Parent Tip: (Secular) Proverbs & Aphorisms

In Level 5: Solo Editing, we teach kids to look beyond clean and clear mechanics to memorable mechanics. As part of that work, we ask kids to edit mangled (secular) proverbs and aphorisms. We love using this method because it brings together your child’s experience of being inundated with inspirational proverbs and aphorisms on the Internet and in the hallways at school with the challenge of imbuing a short statement with dense meaning in the most memorable way possible. How many times has your child seen“The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step” while walking up and down school halls? Indeed, most kids are used to seeing inspirational memes, usually with accompanying graphics, so they already intuit the punch an aphorism is supposed to pack. Now, they get to learn how hard it is to write something that meaningful and memorable. “A thousand-mile journey will begin by you taking one step” captures the same message as the aphorism above but doesn’t flow as well.

If your child struggles with this practice, first ask them to cross out all the unnecessary words and fix any mechanical distractions. With the clutter out of the way, it will be easier for your child to make sense of the content and rewrite the sentence to capture the essential message. Then, once they find the message, they should work on editing their sentence to flow as smoothly as possible. Pro tip: If the aphorism wouldn’t go viral on a meme as written, then it probably needs more editing. “Take one step and you can begin a thousand-mile journey.” 😬 “The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” 👍