Summertime is a great time for your children to launch or practice their skills as writers. Grab a journal and help them keep track of things that you do, places you go, special times. Whether your children sketch a bit, dictate thoughts or even write a few words, the process of brainstorming and writing about their experiences and feelings will help them develop skills needed to become writers. Using simple graphic organizers is a great way to gather ideas and your children will enjoy deciding on things to include.
Start out by letting them choose or personalize a journal or writing notebook. Maybe they'd like to put some photos on the cover or cut some big words or pictures out of magazines. Encourage them to express what they feel. Try to make sure that there is time set aside for journaling on a regular basis to get in the habit of recording those thoughts.
Don't focus on the mechanics so much in the beginning ... just get some ideas on paper. Once you've captured some initial ideas, you might go back and add to the writing, through interviewing your child or rereading and asking, "What else did you want to say?" or "Why was that important to you?" You can always go back later to choose things to work on together, through revising and editing.
"YOU are a writer!!" Say this often to your children and they will indeed become writers! Getting those ideas is a big part of the process - the rest will come in time!
Have fun!
Start out by letting them choose or personalize a journal or writing notebook. Maybe they'd like to put some photos on the cover or cut some big words or pictures out of magazines. Encourage them to express what they feel. Try to make sure that there is time set aside for journaling on a regular basis to get in the habit of recording those thoughts.
Don't focus on the mechanics so much in the beginning ... just get some ideas on paper. Once you've captured some initial ideas, you might go back and add to the writing, through interviewing your child or rereading and asking, "What else did you want to say?" or "Why was that important to you?" You can always go back later to choose things to work on together, through revising and editing.
"YOU are a writer!!" Say this often to your children and they will indeed become writers! Getting those ideas is a big part of the process - the rest will come in time!
Have fun!
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