I have always loved to write. From the time I could, I did! Most of my children were not as quick to embrace this passion of mine, but they have picked up on it as I have figured out a few ways to spark their interest!
From the time they are able have your children draw and write… daily! They usually start by representing action with pictures and eventually will begin to incorporate shaky (and often backwards) letters into their artwork!
Make it a habit to ask them what it says! Even a toddler will tell little stories! I would always write what they dictated on the page. As they became older I was taught (by a public school teacher) to call the correct spelling “The Book Spelling” so that the child did not become intimidated and frustrated by their lack of knowledge and proficiency! My almost 7 year old, Hannah, will still occasionally come to me for “the Book Spelling” of a word, but feels comfortable trying to sound it out for herself!
Another fun early writing activity is Recipes… Give your child a 3x5 card. Have your child make a list of ingredients needed to make a real or imaginary recipe. Make sure they include amounts. Next, have them list the directions for preparing the meal! These are fun to save for later… I still have recipes that include Baking at 9 degrees for 43 minutes! Too cute!
Never underestimate the power of COPY WORK… not only will this improve penmanship, but constantly seeing and writing correct grammar, punctuation and usage will make it second nature to your child! We incorporate this into our Scripture memory time.
A great pre-writing skill is LIST MAKING. A well-written paragraph is really a developed LIST. Give your young child a strip of lined paper when you are making your grocery list and have them write one of their own, just for fun! Have them make lists of things that go together:
Ocean Animals
Vehicles
Places to Visit
Healthy Foods
Friends (they especially enjoy making a list of potential party guests!)
You can incorporate list making into whatever your child is learning!
As your child progresses to turning these lists into paragraphs begin with this simple pattern:
First Sentence: State a fact.
Next 3 or more Sentences: List facts that tell more about the opening sentence.
Last Sentence: Summarize.
When this moves into longer writings, they can just build on this original pattern by having the supporting paragraphs detail out the information from the middle sentences in the opening paragraph! Great resources for learning this technique easily is available at The Schoolhouse Store.
The Five Finger Paragraph
The Five Finger Essay
By: Johnnie Lewis
You may find it helpful to display a writing rubric, but make sure your child always loves writing rather than coming to dread it as being tedious and impossible to do “right”.
One final tip: Consider allowing your child the instant gratification of seeing their well-written stories PUBLISHED by opening a blog for them! Seeing this as a reward is a great incentive to polish their work! My children love getting comments and enjoy sharing their writing with family and friends!
Lovingly and Prayerfully,
Christina
Christina and her family are in their 11th year of homeschooling. They believe that it CAN be done despite the many challenges of life! Every member of a family brings its own unique needs and blessings. Maybe some of what they have learned can be a blessing to YOU!
