Entries Tagged 'Encouragement' ↓

The words are on everyone’s lips: Where did 2012 go?

I wonder that too. What a full, busy, interesting year! As I look back at the blog over this past year, I thought it would be fun to highlight each month’s most popular post. Which was your favorite?

January

10 Writing Truths for Teens

February

Editing Tools for Young Writers

March

Book Report Sandwich

April

Build Skills with Puzzles and Word Games

May

The Pain of Grading Writing

June

5 Summer Writing Activities from Pinterest

July

4 Things You’re {Already} Doing to Raise a Writer 

August

4 Tips for Writing College Application Essays

September

Creating a Historical Newspaper

October

Grammar Skills Your Kids Must Learn

November

10 Ways to Reduce Writing Stress

December

6 Christmas Journal Prompts That Make Writing Merrier

I’m looking forward to all that 2013 has in store. I  hope you’ll join me as together we inspire and motivate our young writers!

EVERY homeschooling parent hits the skids now and then—and that’s when the questions pour forth: Am I a good teacher? Are the kids learning anything from me? Why is this so hard? 

Writing is a subject that can quickly make the most confident of homeschool moms feel like a complete and utter failure. And when you get into this funk, it’s easy to focus on everything that’s going south and fail to notice things you’re doing well. (And there are things you’re doing well!)

You may have the most resistant or reluctant writer at your kitchen table each morning, but throughout the day and week, that same child is learning from you as you live out these four important actions:

1. Equipping

What homeschooler’s house isn’t happily overrun with writing supplies? Most likely, your drawers spill over with markers, pencils, and crayons. These tools—along with paper, spiral notebooks, blackboards, and dry-erase boards—equip and encourage your children to express themselves in writing.

In pleasant weather, you watch them take to the sidewalk with chalk to draw pictures and write words. Letter magnets invite your littlest ones to begin forming words on the fridge, and older kids enjoy using magnetic word strips to compose sentences and poems. Even your teens type out stories on laptops and pour their hearts into diaries or journals.

A new school year is around the corner. Why not create even more writing buzz simply by investing in some brand-new school supplies?

2. Modeling

We know it’s important to model reading for our kids, but it’s just as important to model writing. When your children see you scratching out a grocery list, planning a camping trip on a legal pad, typing a blog article, taking sermon notes, or penning a letter to your sister, they’re internalizing the importance of the written word in daily life.

3. Cheerleading

Every day, you encourage your children’s attempts at scribbling, drawing, making letters, and using inventive spelling to write new words. This simple act of affirmation tells them that writing is both admirable and fun.

It’s not as easy to stay positive about their writing attempts as they get older (and their mistakes are no longer cute). But don’t stop looking for the good! Correction has its place, but your positive, encouraging words bring blessing into their lives and free them up to try new things when writing!

I love that you let your children be themselves—who God created them to be, not who you think they should be.

In her article How to Raise a Writer, author Cathy Lamb affirms: ”A squashed spirit will produce a squashed voice. A squashed voice will never write.” In the best way you know how, you’re shaping your kids’ character, guiding their growth, and tempering their will without constraining their spirit.

You may not realize it, but you’re taking steps to call out the writer in your child!

4. Reading

I know this about you: You make reading a priority with your chldren. By reading aloud, making trips to the library, and providing your kids with books at home, you’re helping them make a connection between reading and writing.

Reading opens up new worlds of imagination, mystery, and adventure. Quality literature exposes children to rich vocabulary, vivid description, and engaging narratives. While strong readers don’t always become strong writers, a correlation does exist: Reading can have a powerful effect on a child’s interest in writing.

On the worst of days, you won’t recognize the seeds you’ve planted, watered, and tended. You’re way more likely to see weeds, thorns, and bare spots! But from time to time, whenever a tiny bud appears, you’ll get glimpses of the writer within. Just know that I’m believing with you for the day when that writer comes into full bloom!

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.

Photos by Kate Hiscock and Rolfe Kolbe, courtesy of Creative Commons.

I’m pleased to welcome Samantha Gray as a guest blogger today!

WRITING IS a difficult task. Teaching children how to write presents an even greater measure of difficulty. While it’s not necessarily hard for children to learn to write, I do think it can be extraordinarily challenging for them to enjoy it or develop it into a craft.

Children—especially adolescents—can be quite stubborn about writing creatively: either they’re too shy to put their imaginations on paper, or they’re too overwhelmed by the task to know where to start.

Even when they do write, they can become discouraged by critiques in the classroom or from a parent. They don’t see the point in trying harder if their writing isn’t well received. They fail to understand the huge difference between critiquing and ridicule.

Sharing stories about writers’ humble beginnings is an effective way to bring kids out of their writing funk. Learning about another writer’s struggle can really help students realize they’re not alone, and that writing is a hard process for most people, even published authors. These stories give perspective to a sometimes-mysterious art form.

All writers start small

When I was a young writer, I assumed that most famous authors made it big with their first story, or that successful writers were just “born” that way. I didn’t realize all writers start from scratch, and that some of my favorite authors went through seasons of rejection and self-doubt before they ever caught a break.

The sooner kids understand that writing is a process, the less pressure they’ll feel to write flawlessly now.

Gain writing inspiration from real authors

The story of an author’s humble beginnings might inspire your kids more than you’d imagine.

No matter how you feel about J.K. Rowling and her legendary Harry Potter series, your children can learn a lesson from the infamous tale of how her story nearly eluded publication.

The author submitted the first installment of Harry Potter to dozens of publishing houses, all of which turned her down and dismissed her story as unreadable or uninteresting. She was nearly broke with a son to support, yet she persevered because she believed in the strength of her writing. Her book was finally accepted by a small press, and she soon became the sensation that we know today.

Did you know that Kathryn Stockett’s famous book, The Help, was rejected 60 times before it was finally picked up for publication? Millions who now cherish her story would never have read it had Stockett given up on finding a publisher.

Now, The Help is widely regarded as one of the best books from 2009, and we have Stockett’s perseverance to thank for it.

How could stories like these not inspire your kids to write?

Take the fear out of writing

If anything, the stories of writers like J.K. Rowling, Kathryn Stockett, and others (nearly every famous writer has a remarkable story about how they started) do a brilliant job of humanizing the art of writing.

It’s unfortunate how many children approach writing with the false belief that they could never write something worth reading, or that they’re not smart enough or good enough.

What they don’t realize is that every writer feels this way before they put their pens to paper. A few anecdotes about their favorite writers may be just the trick to dispel any hesitation. Don’t you think it’s worth a try?

How do you encourage students to write? Let me know!

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Samantha Gray, who has attended both traditional and online schools for her college education, is a freelance writer who enjoys guiding readers through the sometimes labyrinthine process of pursuing a college education and a rewarding career. Please feel free to contact Samantha at samanthagray024@gmail.com.

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.

Photo by Amanda Downing, courtesy of Creative Commons.

Daniella Dautrich returns as a guest blogger today. I always enjoy sharing with you her thoughts and experiences with writing!

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LET’S FACE it: when it comes to writing, most of us, at one time or another, have procrastinated. Blog posts, reference letters, business reports, and articles find themselves sitting on the back burners of our lives.

Nothing speaks louder than “example” when encouraging children, especially older students, in their writing pursuits. This means that we need to take time to develop good attitudes and habits toward writing.

Bad Motivators

As a chronic procrastinator, I can attest to the failure of two false motivators:

Guilt

Self-deprecating thoughts such as “They’ve probably lost all respect for me by now” or “I’m always letting people down” are counterproductive.

Rather than truly change your procrastinating habits, they prompt you to take on the character of a grump. Now you’re upset with yourself—and more than likely affecting the mood of everyone around you, children included.

Remember, we want to be fully alive as writers, not crouching in self-made corners of guilt and shame.

Bribes

For true-blue procrastinators, the promise of rewards and treats at the end of a project simply won’t work. We may admire other people who are wired to work first and play later, to eat vegetables first and dessert later.

If you’re not wired that way, be honest with yourself. Until lightning strikes and your personality is permanently altered, you’ll eat the cookie before the project is done, every time.

Don’t make the chocolate chips (or molasses or peanut butter) your writing motivation in the first place.

Positively Proactive

That said, there’s still good news. At least three strategies have worked for me, and they can transform your inner world of writing as well!

1. Develop a sense of curiosity

Always be aware of the general topic for your next writing project. Think of questions, as well as questions your readers might ask, when you’re out driving and shopping, and when you’re busy at home with chores and yard work.

Keep a mental list, or carry a small pad to jot down notes throughout the day. When you have ideas to play with instead of a blank slate, the keyboard and computer screen lose much of their terror. (Remember, yesterday’s questions are today’s paragraph topics!)

Follow this strategy to keep your mind active, and you’ll hardly be able to keep yourself from sitting down and writing.

2. Develop a routine

Set a certain time of day to write, and ask your family to keep you accountable.

If you have an inconsistent schedule (bedtimes and waking up and mealtimes in a daily state of flux), that’s okay. Even a simple routine, such as reviewing your writing topic each morning and choosing the next day’s project before falling asleep at night, can be a powerful tool.

3. Keep a “success” list in a prominent place

This is not your to-do list! Only keep track of writing projects you’ve actually finished. Don’t forget to include several ostentatious checkmarks, stickers, or smiley faces.

Constantly refer back, remembering all you’ve accomplished. You might have heard that completing tasks can trigger endorphin release in your brain; whether or not that’s true, the knowledge of success is a delicious feeling.

Every project you finish will motivate you to move forward and complete more tasks. Let the race begin!

Samuel Johnson said: “A man may write at any time, if he will set himself doggedly to it.” We can all use more discipline in our lives, but I believe that curiosity and wonder, time for planning and pondering, and celebration of our achievements are all valuable habits in their own right.

Your Turn!

What do you think? How you overcome procrastination? Share your favorite tips below!

Thanks to Daniella Dautrich for joining us as a guest blogger. Daniella is a homeschool graduate and WriteShop alumna. A happily married writer and homemaker, she blogs at www.waterlilywriter.wordpress.com.

Creative Commons photo credits: Woman by Jimi Glide. Cookies by Karen Lee.

This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.

I’m excited to welcome Daniella Dautrich as a guest blogger today! 

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IS YOUR student a strong-willed writer? If you answered “yes,” these scenarios might ring a bell:

• As a preschooler, she would refuse help with coloring pages, unwilling to accept suggestions about “normal” color choices.
• She cries at the sight of red pencil corrections: “You wrote on my paper!”
• She becomes quickly disheartened if you suggest any changes to her writing.
• She is a perfectionist who wants to shine and excel in her work.

Guiding the Strong-Willed Writer

From childhood onward, I have been that strong-willed writer. My mother began homeschooling me when I was in second grade, and she quickly encountered childish tears and protests whenever she corrected my writing assignments.

When I entered high school, my parents enrolled me in Kim and Debbie’s WriteShop class, and the course was a perfect fit for my tenacious ways. When I went on to study American literature in college, my essential personality was blessedly unchanged. However, I carried with me those fundamental writing skills I first learned as a young high schooler.

Your strong-willed child is who she is, and you cannot change that about her. You can, however, guide her into a mastery of writing skills. Speaking from experience, I offer four teaching tools for more effective—and, I hope, more enjoyable—writing instruction:

1. Teach self-editing skills.

Checklists are invaluable tools for teaching self-editing. Instead of giving your student red-pencil corrections, give a checklist with reminders about strong nouns, colorful adjectives, various sentence starters, minimal “to be” verbs, etc. It diffuses emotion when she holds her paper accountable to a list of lesson requirements instead of weighing it against her own subjective expectations.

WriteShop is an excellent curriculum for teaching self-editing skills.

2. Commend her efforts and praise her successes.

You’ll probably feel some frustration when a strong-willed child sees every writing assignment as a performance, with more ecstatic highs and devastating lows than the average homeschool is fit to bear.

While others are satisfied to take directions, your student wants to be original and take the lead, so be sure to point out the positive aspects of both her writing and personality.

“Your word choices are excellent.” 
“You really captured the emotion of that experience!” 
“I love how you think outside the box. Your creative ending totally took me by surprise!”

3. Focus on incremental writing corrections.

Don’t overhaul her first draft. Instead, address errors bit by bit. For example, during the first week you might say: “I can spot three repeated words, five weak nouns, and four dull verbs in your paragraph.” Armed with tools such as word lists and a thesaurus, your student can identify the problem words and make the changes. 

Once she’s addressed those specific issues, you might turn your focus the next week to spelling and punctuation. Review her writing and say: “I can see five misspelled words, one comma error, and two misplaced apostrophes.” Again, let her find the mistakes and make the corrections.

All the while, try to keep the editing process light-hearted. See if you can make it a game!

4. Challenge your student to imitate great writing.

Remember, Ben Franklin taught himself to write by studying and imitating great books. Samuel Johnson, who compiled the first English dictionary, likewise believed that fine written expression could only be acquired by “daily imitation” of the best authors.

When you give your students writing instruction, set aside time to examine a passage from a great book. Ask your child, “What sentence starters does the author use? Where does he place commas, periods, and quotation marks?” Copywork and dictation exercises, such as those used to supplement WriteShop I, are useful for reinforcing this learning experience.

Each of these correction strategies will teach your student to think independently and solve problems creatively. This, in turn, will prepare her for the kind of self-directed study that becomes essential in higher education. If she emotionally connects and personally identifies with her own writing, so much the better! She will likely be able to engage topics and make persuasive arguments in later fields of study.

When you approach a new writing assignment, your job as teacher is to provide the right tools and vocabulary. Remember that your child has strong ideas and convictions, and she is already motivated to express those thoughts in her own terms.

Thanks to Daniella Dautrich for joining us as a guest blogger. Daniella is a homeschool graduate and WriteShop alumna. A happily married writer and homemaker, she blogs at www.waterlilywriter.wordpress.com.

It’s Thanksgiving week. Around the country, we’re picking up our turkeys, baking pies, chopping aromatic vegetables for stuffing, and setting our prettiest table.

Even still, it’s hard to forget that we’re about to careen around the corner and crash right into December—that most commercial wonderful time of the year.

Do you feel like you’re walking on the edge of a knife, trying to maintain a thankful spirit in your home during the season of the “gimmees”?

You can cultivate an attitude of gratitude in your children, and Thanksgiving week is a great time to start. When the kids begin squabbling, acting selfish, or expressing entitlement, help them do a 180 and refocus, using one of these activities as a springboard.

Thank You For…

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~Marcel Proust

Writing a note of appreciation for a gift received seems obvious, but it doesn’t have to stop there. Who has made an impact on your children’s lives? Provide stationery and writing tools and have your kids think of deeper reasons they can express their thanks.

• Dad. Thank him for making you feel safe and loved, for working hard for your family, for playing football in the yard, for showing you how to fix a flat on your bike, for teaching you about God, for playing Monopoly with you.
• Mom. Thank her for being your teacher, for driving you to all your activities, for cooking tasty meals for your family, for showing you how to bake a chocolate cake, for helping you become kind and compassionate, for setting a good example.
• Grandparents. Thank them for things you often take for granted, such as coming to your soccer games or school performances. Thank them for holding a special place in your life, for encouraging, supporting, and loving you.
• Sunday school teacher. Thank her for caring about you, for teaching you about Jesus, for bringing donuts each week.
• Newspaper deliverer or postman. Thank him for delivering your mail or paper every day, no matter how hot or cold or rainy or snowy. Thank him for being a dependable worker.
• Pet. Thank your dog or cat for being faithful, friendly, loyal; for being a playmate; for providing companionship, entertainment, and smiles.

It’s Been Said

As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them. ~John Fitzgerald Kennedy

Encourage your children to copy favorite quotes about gratitude and thanksgiving and pin them to a wall or bulletin board in their room. For starters, find gratitude quotes here and here. Then, have your kids try one of these ideas:

• Copy each saying using neatest penmanship.
• Write the quote on fancy paper using calligraphy or italic handwriting.
• Type it on the computer, choose an appropriate font, enlarge the text to fill the page, and print it on pretty paper. 

Count Your Blessings

Who does not thank for little will not thank for much. ~Estonian Proverb

Mount a large sheet of posterboard on the wall of your kitchen or family room, and keep a jar of colored markers nearby. Encourage your children to write things they’re thankful for, no matter how small. Pre-writers can simply draw pictures on the posterboard.

Alternatively, make a stack of sticky notes available on which they can record their words of gratitude. Provide a centralized spot for these thankful thoughts, or simply let the kids pepper the house with notes. 

. . . . .

Gratitude is an amazing thing. It’s good for our health and well-being; it helps us choose contentment over want, self-centeredness, and entitlement; and it makes us easier to please. We can indeed be purposeful about helping our kids ditch their “me” mentality and become more others-focused.

Tomorrow I’ll share more ideas in Encouraging Thankfulness: Part 2.

~Kim

Are you uncomfortable with the idea of teaching your kids to write? Maybe you think you can’t teach writing because you never really learned yourself. Or maybe you’re a confident writer, but you don’t have a clue how to pass that on to your kids.

One thing I do know: Regardless of skill or background, you can model and teach writing with confidence. Even though you may not believe it—you really do know more than your children.

Why Model and Teach Writing?

Simply, it’s unfair to expect our children to do something that hasn’t first been demonstrated.

Modeling writing in front of your children matters, but be encouraged that you don’t have to be perfect or have all the right answers. As homeschool parents, like it or not, our job is to teach and model the process until our children get it. They need to see and hear us thinking through our ideas. It’s good for them watch us struggle to come up with a topic sentence or find the words to make up the lines of a poem. Why? Because they struggle too!

But let’s step out of writing mode for a moment.

Students learn geometry because you show them over and over how to do it, right? They rarely get it the first time. Or the second time. Or even third.

Imagine saying, “OK, Ryan, find the hypotenuse of this triangle. I’m not going to teach you different strategies to solve the problem. Just get started . . . and good luck!”

We’d never dream of throwing our kids to the math lion, yet when it comes to writing, we want to assign a topic and say “Go!” 

For whatever reason, we just expect them to write intuitively. It’s pretty silly, really, because there are many strategies and skills involved with writing a good paragraph or story.

K-2nd Grade

Model and teach through Guided Writing Practice to provide your young child with a daily, predictable, shared writing experience. Together, write several short sentences about simple, familiar topics such as animals, friends, the weather, or upcoming events.

During this time, you’re modeling important writing skills such as:

• Left-to-right progression
• Letter formation
• Correct spacing
• Punctuation and capitalization

Most importantly, Guided Writing gives your child the freedom to put together ideas without the limitations and fear of having to write them down himself.

A simple way to introduce writing skills is through predictable sentence starters. Young children thrive on repetition, so they’ll enjoy the consistency and routine of using the same sentence starter all week. Just draw out a different response each day.

Hello, _________.(Mommy, Jamie, Mittens)
Today is _________. (Tuesday, Friday, my birthday)
It is _________. (sunny, cloudy, foggy)
We are going to _________. (bake with Grandma, play Legos)
I think _________. (we will have fun, I will build a tower)

As your child’s writing skills increase, use your Guided Writing times to gradually introduce new concepts such as beginning, middle, and end; writing a friendly letter; or thinking of a problem and solution for a story.

3rd-5th Grade

This is often the point where moms drop off the grid: You go from nurturing the writing process to feeling guilty that you’re getting in the way of your child’s progress or creativity. Ironically, this is when most kids come to hate writing!

Instead, recognize that this is the phase of writing where you and your child can work together to produce the final project. Model and teach writing skills through examples and prompts. Keep things moving by continuing to do most or all of the writing, but share in the process. Because some of the work is yours and some is your child’s, it’s a collaborative effort. Let this free you instead of tether you to your guilt!

Middle and High School

Even if your teen is now working quite independently, you should still be modeling new writing skills and methods. As you work together, modeling helps familiarize her with the lesson’s expectations.

On a white board, demonstrate and teach writing skills through dialogues, prompts, and questions, but also show examples of the targeted writing. You and student should both contribute to the paragraph.

Again, you’re not modeling a polished final draft, you’re modeling the thinking process. When your teen heads off to write her own paper, your time together will have set the stage.

Stay Connected

At every age, your child needs your involvement in the writing process, not just to give editing feedback, but to instruct and model. Like teaching your child to make a bed, knit a scarf, or build a birdhouse, you remain involved until she is confidently and successfully progressing.

Collaborative writing takes time, too—to coax, encourage, ask questions, and discuss possibilities. Together, you and your child will grow comfortable with these writing sessions, and before you know it, you’ll watch her begin to apply the same thinking process when she works by herself.

So stay connected and involved. It’s crucial to your child’s writing success!

Copyright 2011 © Kim Kautzer. All rights reserved. 

My kids have come such a long way in their skills using WriteShop, but they still don’t enjoy writing. It’s still “work” to them, and they’d rather be doing something else. ~Marisa, SD

Fun vs. Fruit

As parents, we toggle between wanting to use a curriculum our kids like (even if it’s less effective) and using something that’s more “work,” yet clearly produces results. For two of my own kids, math was our bugaboo. The “fun” program I used one time set them back a year, so it was back to Saxon for us, even though they didn’t especially like it. 

Moment of Clarity

I love when homeschooling moms have an epiphany, that “Aha!” moment when they realize—and accept—that writing does need to be taught, and how this often means sitting with our kids and coaxing the writing out of them.

The wise parent makes the commitment to brainstorm one-on-one with her children as needed, asking leading questions and encouraging them in what they write down. She knows that their efforts would be half-hearted if she left them to work on their own.

Later, when it’s time to write the rough draft, she sometimes needs to go through the process with each one individually as well.

She sticks with her curriculum and holds her kids’ hands—not just for the sake of commitment, but because she sees fruit! Marisa adds:

 Again, I worked with each of the kids individually to get their [brainstorming] done… Though it takes a little more time than I like, the end result is far more satisfying for all of us!

I too have walked in Marisa’s—and your—shoes. When my son finally began working independently in high school, all those hours and hours of side-by-side efforts paid off. I pray they will for you too.

~Kim

“But I don’t know what to write about!” 

“I can’t think of anything!”

How many times have we heard these cries of anguish when asking our children to face a blank page? And although we may do our best to encourage their creative efforts through the use of topic-specific prompts, sometimes we need to give kids more direction, more of a step-ladder to climb into the clarity of their own thinking.

Smaller Steps

The next time you’re faced with kids who are absolutely convinced the power of the pen has abandoned them, try breaking the prompt itself down into manageable parts. Doing so allows children to concentrate on one task at a time and to experience feedback in developing their ideas for written expression.

The “I Remember” Activity

Let’s use the prompt “Write about a favorite memory” as an example of breaking a writing topic into smaller chunks of ideas. This activity gives a feeling for the writing process approach and works well with any age.

• Think of five things that have happened to you. Write down each of the five things, beginning with the phrase, “I remember.” When you’ve finished, share your ideas with me.
• Now, write down one name associated with each of the five things you selected.
• Write down the most important of the five senses (taste, touch, hearing, sight, or smell) that goes with each of your “I remembers.”
• Now select the “I remember” you would most like to write about. Share the memory with me.
• Now, writing as fast as you can for ten minutes, see how much of the memory you can get on paper. Don’t worry about punctuation or spelling; you can think about that later, if you like what you’ve written.
• Now, let’s read your story and think of ways to possibly make it even better.

By tackling a topic in this step-by-step manner, students become more confident and skilled in the brainstorming and drafting stages of writing. And as they will discover, fluent writing flows from the power of knowing you have something to say.

. . . . .

Janet Wagner is a regular contributor to In Our Write Minds. For over two decades, Janet was an elementary and middle school teacher in two Christian academies, a public district school, and a public charter school. She also had the honor of helping to homeschool her two nieces. Janet and her husband Dean live on the family farm in the Piedmont region of north central North Carolina. Currently, she enjoys a flexible life of homemaking, volunteering, reading, writing, tutoring students and training dogs, and learning how to build websites. You can view her web work-in-progress at www.creative-writing-ideas-and-activities.com.

Creative Commons “Lost in thought” photo courtesy of Flickr.
Photo of “Happy Little Fishergirl” by D Sharon Pruitt. Used by permission.

After a busy week in the classroom, Friday evenings were a quiet, delightful treat: Delightful because I got to curl up on my living room couch, with cookies and tea, and read through my students’ journals. Delightful because the brightly colored pocket folders held the written thoughts of my kids, as they experienced classroom life in real time. Delightful because each student and I kept a written, running conversation in the pages of those folders.

Conversation journals, we called them.

Every afternoon, students penned brief summaries of:

• their observations about each day’s class.
• what they wanted to remember.
• what they found difficult.
• what they would seek assistance on to understand better.
• what attitudes they had about learning in different subject areas.

They addressed their entries to me, and I responded, thus often beginning written conversations that would last weeks on many topics!

Not only did I gain insight into their struggles with long division, enjoyment of O.Henry’s short stories, or thoughtful concern for environmental issues, but I gained insight into my students’ growth as writers.

Conversation journals are also a handy tool in the homeschooling classroom. They provide a non-threatening context for kids to write at their own proficiency level. Mom or Dad writes back, modeling appropriate language use, but not correcting children’s language.

Such journals allow opportunities for kids to see growth in their own writing ability. And while a parental response should not result in corrections, an adult can examine a child’s writing for topic initiation, elaboration, variety, use of different genres, expression of interests and attitudes, and awareness of the writing process.

The bonus for a parent: insight into which academic concepts need to be taught to a greater depth, how a child is developing as a writer, and a shared journaling experience. That last item is the most precious of all.

Join the conversation!

Related link: Becoming your child’s pen pal

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Janet Wagner is a regular contributor to In Our Write Minds. For over two decades, Janet was an elementary and middle school teacher in two Christian academies, a public district school, and a public charter school. She also had the honor of helping to homeschool her two nieces. Janet and her husband Dean live on the family farm in the Piedmont region of north central North Carolina. Currently, she enjoys a flexible life of homemaking, volunteering, reading, writing, tutoring students and training dogs, and learning how to build websites. You can view her web work-in-progress at www.creative-writing-ideas-and-activities.com.