MARCH 2020

Writing

Authentic writing is a mentally and physically complex activity - especially for children.

Here are suggestions for how parents can help students with writing at home.

Read!

The best way to learn to write is to read good writing, and copy the craft moves of master authors. Read good writing many times - for pleasure, and to notice what makes the writing good. Think about and discuss with your child: How do the great books of authors start and end? Are their sentences long or short? Do they use fancy vocabulary or slang words? Do their books have dialogue or narration? Encourage your child to try to write like an admired author as a way of trying to find their own way of writing.

Write!

You become a better writer by writing. Give your child a purpose for writing. Write letters, greeting cards, stories, recipes, how-to books, diaries, comic books and graphic novels. Read your child’s writing if you are invited to do so. Provide encouragement and positive feedback. Provide spelling support if needed, but remember that inventive spelling (“hmbkr” for hamburger) is part of first grade writing development.

Role Model

Famous children’s book authors are not the only role models for young writers. Parents, other family members and friends are role models, too. So, be seen writing, and children will do as their role models do. Write letters in greeting cards, memos to your employer, notes to the babysitter, and entries in your journal. If you write, your kids will write, too.

Vocabulary

Collect words that can be used for writing. Big words. Fancy words. New words. Interesting words. Collect them in notebooks, post them on whiteboards or on the refrigerator. It’s easier to write fast and long when you have lots of words at hand to choose from.

Drawing

Pictures are part of planning and drafting in first grade. Drawing a picture to elaborate one’s ideas in a story, or sketching an image with labels to explain how something works is part of the writing process. Encourage beginning writers to use both words and pictures to express themselves. We know the best writers do that, too!

By any means

Composing and expressing ideas in writing is not handwriting or penmanship. The writing of ideas can be aided by use of technology if writing by hand gets in the way of composing ideas. Using a word processor on a laptop, electronic voice typing (or even a human scribe) are all useful supports to a writer.

Share

Encourage young writers to write by giving them an audience. Use writing supplies to create covers that make the writing look complete and publish-ready. Then publish your child’s writing by sharing it with others. Knowing you have an audience that appreciates your writing makes any writer want to do more writing.

Important

Every kind of writing is important because all forms of communication are important. So, celebrate all your child’s writing efforts and encourage them to evaluate their writing and see how they can, next time, make it better for their readers.