My Child, the Writer!

Ways to support your child’s writing growth at home!

Ms. ZippAugust 2012

What will we accomplish today?

Today we are going to talk about the following things to make sure your child experiences the most success this year in writing class:

1.) How to understand your child’s emotional reactions to writing

2.) How to best support a struggling writer

3.) How to best support a writer who excels and loves to write

4.) Ways to motivate your child to improve and take pride in their writing

Scenario One: I try to get my child to write, but they HATE it! How do I motivate

them?

There are many reasons why a child

may express a dislike for writing.

The main reasons are:

1. They feel that they have nothing to write about

2. They feel that they “can’t” do it and are scared that they will fail

This is a tough situation! But there are ways to support our reluctant

writers.

(1)Write as a family: The more your child sees you writing, they more they will want to write.

(2) Let your child choose what they want to write about-whether it be a video game or a trip to Castle and Coasters. It may not seem interesting to us, but if it is interesting to them, then let them write about it!

(3) Help them think of ideas for their writing by flipping through magazines or other high-interest books that can spark their imagination.

(4) Praise their writing- tell them how wonderful it is, even if there is room for improvement!

(5) If your child can’t think of something to write about you can use try one of these strategies:

Put a number of items in a box. Ask your child to reach into the box and pull out an item. Then, ask them to write a story about that item.

Write a list of ten words. Ask your child to make a newspaper headline out of those words and write a story using that headline.

Does your child love science or math? Ask them to write a story about magical animals or magical numbers!

Pictures are GREAT ways to give kids writing ideas! Collect interesting photos or advertisements from your daily life for the times when your child says, “I have nothing to write about!” Even grocery story coupons work!

Scenario Two: My child loves to write! How do I make sure I am challenging them so that

they continue to be motivated to improve their writing?

(1)Have short, “writing conferences” with your child (just like I will do with them in class).

Meet with them over a cup of juice and

talk to them about their writing. Let them

tell you what they think about their own

work and how they think they can make it

better.

(2) Challenge your child to read the writing of one of their favorite authors.

Discuss why they love that author so much

and ask them what they think makes that

author’s writing so wonderful. Then, ask them

how they can incorporate those great writing

techniques into their own writing.

(3) Challenge your child to improve their writing by using resources such as a dictionary or a thesaurus to incorporate higher-level vocabulary words.

This will help them to develop both

their writing and reading skills.

(4) Challenge your child to write in different genres.

If they wrote a fairytale last week, maybe

they should try a newspaper article this week! Or if they wrote a research paper last week, maybe next they should try writing a recipe. Show them how many types of writing there are, so that they stretch their horizons!

For all students, we must make sure that

we support them as writers so that they feel comfortable taking on new challenges, even though they might fail

the first time.

Key Point:How do we support all of our young writers

and help them to build and maintain their

academic confidence?

Writing is important!

We must help our young writers understand that writing is just like

talking! It helps us communicate with

the world.

(1) Ask your children to share their writing!

Use one evening a week as “writing share time” where everyone in the house gets a chance to hear about the writing piece that your child is working

on.

(2) Showcase your child’s writing so they know that you are proud of them. Let them take their time and produce work that they want to show to the world! Make sure they can see their accomplishments displayed in their home.

(3) Read, read, read! Students become better writers as they become better readers! Make reading a priority. Spend time at the library, and allow your child to choose the books that they are interested in.

(4) Publish your child’s work. Even if this just means putting it in a nice folder on the kitchen counter. Let them see that a finished piece is something to be valued and cherished.

The Bottom Line…

Every child deserves the opportunity to feel

proud and accomplished when they write.

Your children deserve the best, and there are

ways that we can work together to give them

the education that they deserve!

I am SO EXCITED to see how the students grow and develop this year. I

know that it will be a fantastic year

for all of us!

If you’d like more information at any point in the year, or if you’d like to chat about more specific ways to support your child, you are welcome to contact me at any time. :)

Resources

Fletcher, R and Portalupi, J. (2001). Writing Workshop: The Essential Guide. Portsmouth: Heinemann.

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