Get the Best Family Activities
• Take time to reflect. That’s right, thinking is part of the writing process. Think about the essay questions you want to answer, and about the topics that make you unique. Be as specific as possible (capture colors, flavors, specific moments in time, and other details that will help you eventually bring your writing to life), and write your ideas down, perhaps in a journal. And remember, the only bad idea is the one you don’t remember because you didn’t capture it somewhere.
• Create an outline. Don’t skip this part (as many do). This is the roadmap that will help you create an essay that’s organized and focused. Students who skip outlining risk writing essays that can be rambling and without a beginning, middle, and end. Here’s a good link on how to create a useful outline.
Looking for a good summer activity for your college-bound teen? Have them start the writing process now. The 2015-16 Common Application prompts have already been published. So while the student in your life earned some time off after a long school year, getting an early start will save your whole family from pushing the panic button in the fall.