Benefits of Adding Web Writing to Homeschool Curriculum

by Lyn Lomasi, Write W.A.V.E. Media Staff

Looking for something new and innovative to add to your child's homeschool curriculum? Need something more challenging or just something different? Try adding web writing. If you are already an online freelance writer, this should be simple for you. If not, study up and teach the kids what you learn. Web writing is a valuable skill for the workforce.

How Does Web Writing Differ?

Web writing varies from print writing, in that it needs to appeal to an audience with a shorter attention span. It needs to be more concise. It also needs to be easily found by the search engines. If no one can find it, there is no point in writing it. You can't just go to the magazine stand and pick up a copy. Search engines are generally the way people find works published online.

Because of that, it needs to be written in a way that is not only understandable to readers, but to the search engines as well. Catchy titles should be substituted for more to-the-point titles so that readers and the search engines will understand what you are discussing. Those are just some of the notable differences. The Yahoo! Style Guide is a great resource when learning about web writing.

Why Add Web Writing to Homeschool Curriculum

Web writing skills can be beneficial to many different career paths. In the digital age, it may even be safe to say that web writing is a vital skill. Unless a business is very small or is just starting out, chances are, they have a website or at least a blog or Twitter page. Companies are finding out more and more how important it is to have an online presence.

Adding this to your child's homeschool curriculum can help give him or her a head start in life. Even if your child is not planning on being a writer, she may need to maintain a company website for her business. Knowing how to write for a web audience and search engines will help that website (and in turn, the business) get noticed easier.

Ways to Add Web Writing to Homeschool Curriculum

If your child is old enough, he can sign up for content sites and submit work for publication. Just be sure to check guidelines. Some sites allow 13-year-olds plus to join. While others only allow those 18 and over to write for them. Also, not all sites will pay for your child's work. If she is just doing this to learn or for fun, the payment part may not be that big of a deal.

Another option is to have your child maintain a blog or even his own website. It all depends on what your child is interested in and what you think she can handle. Don't put too much pressure on your child. Allowing freedom is important when it comes to creative endeavors, such as writing.

What Should My Child Publish?

School research papers are a great way to get started with article writing. Writing an article is similar to doing a research paper in some aspects. This makes it easy for you to transition your child into writing articles. Start with one or two things at a time, such as making wording more simple or using SEO.

Your child may also want to publish poetry and short stories. Keep in mind that these don't generally do well online, as far as getting views without an existing audience. You can explain this to your child. Poetry and short stories can be optimized for the web. But it's much harder with stories because web readers don't generally stay on the same article or story long enough to read past a page or two. Non-fiction articles generally have the best success online. But allow your child to be creative and publish what he feels in his heart to publish.


*I originally published this via Yahoo Contributor Network