanics
A parent should brush up on the mechanics of the research paper as well. While it is not really a difficult assignment, there is a lot that involved parents can do to help to clarify details, and can suggest the best methods to complete a legitimate and useful research paper.
Our founder, Dr. Paul D. Lindstrom, wrote this paper for his radio program for homeschoolers: “There’s No Place Like Home.”
Here at Christian Liberty Homeschools, we want to help you be successful. Christian Liberty Homeschools has the tools you need to be successful. Visit us at: www.homeschools.org
Resources from CLH to Help You:
Writing a Research Paper – Sophomore, Junior, and Senior Project; Success in Writing; Jensen’s Format Writing