Help Children of All Ages Journal Their Life Stories

    Every day is a gift filled with life stories just waiting to be remembered; stories about the events, people, places, and things that touch your hearts, giving you and your children significance. What a blessing to be able to capture your children's life stories on paper!   

     If you have ever said to yourself, "I don't know how to write!" "I don't have time to write!" or "I can't teach my children to write!" then you're about to learn a secret. You and your children will become writers as you record your life stories together. Your child doesn't have to know how to read or write to tell you his story, or make an entry every day in a journal to be successful. The cumulative effect of two or three entries a week will be evident over a long period of time. If his ability to physically write is too slow to keep up with his ability to tell a story, then write it down for him.

     The journal form of recording life stories is freeing because there are no rules. What? No rules? No! Journaling is a process with lifelong goals in mind. You want your child to understand the significance of his everyday experience and make the connection that what he observes and thinks about it is important enough to tell others. "Mommy, write that in my journal" is a phrase that you will hear often if you make journaling purposeful and enjoyable instead of a daily requirement for some writing curriculum.

    As you know, children are never at a loss for words. With your help they will learn to express their innermost thoughts and feelings on paper. Yes, it will take time to sit with little children and write down their stories, but I have found this to be a joy-filled partnership and a way of connecting with each child. The reward of this parent-child endeavor is the closeness you feel as you interact with one another.

 Helping Little Children Observe Their World

      When you record little children's life stories, you can increase their awareness of the writing process by asking them questions that draw out their observations. They will learn to think about the 5 W's: who, what, when, where, and why, and their senses: taste, touch, sight, sound, and smell. And don't forget to ask them about the best part - their feelings.   

   One night my three year old ran into the kitchen to find out that her ice cream had melted in its bowl. It was a real catastrophe for her. My husband tried to cheer her up and said, "Oh, boy! It's ice cream soup." I said, "That sounds like a story!" The next day my oldest daughter, Claire (16 at the time) sat Anna (age 3 at the time), on her lap and typed her story into the computer. She asked her some questions such as: Did you have ice cream? What did it taste like? What color was it?  Here is what Anna said.

My Ice Cream Soup

By Anna Novak, age 3

 Anna: Last night I ate it.

Claire: What did you eat?

Anna: My ice cream. It was melted and I ate it.

Claire: What did it taste like?

Anna: It was yummy.

Claire What color was it?

Anna: Chocolate.

Claire: What other color?

Anna: Pink. It was cold.

Claire: Was it sticky or slidy?

Anna: Sticky.

Claire: What did Dad say?

Anna: Dad said, "That‘―s ice cream soup!"

Claire: What did you say?

Anna: I said, "Right, Dad!"

Claire: What did you do?

Anna: Then I ate it.

Claire: Is that the end?

Anna: Yes. The end.

Claire: What do you say?

Anna: Thank you.

Elizabeth’s Journal, age 6

   Mom took water from the faucet and put it in the teapot, and then she put it on the stove to boil. When the teapot whistled I ran to turn it off. We stood by the stove and sang, "Tip me over and pour me out!" Then we leaned to the right. The kind of tea that we are drinking is orange. You can put honey or sugar in orange tea. It smells like orange and spice and everything nice.

 Sharing a Journal Entry
    You can take a toddler’s conversation and put it into life story form by writing the sequential information yourself. I jotted down Anna’s conversation as we made Au Gratin potatoes together. I knew I wouldn’t remember one bit of what she said if I didn’t write it down as it happened. When we were done cooking, I typed my journal entry into the computer and “plugged” her comments into the finished account, preserving our special moment together.

I Made Cheesy Soup with Mommy

By Anna Novak and Mommy Novak

     Anna woke up from a nap. The house was quiet. “Where are Elizabeth, Eric, and Claire?” Anna asked. “They went with Dad to get his hair cut.” I said. “Do you want to help mommy make dinner?” “Yes,” Anna said. “We are going to make Au Gratin potatoes,” I said. I put a big pot on the stove with butter in it. Anna stirred the butter around until it melted. Then I added the onions and Anna cooked them until they were tender. Anna said, “Tender! It’s going to be yummy in a few minutes.” Then we added salt, flour, milk, and cheese until we had a cheesy soup. “Sounds good to me,” Anna said. Next we weighed five pounds of red potatoes on the old aqua blue farm scale. Then we scrubbed the potatoes in the sink under running water with a scratchy pad. We rubbed the little eyes off the potatoes with our fingers until they were smooth. Anna put them through the food processor: slice, slice, slice. I cut up the little pieces of ham and broccoli and layered them in the pan with the potatoes. Last of all we poured the sauce over the top. Anna licked the spatula and said, “Ummmm!!!”

6:27 PM - Jun. 17, 2005 - post comment

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