How to help your child with a research project?

Before they start to research their topic, your child should know what they want to talk about! Was the subject assigned by their teacher? Do they need to follow a certain theme? Here are a few tips to help your child identify the central idea of their research project: 

• Phrase your topic in the form of a question (e.g., How has climate change impacted northern Quebec?)
• Make sure the topic is neither too broad nor too narrow
• Choose an appropriate angle for your paper (e.g., a project on the Amazon rainforest will be very different from a project on the deforestation of the Amazon rainforest!)
• Draw on your interests to formulate an engaging research question
• Etc.

Once your child’s research question has been clearly stated, they can start planning the work. Proper organization will go a long way! There are many ways to help your child structure their work:

• Establish a timeline (or schedule)
• Make a list of project milestones
• Find out which type of text your child needs to write (e.g., descriptive, argumentative)
• Use colour codes to identify priorities
• Divide larger tasks into smaller, more manageable ones
• Etc.

Keeping certain hypotheses in mind can increase research efficiency. To get started, ask your child if they already have an opinion on the subject. If so, encourage them to consider whether others might have different opinions, and how these might help them answer their research question. This exercise is particularly useful when your child is writing an argumentative text.

Okay, itʼs time to start researching! But wait—the internet is full of fake news and misinformation. How can you make sure your child doesn’t fall for untrustworthy sources? Don’t worry, we’ve got plenty of helpful tips you can share with them:

• Identify the type of content published on the site (facts are always more reliable than advertisements or opinions)
• Consider what the site looks like (a reliable site will have a professional appearance and won’t have spelling mistakes or pop-up window)
• Make sure the author is recognized for their expertise (e.g., a scientist, a journalist)
• Verify that the author has cited their sources
• Use critical thinking skills to evaluate the quality of a website
• Etc.

Your child has collected some good information. Now, they need to use it to write their text. Just a minute! Before they start writing, your child should sort the information. Here are a few tips to help them get organized:

• Select the information that seems most relevant
• Compare this information with the initial hypothesis
• Organize the information by theme (use coloured pencils or highlighters to make sorting easier)
• Annotate the texts and highlight the most interesting passages
• Etc.

Now that your child’s information is credible and organized, they can start writing! Writing a research paper is lots of work, but you can help by sharing the following tips:

• Encourage your child to set up in a space that’s conducive to writing
• Make sure they have everything they need to get the job done
• Check that they’re using the right formatting
• Encourage them to review their syntax, grammar, and spelling
• Remind them to list all their sources and to cite them adequately
• Etc.