Encouraging reluctant writers at home can seem like a daunting task. Little ones who have no desire to learn to write or practice their writing skills aren’t uncommon, especially when they have been writing during class all day.
But at this early stage, supporting their writing skills can be a massive boost to their comprehensive education. If you’re looking for tips on how to encourage your child best to write at home, this post has some ideas.
Different Writing Materials
Is your child used to using pencils to write with? When children are young, pencils are the most accessible writing instrument to learn with. But at home, when the onus is on the actual writing instead of the assignment, why stick to a pencil?
Experimenting with different tools can help you to bring writing to life. Use anything at your disposal to create a writing instrument such as paint, crayons, dyes, pens, or even teach them how to use a fountain pen correctly if they can. The same goes for what they are writing on. While you don’t want to encourage writing on walls at home, letting your child write on different surfaces or types of paper can be a boost to your efforts too.
Create A Jar of Thoughts
Or a jar of wish lists, or activities to do, and so on. The beauty of using a container filled with little bits of paper with thoughts or tasks on it is that if they want their ideas to go into the jar, they will have to write it down. Keep a pen and pad close to the jar, and then, when they are ready, they can write down what is on their find and pop it into the jar.
Use Figurative Language
Using figurative language in writing is a skill that students like honing in on their own. Children enjoy writing similes and metaphors, packing a sentence full of alliteration, and incorporating personification and exaggeration into their writing. Ask children to look for an object in their home and write about it using figurative language to demonstrate their understanding of the object. They can write a sentence using one form of figurative language or create a paragraph using numerous forms of figurative language.
Journaling
Introduce a journal for your child to write down their thoughts in. Depending on their age, this can be in the form of a blank notebook, a stack of oversized paper for them to write and draw on simultaneously, or a diary or gratitude journal. You can let them use it when they wish or set a task each day to fill in an entry, even if it is just a few sentences or words.
Family Scrapbook
A family scrapbook is a beautiful method to preserve memories while also encouraging your child’s writing skills. Keep souvenirs of activities you and your family participate in in an inexpensive photo album. Photos, ticket stubs, and found objects, such as lovely leaves, can all be included in this category. This is a fun and meaningful way to encourage writing.
This is a contributed post. You can read more about that here.