Some people believe that doing an enjoyable activity with children can develop their skills and creativity better than reading books to them. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Sample Response
Many people argueMany opine that engaging in enjoyable pursuits with young children is more effective atin developing their skills and creativity than reading bookscompared to reading books to them. I firmly disagree with the notion. In this essay, I will present arguments to explain that reading books plays a crucial role in shaping a child's intellect and nurturing their creative potential in ways that enjoyable activities alone cannotcreative potential that enjoyable activities alone can not ensure.
While pleasant activities can help createhave their advantages in creating a bond between parents and their children, reading plays a unique and indispensable role in shaping a child's intellect and fostering creativity. This is because booksThis is because, books open doors to worlds beyond a child's immediate environment, exposing them to diverse ideas, cultures, and perspectives. Research indicates that reading to children enhances their language skills, vocabulary, and comprehension, all of which are critical components of effective communication and cognitive development.
Moreover, reading books to children introduces them to complex characters and situations, stimulating their critical thinking and empathy. For example, reading fairy tales allows children to explore ethical and moral dilemmasethical dilemmas and moral dilemmas, fostering their ability to distinguishdiscern between right and wrong. Therefore, reading books is an indispensable part of a child's educational journey. Books also serve as a source of inspiration for young minds, allowing them to develop ambitious goalsdream big and envision a brighter future. The imaginative worlds encountered through readingThe imaginative world created through reading fuels their creative thinking and problem-solving abilities, equipping them to face challenges with innovative solutions.
In conclusion, doing enjoyable activities with childrenoffspring may have some benefits, but when it comes to fostering their creativity and developing important soft skills, reading books to them has no substitutealternatives. Therefore, parents should always make time to read to their children to nurture their creative development.
Why this response received Band 7.5
The response presents a clear, consistent position and develops a persuasive account of how reading supports language, critical thinking, empathy, and creativity. Its main limitation is that several supporting claims remain broad and the comparison with enjoyable activities is asserted more than directly analysed; the highest-priority improvement is to test the two approaches against the same specific skills using a concrete, well-explained example.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The response maintains a clear disagreement and develops several relevant benefits of reading, although the direct comparison with enjoyable activities is somewhat limited.
Compare one specific shared outcome, such as creativity, across both approaches and support the judgment with a concrete example.
Coherence and Cohesion
Ideas progress logically through focused paragraphs, and cohesive devices generally guide the reader smoothly despite some repetition of reading-related points.
Link each supporting claim more explicitly to the central comparison and vary repeated references to reading.
Lexical Resource
A broad and often precise vocabulary communicates nuanced educational ideas, with only occasional awkward choices such as “offspring” and “has no alternatives.”
Prefer natural collocations and measured academic phrasing over expressions that sound inflated or absolute.
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A varied range of complex sentences is used with strong overall control, while a few punctuation and clause-structure lapses remain.
Remove unnecessary internal commas and recast awkward relative clauses so complex relationships remain fully controlled.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
Some people believe that doing an enjoyable activity with children can develop their skills and creativity better than reading books to them. To what extent do you agree or disagree?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.