Highlights from The Father's Day Letter Writing Project-Part One

   Did you participate in our Father's Day letter writing project? Even if you didn't, read on... There are valuable lessons to be learned from how the following mothers inspired their children to write letters to their Dads. I know many joined in this endeavor. Some I may never hear about, but if you participated please feel free to share your letters with us anytime in the future.

    It's interesting to read the different ways mothers tackled this project. Some children cooperated willingly. Some had to be cajoled. Others had to be strongly persuaded to contribute – or else! There is a reason for this. When it comes to family writing, composing a heart-felt letter to a parent is probably the hardest to accomplish. It can be overwhelming to sort through a year’s worth of feelings and shared experiences, let alone write about them in meaningful ways. 
    I often draw a blank when trying to write a letter to a loved one for a special occasion. By using a few writers’ techniques, however, you can help your child sort through his feelings, thoughts, and perceptions, and achieve a measure of success; he will learn to think about what he is grateful for, touch his father’s heart in a profound way, thus creating a stronger bond (my husband cried again this Father’s Day), and learn that writing is attainable (something he can actually enjoy and look forward to doing). 

   The Gift of Family Writing goes into great detail about how to help your children journal their life stories (especially the ones that struggle with writing). It's much easier for a child to write about an experience he’s just had (this is the most natural form of family writing), but our book also gives examples of how to help your child have a writer’s mindset toward expressing appreciation for family members in tangible ways.          

    Some logical steps in preparing a letter for next Father's Day – things that will make the whole process a little easier begin with you, mom. Be proactive in your family’s journaling habits. Encourage your kids to journal their life stories as they happen. It's much easier to go back to a recorded entry and lift a whole experience right off the page to include in a letter, but you have to write about that experience shortly after you had it. So capture those moments with dad as they happen!

     You can color code your entries as well. Highlight the date of a journal entry in blue marker for the ones that pertain to Dad. That way when next Father's Day rolls around it will be easier for each child to write from those highlighted entries. I’m sure you’ve noticed, but some kids have a better memory than others, so keeping track of life as it comes will curtail the “fuzziness” some kids experience the minute you ask them to write about something from the past.

    As you read the following Father's Day letters and experiences, be encouraged. These mothers embraced the idea of having their children bless their fathers with words of appreciation, some not even having read our book. Children tell you about what's important to them all the time, but expressing their love for dad can be easily shrugged because they can take his presence a little too much for granted. But as you'll see in our last example, a child can be extremely motivated to honor Dad when he’s going to be absent from the family circle for a while.

    Family writing can easily be overlooked as a real way to teach children how to write, but discovering this God-given gift can be rewarding for those who reach out in faith to receive it and for those who impart it to the next generation.         

              Read Highlights from the Father's Day Letter Writing Project Here

1:18 PM - Jun. 23, 2006 - post comment

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Your gardens are art, my friend. I long for the day when we will be able to garden again. Thank you for sharing your thoughts and the pictures.

Boltbabe - 6:53 AM - Jun. 30, 2006

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Wishing you and yours a safe and fun filled 4th of July.

In Him,
Theresa

OurHomeSweetHomeschool - 12:30 PM - Jul. 2, 2006

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