Parenting Tips – Writing Resource for Your Children
If our kids are going to write at home, they need resources. The most vital resource is reading. A diversity of reading materials and opportunities at home encourages our kids to write. When they hear good literature read aloud, it expands their store of words and meanings, sharpens their perception of correct phrasing, introduces different writing styles, and increases comprehension and thinking skills.
Frequent conversation is another vital language resource. During conversations with parents and siblings, kids learn to give reasons for their opinions, discuss alternatives to problems, express their feelings, and think more clearly. Good thinkers tend to be good writers. Conversing with our children about the world around them gives them a great foundation for the development of writing skills.
We can ask our children to describe an event or person from their day. We can encourage their observations and feelings. It helps if we build time for sharing ideas into our daily routine. For some families, around the dinner table in the evening works best, even if it’s at McDonald’s or a local restaurant. For others, it’s at breakfast or bedtime. Some of the best conversations are stirred up during a walk around the block or while our kids are working alongside us raking leaves, doing dishes, or cooking.
Ask simple questions such as, “What the most interesting thing you did is, learned, or saw today?” “What are you thankful for?” or “What’s your biggest pet peeve?” Ask your kids to share about something they｡ｯve been reading or learning. Then provide accessible materials for drawing: crayons, colored pencils, writing pencils, paper for drawing, a blackboard and chalk, felt-tip pens, and paint. Most early readers and good writers had access to writing materials at home and did lots of drawing. As relayed in What Works: Research about Teaching and Learning, Even before they are old enough to read and write, toddlers like to draw and scribble messages.
Plastic or metal letters on a felt or magnetic board or the refrigerator are useful for preschoolers’ early writing attempts. Some young children like to write using computer keyboards; others like to dictate stories to Mom or Dad, who write them down and read them back. Dictating a story into a cassette or video recorder is also fun for some children.
Dramatic play
Dramatic or pretend play motivates children to want to learn to read and write. If we put pencils and paper near their other toys, kids start to write as a part of their play. For example, when they play “office,” they can write letters, address them, and then “mail” them in their own make-believe mailbox. Sometimes children like to make labels for their toys and signs for their rooms: “Sara Jane Bear”; “Keep out!”; “Girls only!”
Freedom, a creative writing teacher I know, found that the favorite pretend play of her daughter Laura was “store.” With a receipt book from an office store, an old adding machine, and a telephone mounted on the wall, the “store” generated many hours of creative play and writing orders, receipts, lists of returned merchandise, and other “business” records.
For several years, my daughter, Alison, enjoyed playing “hospital” and making short medical reports on clipboard paper about each of her doll patients. She also set up a school and an office for | which she carried on correspondence and listed employees.
A large whiteboard is a good tool for writing while playing “school,” practicing the alphabet, studying material for a test, or writing notes. You can leave each other message on the board.
Or if it’s a rainy day and your child is bored, you can write a list of activities that might be fun.
