Getting a child to write may seem like torture. Many children simply do not like to write, for one reason or another. It may be extremely difficult for them to control the movement of the pencil on the paper, or maybe they cannot come up with anything to write about. Unfortunately for those children, the ability to write clearly and legibly is important and they need to learn. A great way to help improve a child's writing skills is to have them keep a simple journal. This can begin as soon as a child can hold a pencil in one hand.
Picture Journals for Young Children
Young children who do not know their letters cannot write words or sentences but they can draw pictures. A class of preschoolers got excited one day because they "wrote" a Cinderella story. Parents had a simple folded picture book thrust into their hands and one after another each child read his or her story to smiling parents. The pictures were rudimentary and in some cases barely recognizable, but it was their story. This is where writing begins, one person expressing a thought or an idea on paper.
Words and Picture Journals for Children
As children learn their letters, encourage them to add first those individual letters and later words they know to their picture journal. This may start simply by signing their name at the bottom of each page, or having a string of random C’s and O’s strung across the lines. Children at this stage often love practicing their letters.
When children start asking how to spell words, use the opportunity to reinforce letter sounds. Ask them what sound it starts with, and help them sound out the word. Alternatively you can tell them to simply “write what it sounds like”. This is called inventive spelling, and as they learn more phonetic rules, help them learn the correct spelling rules for words.
When the children can write numbers, show them how to write the date. Get your calendar out and demonstrate how to find out what day it is, and how to write the month, day and year. Allow them to copy this information from your written example first, then as they better understand the concept, they can copy off of the calendar itself.
Keeping a Daily Journal
The more letters a child knows, the more you can expect from him in his journal. When an older child asks how to spell a word, use the opportunity to reinforce using a dictionary. The more often you defer to the dictionary, the better the child’s reference skills will become. If you are a bad speller yourself, deferring to a dictionary is an excellent way to hide the fact that you may not remember how to spell the word.
If you have a reluctant writer, tell him that he can write anything he wishes, and that no one will read it - and then stick to it! Leave the journal alone unless the child asks you to read it. The important thing at this point is to get the child writing. It truly doesn't matter what they are writing.
Learn more information on teaching children how to write, and how to improve a child's handwriting.
