Writing with Little Children – Shared Journal Entries, Shared Fun!

   Yeaterday I made a memory out of an everyday moment with my youngest daughter, Anna. She was just about to say "There’s nothing to do!" when I pulled her aside and asked her to wash the dishes with me.
     I have a hard time remembering our exact conversations, so if I know that I’m going to write about our experience I jot down what she says while we’re working or playing together. All that requires is keeping a pen and a pad of paper close by, and in this case a dishtowel. Later, I combine the sequence of events, my thoughts and perceptions, and her conversation together into one shared journal entry. Does that sound overwhelming to you? Actually, it’s very easy and natural to plug dialog into a journal entry. As you can see, while it does require a little effort on your part, the rewards are precious.
     Anna was sitting next to me when I composed the entry below on the computer. As I wrote, I asked her a few questions from the five w’s: who, what, where, when, and why. For instance, she mentioned the silver color of the pot. So I added that to the description. Then she added the “dubbing” part, so I wrote that down.
    Be flexible with your child and let him use his imagination. See what makes him tick. Don’t worry if what he says isn’t 100% grammatically correct! I promise you that when he’s twenty-five he won’t talk or write the way he did when he was six. Besides, when it comes to journaling with children, just about anything goes.
    Incidentally, a child of six can usually retell his experience verbatim, but in this case I wanted to write a shared journal entry because I didn’t want to forget any of the cute “one liners” that she was saying. Notice I said “I” didn’t want to forget them. My baby is growing up way too fast.

 Scrubba, Dubba, Rubba Time!
    Today I washed dishes with Anna. There was a little silver colored pot that was dirty and black on the inside from when Eric fried onions. Anna asked if she could wash it.
     I said, “Yes, but you have to use an S.O.S. pad.”

Anna started scrubbing and dubbing the pot.
     “I’m turning blue,” she said as she scrubbed away. After a few minutes she said, “I scrubbed as hard as I could.” Then she began to sing, “I’m S.O.S.ing,” When she was finally done she said, “It’s clean and shiny. It’s clean and shiny. Don’t you like me?”  
    “Of course I do!” I said.
    “Then why don’t you give me a hug?” she asked. We hugged and that was the end of our scrubba, dubba, rubba time!

All Material Copyright © 2005

Jill Novak
All Rights Reserved

7:18 AM - Jul. 19, 2005 - post comment

THANK YOU!

This so made me smile, Jill.
I learned so much about how to "joint journal"--how to capture the "one-liners"--to "freeze-frame" the moments into words...My humble thanks! I look forward to learning more.
Warmly,
Ann V.

HolyExperience - 9:55 PM - Jul. 22, 2005

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