Writing is an essential skill. It allows us to communicate, and to explore and comment on ideas.
In today’s digital world, texting, e-mail and other forms of written communication have further elevated the importance of this foundational skill.
The Main Idea
The ability to develop a main idea—an overarching theme—and understand that subordinate ideas must support, not digress from, that idea, is at the core of effective writing. For instance, the main idea of this article is to describe what “writing” means. Supportive ideas are introduced to reinforce that.
In most cases, the writer chooses the main idea before starting. Learning to structure a piece in a logical, clear, and sequential form is crucial to mastering the writing process.
Organization
Organization involves the arrangement of main and supporting ideas in an effective and logical order, to help readers best understand the text’s “argument”. In general, the opening section introduces the main idea, and establishes a framework for smooth transitions from that idea to others. Body paragraphs support the main idea with subordinate material, and the concluding section pulls things together, re-stating the main idea and bringing the argument to an end.
Subordinate material
Subordinate material supports the main idea with evidence, quotations, explanations, statistics, and examples. When used effectively, subordinate material supports the main idea’s premise, shaping and deepening it to convince the reader of its merits.
Point of view, expression, and word choice
In the words of Mark Twain, “The difference between the almost right word and the right word is…the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning.” Point of view, expression, and word choice are crucial elements in establishing style and voice. The goal: clear, unambiguous, and concise language, shorn of jargon and clichés.
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Grammar, spelling, and punctuation
Syntax, subject/verb agreement, parallel construction, pronoun case, noun/pronoun agreement, verb tense, spelling, and punctuation are key to winning the reader’s trust.
Our learning specialists, academic tutors, and writing coaches provide 1:1, individualized tutoring for children, adolescents, college students and adults of all ages, levels, and personalities. Our goal is to help students and adults feel more confident and become more effective learners and workers overall. We aim for students to maximize their learning potential from a collaborative approach working with parents, teachers, and other professionals.
- We specialize in tutoring students who are struggling with learning differences – focusing, organizing, studying, test-taking reading, writing, math, languages, and other subject areas. We are experts in ADHD/ADD, executive functioning, language processing, reading (e.g. dyslexia), writing, (e.g. dysgraphia), and math disorders (e.g. dyscalculia), autism spectrum disorders, non-verbal learning disorder, and other learning differences. Our Learning Specialists work with homeschoolers and offer online tutoring options.
- We also tutor high school and college students, and adults without learning difficulties but in need of science, math, writing, and foreign language support. Our Academic Tutors support Algebra I/II, Geometry. Trigonometry, Calculus, Statistics, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Computer Programming, and many foreign languages. Our Writing Coaches support writing within English Language Arts and across the high school and college curriculum.
- Each of Themba’s expert tutors has an advanced degree in working with learning differences or an academic field of expertise. All tutors have years of teaching and tutoring in private and public schools or universities.
- We customize curricula, starting with careful assessments, then applying developmentally appropriate methods and strategies. The student’s current academic material is an important focus, but strengthening core skills is crucial because that will last a lifetime. We coach students to learn how to organize, plan, prioritize, focus, avoid distraction, and keep track of materials and tasks.
- Goals include improving memory and information retention, spending more focused time on tasks and completing them, decreasing procrastination, organizing schoolwork, managing time more effectively, and learning to think carefully before acting. Specialists model and support the application of skills in the appropriate context. They put the student in the driver’s seat to best generalize these skills without holding the steering wheel.
Themba’s expert tutors travel to your home or school in New York City, Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, Staten Island, Long Island (Nassau County), Westchester and Connecticut (Fairfield County).
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