Writing at Home

            Samuel Johnson said, “ By writing you learn to write.” As parents we can create so many opportunities for our children to write at home. Jotting notes back and forth between family members encourages children to write for a purpose and can be an additional method for busy family members to communicate with each other. Help your child create a ‘family note box’ and leave it in a prominent location in your home. Keep notepaper, envelopes and writing utensils handy. Encourage your child to write his or her own ‘thank you notes’, ‘invitations for play dates’, and ‘birthday cards’.  Help your child select family members or friends as special pen pals and write friendly letters to these significant people.   Find opportunities to write together as a family. Keep a journal or diary and encourage young children to share in the writing. Young children who participate in family journal writing tend to become avid independent journal writers. Create family newsletters, annotated photo albums, scrapbooks, or short stories. After reading books with your child, write book reviews together. Encourage your child to record favorite family recipes and create a family cookbook.

Help your child to improve writing while completing homework. Have your child read his or her writing aloud and encourage self-correction by asking these questions:

            Does it make sense?

            Can you ADD any words?

            Can your CHANGE or substitute any words?

            Should you change the ORDER of words? Sentences?

            Should you remove any words?

            What is your main idea? What are your supporting details?

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