How do you teach your students about plagiarism and how to avoid it?

A friend sent me this article written by Mrs. Richman, a leader in homeschooling and a current teacher.

After teaching in both a private Christian school and a co-op myself, I can tell you that plagiarism cannot be overlooked.  It is a serious problem which deserves its time in the homeschool setting. We need to start by explaining to our kids what it is; Mrs. Richman does a fabulous job of showing it with excellent (and unfortunate) examples. Perhaps the discussion can begin by reading the article together. Then we need to teach strong research skills or put our kids in settings where they will learn them.

Should we wait until high school to introduce the word?  Absolutely not. As soon as students are drawing ideas from other sources, they need to know it's not okay to borrow (i.e. steal) someone else's words. Their note-taking and citations may not be as sophisticated as an older kid's, but if they learn young, they'll avoid a whole lot of trouble later. More importantly, they'll have work that is truly their own.

See Writing Research Reports for additional help.

How many times have you heard your child whine, "When am I ever going to need this?"

When do they ask the question (if it even counts as a question)? I've typically heard it during grueling math or science lessons.

Have you heard your child ask the question about writing?

I can't speak for the usefulness of higher level math or science for the non-math and science majors, although the information and skills have helped me in homeschooling, a calling I never anticipated as a young mom, let alone a young student. What about writing? Will your kids need it?  Should it be a priority in your homeschooling program?

I say a resounding yes, but what does that matter, especially to your children?

Sometimes ideas come at the strangest times and places. Last night, as I was hanging laundry under the night sky, this one came. I want to compile a list of dads, moms, and their professions and how/when they've needed to write as an adult.

I'm wondering if we can make a convincing case that writing is an important skill, worthy of our students' time, thought, and energy.

Leave your comments here. I'll share the results in a future post.