Help Your Kids with Language Arts

In today's world of emails, texts and instant messaging, the use of proper language and communication skills is quickly being devalued and forgotten. However, whether realized or not, future employers, colleges, and even spouses will evaluate our young people on their ability to communicate clearly and effectively. This step-by-step, visual guide may be the perfect tool for teaching or re-teaching valuable language arts skills that produce skilled communicators. Covering the four core English Language Arts subjects-Grammar, Punctuation, Spelling and Communication Skills, this well-organized resource is visually appealing and clearly written. In the grammar section, students will review the purpose of grammar and parts of speech, as well as commonly misused words, negatives, idioms, analogies, figures of speech, colloquialisms, slang and much more. The punctuation section provides review of common punctuation signs as well as appropriate use of bullet points, numbers/dates, asterisks, italics and much more, including a brief look at the alternative use of other punctuation with Twitter®. Spelling covers alphabetical order. syllables, roots, prefixes and suffixes, homonyms, homophones, British and American spellings plus much more. The final section, Communication Skills, covers effective communication, paragraphing, layout, writing skills necessary for letters/ emails and the web, as well as writing essays and speeches. A final section offers a thorough reference guide for quick answers to common writing dilemmas. Interesting tidbits are scattered throughout. Personally, the discussion of how our language has changed intrigued me. For instance, decades ago I was taught the possessive of a word ending with "s" was "apostrophe," but it is more commonly accepted now to use "s apostrophe s"--compare "Jess' to Jess's" car. That is just the tip of the helpful information in this great resource. This would make a perfect supplement for media-saturated students or one who has shutdown from the monotony of endless drilling and diagramming. 256 pgs, sc. ~Deanne