How to encourage your child to write (and keep a journal too!)
Writing is often a huge part of middle school, high school, and college. We want to teach our children to not be afraid of expressing themselves in written form and praise them for their work and small gains they make. Remember how it felt in school when your teacher bragged on your work, taped it to her desk, or your parent placed it prominently on the refrigerator at home? In our home, we’ve encouraged writing and drawing since our children were old enough to hold a pencil. Sometimes that’s drawing at a restaurant on the kids activity page, sometimes it’s having a notebook to doodle on quietly when we are at worship or an important meeting, and sometimes it’s sitting with the child and labeling the pictures with words to model writing and its purpose.
So, the first step to encourage more writing is to have writing materials available (paper, notebooks, pencils, crayons, etc.)
Once my son had an awareness of letter sounds and how different words started with different letters, he began to incorporate the sounds he heard into his writing. Watch the video to see some examples.
The second step is to praise your child for his efforts and know that misspellings are normal and acceptable early on.
In fact, spelling mistakes can make you aware of how your child may be mispronouncing certain words. I did not immediately correct every spelling mistake my child made. I treasured the pictures and writing, taking notice of any misconceptions he had (whether misspellings or backwards letters). You know your own child. When you sit and show them something on paper, you can always work it in. Here’s an example: “CHRUK” for “TRUCK” (He was applying the “ch” for the “t” sound.) Once you know he makes this mistake, you can work it in and point it out as you read or make “t” words together. He may not hear the difference right away, but he will eventually with your involvement. Remember, it’s ok to ask a child what something says that he or she has written. If it has many of the correct letters, they are on their way. If not, offer to write down what they say and show them.
The third step is to invest in a primary journal.
These are easily found at grocery stores. I love that you can encourage great handwriting with the use of the lines. They also include an area where the child can illustrate what is being written about. I love this for memory keeping! In the video, I show the first official journal I kept for my son, starting his kindergarten year. As you can see, some days were better than others, but the overall trend was that he was writing more and more. His spelling even improved along the way.
Last of all, provide opportunities for writing inspiration
When my child asks about something in the world, it is a good chance to sit down and do some research (short video clip, images, or just a conversation) about how something works. At this point, I am encouraging writing and stamina to focus on what he wants to say. I don’t really care about his topic. We sometimes write about what we did during the day, some facts we read about, or even backyard discoveries. For help in knowing what to expect or goal-setting, I’ve included a couple of writing rubrics, easily found online. In the beginning of journaling, I focused on sticking to the topic, spacing, and capitalization/punctuation (mechanics). There are so many choices are there, so start with something simple and move to a more detailed one as your child grows.
Simple 5 Star Rubric from “Under the Alphabet Tree” on TeachersPayTeachers.com
Kindergarten Journal Writing Rubric featured on TeachJunkie.com (more details)
I’d like to know how you all encourage your child to write. Please share your homeschooling ideas (whether at home or co-op or tutorial). If your child attends private or public school, I’d love feedback on how writing is incorporated in your child’s class!