I seem to have a lot of concrete thinking friends out there. Since I posted my article on writing, I have had a few questions.
Lots of people who read the blog feel like teaching their kids to communicate and find their voice to do it effectively is a good thing. It seems to be something several people would like to strive for. But everyone's question boiled down to the same thing....
What does that look like?
So for my practically minded friends, I shall try to join you today in your realm and explain what we do. :)
As I said, in the younger years, we do not focus on writing. We read. We read A LOT. I love it for the snuggle factor, but also because it gets my kids talking. We have a lot of discussions. The idea here is to not make it sound like a class discussion. If my kids don't start a discussion, which is rare, I usually mention something that delighted me, or caused me to stop and think about something I never thought of before. From there, my kids usually jump right in....if not, I let it go, kiss them goodnight and send them off to bed. Done. What I have found is, even if my kids don't join the conversation that night, they will usually join in or start their own conversation about it soon. The beautiful thing about reading rich, delightful, thought-provoking books (and let me tell you...Winnie the Pooh is one of the most profound books I have read!), is that your children learn what good writing sounds like. By default, they even begin to understand paragraph and sentence structure if you read to them a lot. They start to exhibit wonderful vocabulary and grammar. And if you offer a wide variety of books, they will start to identify with certain styles and voices. I have found by doing this, by the time my kids get to high school, they are much easier to teach and have usually already identified who they are on paper. That is, their unique personality on the page. And that starts them on a confident foot.
Another thing we have done is let the kids write and write and write. As much as they want. In notebooks, in drawing books, on the computer....I even think it would sometimes be fun to get an old typewriter and let them bang away on that! Sometimes just sending them outside will elicit amazing results. We try to shake it up! Keep them moving to different parts of the house, yard, places. Sometimes we have different music playing....or silence...or just the noise of loud little brothers. ;) The idea is to give them as much free time as you can afford to let them feel out the whole writing thing. Sometimes, my kids will bring me their stories and such and ask me to read it. If they do...I do. But, I never correct it. I give my positive feedback and tell them to keep at it. When I give my feedback, I try to praise the devices or styles they used that show their unique personality, rather than their writing structure or ideas. (how many times can you praise the idea of yet another unicorn story???) This way, they have followed what God has put in them and continued to develop themselves and not just a story.
The only structure we throw in in their elementary years is Bible Stories. Sometimes, when we read Bible Stories, we give them a little notebook when we are done reading. I like the kind that is blank on top for drawing, with lines on the bottom for writing. After the story, they draw a picture recounting what we just learned. If they are not writing, I ask them what word they really liked from the story and I write it for them and give them the option to trace it, or try writing it themselves...or not at all. But it gets them used to the fact that words can describe important things. As my kids have gotten older, some have retold the story in humor, in eloquence and/or in poetry.
Before my kids could write, we sat through endless narrations of their pictures. I think this is important, too. I love Andrew Pudewa and I have gained great insight to my children when he said, "Girls draw nouns and boys draw verbs." It is the truth. My girls would bring me their completed pictures and explain them to me. My boys prefer that I sit near them or be available to them while they draw so that they can narrate the movie they are making on their paper! In any case, I can see their interests and the special way they present their ideas and it has gone a long way to give them confidence later to write what they care about it....and not just what they did over summer vacation.
I am loving the process of writing/speaking that we are going through with our junior high daughter right now. She already spends a lot of free time writing stories on the computer. She uses fantastic vocabulary, and she has perfect grammar. I am not ready to formalize her writing just yet. I am using the next two years to really expand her ideas and language. This year starts a two year process. She gets to write her stories still, but I am adding some purposefulness to the mix. She is reading about Ancient History right now and is studying Egypt. I found a poem from Egypt that had been translated to English....I read it to her and sent her immediately to write whatever came to her mind for 20 minutes. Not a story. Not a poem. Just thoughts. This daughter is about the most unique person I have ever met and has been quite comfortable to leave my house dressed in cut-off jeans with yoga pants underneath, and hair that in the words of my friend, Shirin, looks like a cross between Pippi Longstocking and Bob Marley...yet, when she brought me her thoughts on the Egyptian poem, the first thing she said was, "Okay, Mom, please don' t use a red pen to correct it and please be nice. You told me to just write what I thought about." Funny. I have never corrected her writing before, but she entered this paper with fear and trepidation. I think that was because she was submitting her heart to me and not just an essay. You know what? Her thoughts were beautiful!! Extremely poetic that day. I told her about the personality of her that I saw in her writing and what I loved about that. Then I had HER go back to her paper and circle all the "really good" words , and the "best words" she felt she used in the paper. Then I had her start a list with those words to add to as she continues writing. In this way, those quality words will be ingrained in her mind and also be ready on a list to use when she does more formal writing later....or when she writes her speeches. (we are involved in a community speaking group, for which she writes and delivers several speeches of her own a year) From here, I will continue to incorporate poetry and even all different kinds of music and have her free write afterwards because I think poetry and music stir up strong emotions. I will also be reading current events with her this year and asking her to free write on those articles we read and discuss. I like this because it requires critical thinking and not just an emotional response. All of this and her stories too will give her a well rounded voice of her own so that in two years when she begins to write, she will be able to do so with confidence.
In high school, I make sure, in half a year or less, that my kids know the parts of speech and sentence structure. But, after that, it is just writing. We are very involved in a Christian community speaking and leadership organization called ICC. My kids pour most of their formal writing efforts into their speeches that they give throughout the year. These I give a more critical, yet positive eye to. And what a blessing. Because they have felt their way through who they are when they communicate, they have emerged as confident communicators with a desire for people to know the Lord through their communications. They write really good speeches, and they take them everywhere in their community to impact that community for Christ. THAT is the only reason I want my children to learn to write....so they can communicate Christ, and him crucified.
From Play-doh to Plato.
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