How to Help Young Writers: Suggestions for Parents

I am participating in #SliceofLife20. Thanks to twowritingteachers team for creating this space for writers to share and grow.

With all the school closings, here is a friendly list for parents to engage their children in activities to help them grow as writers (and most likely, as readers, too!)

 

• Read interesting books (fiction, nonfiction, and poetry) aloud to your child, regardless of his age!
• Create a writing space for your child at home with access to different sizes and colors of paper, lots of pens, markers, pencils, and blank books.
• Encourage children to write for a purpose (send a letter to someone who lives far away, write a thank-you note, make a list of things to do, write a sign for a lemonade stand, write away for information for a report or travel brochures, design a room sign, or keep a diary as a personal history.
• Create a photo-memory book together and write captions for the pictures.
• Keep a trip journal.
• For older kids, keep a reflective journal.
• Limit television, video, and DVD time to perhaps an hour a day to allow students time to read, write, and create. (Active vs. passive learning)
• Help your child establish a personal home library. Be a reading model yourself. The best writers are often the best readers.
• Join the public library and visit it often.
• Write notes to your child and encourage him to write back. Give him compliments, ask questions, and celebrate special events in your own words. Encourage him to do the same.
• The art of storytelling is essential to the development and maintenance of a healthy imagination. Tell real and fantasy stories. The best ones are often stories about when you were a child or stories about grandparents and great grandparents!
• It is easier for children to write once they have verbalized their stories. Collaborate to tell stories and ask your children to tell their own stories at a family dinner or gathering.
• Be a writing role model – write to and with your child.
• Help your child publish his writing using different formats.
• Use reading and writing for pleasure, but never as a punishment!

Visit https://twowritingteachers.org/2013/10/26/ten-suggestions-for-encouraging-kids-to-write for more suggestions!