Jill Murray

Parents!

Children need to be taught from a very young age about the hows and whys of grammar.

As they develop into young adults, it is very important to be involved in their lives. Know their friends. Talk to them on a daily basis. Such conversations may be difficult but it’s important that you let them know– in your own words and drawing on your own experiences– about the pleasures and perils of their developing language skills.

It is your responsibility. Don’t trust that your child’s school will teach grammar. Teachers do their best but can they be trusted to teach the aspects of grammar that reinforce your values?

The truth is, by the time your children learn about grammar in school, it may already be too late! Wait, and your children could pick up grammar on the playground, or worse, from magazines.

If approaching “the talk” face to face is too difficult, you may want to purchase a good book and leave it in your child’s room in a brown paper bag. It may seem embarrasing or difficult at first but surrounding your children up in a grammar-positive environment is the key to raising young adults who are confident in their language skills and able to make good choices about sentence construction.