Children learn how to use words through reading. By engaging in reading regularly, students develop a natural feel for syntax, or the order in which words should appear in a sentence. They also begin to internalize the conventions of grammar and punctuation as they see them demonstrated in print. Sit down with your child nightly and read a book with him. Select a book that is appropriate for your fourth-grader. If he struggles with reading, you may want to select a lower-level book. If he excels, perhaps he can handle a book intended for older children. Alternate readers, allowing him to read to you some nights and you read to him on others. Hold the book so that both you and your child can see it at all times, and encourage your child to follow along in the text. If you encounter words that your child does not know, stop and discuss what they mean. If necessary, consult a dictionary. This practice will help your child develop a broader vocabulary which will, in turn, improve his writing abilities.
Make writing fun by encouraging your child to write creatively. Fiction writing is a wonderful way to engage children in the process of composition. Provide your child with writing prompts periodically. These prompts elicit a story from your child. You can acquire a book of writing prompts from nearly any book store or library. Find one that your child seems to enjoy and pull from it often. Make sure not to give your child a writing prompt on nights that he has a lot of homework. To be effective, these prompts can't seem like required work. Praise your child's efforts and reward his hard work with favors or small tokens. Once your child produces a prompt-based story, share it with family members. You can also enter into literary discussions with your child and talk about why he decided to take the direction he did. Tell him how you might have approached the story. This continued conversation about writing will keep your child's brain engaged and improve the effectiveness of the writing practice.
Buy your child a journal. The best way to improve your writing is to practice regularly. Take your child to an office supply or book store and allow him to select a journal to call his very own. By allowing him to pick out his own journal, you are encouraging him to take ownership of the book. Remind him to write nightly before bed. Tell him that he can share his entries with you or keep them just to himself if he wants. Be sure not to sneak peeks are your child's journal as nothing kills the motivation to write in a journal more effectively than finding out that mom or dad have been snooping. This daily practice will help his writing gradually improve.