Parent Tips: Practices 5.2.2-5.2.4

In Levels 1-4, we taught your child how to do basic argument and text editing. We asked them to think about the flow of an argument and to ensure that their text followed all formal Standard English conventions. They did a lot of exercises decoding and polishing texts. Read about the reasoning and full progression of editing skills here.

In Level 5, we introduce your child to a more complex editing system—a system not usually taught until high school or college, if ever. Specifically, we teach them that editing also means dissecting and questioning their argument, and that text editing can go beyond correct mechanics (i.e., making sound versus making music). Reworking the substance of your argument is a Big Brain Leap. It’s one thing to play the Believing and Doubting Games on other people’s texts. It’s quite another to turn that scrutiny inwards. This is hard work for most kids, and one of the biggest emotional and intellectual challenges for humans of any age.

You can support your child through this process by remembering that it’s OK and normal to forgo text editing until they finish the content editing process. Resist the urge to point out the incorrect capitalization or spelling when they are still working on their content edits—we promise your kid will get to it! Instead, respect that your child is doing deep thought work during this step and that this work needs to take precedence. Also, give them lots of hugs and high-fives. True editing is deep thought work for someone of any age. We give kids plenty of space between each step of the editing process to help them approach the work with clearer eyes and cooler heads, but turning the black light on your own assumptions and claims is never easy. Acclimating your child to this habit now will help them grow into an adult who can have challenging conversations with people who hold opposing views.