I have been having major problems with my 7 year old's writing practice. The problem is that she will not write. I have always been an avid reader from the time I remember and my mother still talks about how I used to read with the book in front of my face while walking down the road when returning from school. My sister not only read English, she was also a voracious reader of Bengali classics, something I never got my mind wrapped around. So it comes as a shock to me to see my daughter, my own daughter, not only does not write, she has to be coaxed into reading too. Reading however is a topic for another day. Writing is my present problem, something I know y third grader has to revamp very quickly because she is losing out in her grades because of this.
Now I know grades dont matter, but they really do, dont they? What if you know your child is doing well in grammar and still falling behind in her English class because her answers are not up to the mark. They never will be unless they practice writing at home.
I have tried so many tricks so that during her holidays she write a little everyday. She will find some kind of excuse to avoid it. At the beginning of her summer leave, I bought her a lovely raw paper note book with exactly 60 pages, one for each day of hr holidays. Labelled it Summer Journal.
It was so lovely I wanted to write my journal in it. Suffice it to say that after 3 weeks, one page of that is filled with something about birds and another page of a sketch which looks remotely like one.
I wondered then if journal writing is really necessary and whether I should push on with it. I asked around and did some research too. Turns out that not only is it necessary, it is actually good for the child.
Now I know grades dont matter, but they really do, dont they? What if you know your child is doing well in grammar and still falling behind in her English class because her answers are not up to the mark. They never will be unless they practice writing at home.
I have tried so many tricks so that during her holidays she write a little everyday. She will find some kind of excuse to avoid it. At the beginning of her summer leave, I bought her a lovely raw paper note book with exactly 60 pages, one for each day of hr holidays. Labelled it Summer Journal.
It was so lovely I wanted to write my journal in it. Suffice it to say that after 3 weeks, one page of that is filled with something about birds and another page of a sketch which looks remotely like one.
I wondered then if journal writing is really necessary and whether I should push on with it. I asked around and did some research too. Turns out that not only is it necessary, it is actually good for the child.
- When a child writes a journal, they are not pressured to keep to rules of grammar or spelling. But teachers do say that the practice of journal writing automatically makes them better in both aspects.
- The daily practice of writing a journal makes children calmer in the same way that diary writing works for adults. Starting the day with writing a page in their journal also prepares them for a day of practice of other subjects and helps them get ready to work.
- All teachers who encourage journal writing say that it definitely improves writing skills of students who cannot write at the beginning. Their previous journals can even be used to encourage them and motivate them by showing how much they have achieved over the months.
- For parents it is a very good way to share. Writing usually helps children improve their expression of feelings over time and parents can know things through this practice which a child would not normally speak out to them.
Now, the problem I face with my child is she does not know what to write. The only entry in her journal has been about a bird because I prompted her to write about her visit to the park the previous day. She wrote about the kingfisher she saw there.
So now, after some reading about this on the internet I have decided to try using writing prompts with her. Last week I gave her the topic- "3 things you love and 3 things you hate". I learnt that she hates butter, which is why she always throws a tantrum when given bread and butter sandwiches. She also hates me shouting at her, which I did not realise was that huge a problem. Working on it...
Here are some prompts I have prepared for writing journals over the next few weeks. Lets see if they work:
- If you were given 3 wishes, what would you ask for and why
- Which superhero would you like to be
- What super power would you love to have and what would you do with it
- Describe a perfect friend
- If you could be invisible what would you do
- If you were to become queen what would you do
- What would you buy if you had a lot of money and why
- Are you a brave girl? Why or why not?
- What is the best gift you ever received and why.
- What are your favourite festivals. Why?
- Name three people you like most and why.
- 3 things you like and 3 things you hate (already done)
