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5 Ways to Encourage Kids to Write

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Some kids hate to write. Try Sara’s tips for 5 fun and painless ways to encourage kids to write. Who knows? Your kids may even learn to enjoy writing!

Written by Sara Dennis of Classically Homeschooling.

Kids don’t always like to write, in fact, some kids dread it. These kids avoid writing with a passion and drive their poor moms to despair. Try a few of my favorite gentle ways to encourage kids to write.

5 Ways to Encourage Kids to Write

1. Write letters.

While some children don’t enjoy writing reports or essays, they love writing letters to extended family members. Sending letters and receiving a response is fun! Letter-writing is also a great way to involve grandparents in your homeschool.

Another option is writing a letter to a favorite author. Have your child write about how much he or she enjoys the author’s books or their favorite scene is.  Writing to family is an excellent introduction to friendly letters while writing to a favorite author is an introduction to formal business letters.

2. Write a short book.

Writing stories is another great way to encourage kids to write. Your child can write their stories in a spiral notebook. Edit the stories for punctuation and spelling, but be gentle. It’s better to err on the side of too little than to discourage a love of writing.

Once your child finishes his story, have him neatly copy them onto paper and illustrate them. You can do a formal stitched binding or simply staple the books together. Kids love to see their writing published.

5 Ways to Encourage Kids to Write

3. Write paragraphs on a favorite topic.

Some kids love to write stories and others don’t. If writing a short story is the equivalent of torture for your child, just have him write a paragraph on a topic of his choice every day.

In my case, one of my sons spent a summer studying ants. He followed ants. examined anthills, and read about ants. He wrote many, many, many paragraphs about ants all summer. To this day, my son still adores ants.

4. Write and frame a poem.

Spend a month reading and writing poems. At the end of the month, choose a favorite. Let your child neatly copy it onto blank paper and illustrate it. Make it a fancy as you’d like. Frame it and proudly display your child’s poem prominently in your home.

5. Keep a journal.

Keeping a journal to write about the day’s events is a great way to encourage kids of all ages to write. Your kids can journal about the birds flying about the yard or stories they hear at soccer practice. They can write about the weather – or ants!

Encourage your child to take pride in her journal by investing in a high-quality blank book. It will become a treasure to read in future years.

Don’t worry if your child doesn’t take quickly to writing. All kids are born with their own gifts, talents, and desires.

Do gently encourage your child to write using one of these 5 techniques, and eventually, your child will learn to write.

What is your favorite way to encourage kids to write?

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4 Comments

  1. I love number one. That is something I had the kids I used to nanny do. We would send letters to the grandparents and it really made the boys and their grandparents excited. Thanks for sharing!

  2. I like “mom & me” type journals. The child gets to practice writing, but you also get to model what good writing looks like in each entry you write. Win-win!

  3. Some kids are thrilled at seeing their stories and pix online. I post children’s stories and art anonymously (screen name or first name) when the parent or caregiver sends it in. You might like to check out the nice selection here:
    grandmasbookshelf(dot)net/stories-by-children/

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