Literacy and Numeracy News

TIPS ON DEVELOPING WRITING SKILLS AT HOME

It is important for parents to help develop their children’s writing skills, setting up an atmosphere and routines that will inspire their children to want to write.

HOW TO CREATE WRITING HABITS AT HOME

To help improve your child’s writing skills, start by creating an environment that makes writing easy and fun. Simple things like having the right supplies handy can help students improve their writing skills.

• Make sure your child has a writing space that’s their own. It could be a desk in an office or a small table in the kitchen.
• Stock up on fun writing supplies. Decorative papers and cool writing utensils can be a draw.
• Organize your materials. Use desk organizers or recycled cans and jars to keep pens, pencils, and notebooks tidy so they’re easy to find.
• Use erasable surfaces for schedules and lists. Have a dry erase board for the weekly dinner menu in the kitchen or a chalkboard chore chart.

WRITING ACTIVITIES THAT MOTIVATE KIDS TO WRITE AT HOME

If you’re wondering how to motivate your child to write, you’ll need lots of different activities. Motivation is essential in developing and practicing writing skills, and writing exercises are your biggest tools.

Try to naturally incorporate as many of these writing activities as you can throughout the week.

• Write the dinner menu daily. This boosts writing skills while bolstering creativity.
• Write a daily dinner critique. Kids can get creative as food critics and learn to provide constructive criticism in writing.
• Prepare the grocery list before going to the market. For younger kids, dictate the grocery list and have kids rewrite it. Older kids can try to make the list all on their own.
• Write letters to friends and family. Kids can write letters by hand or type them on the computer to practice different writing skills.
• Keep a personal journal. Kids can write their own daily feelings or thoughts in a private journal to practice expressing complex ideas. Knowing no one will read it can be motivating.
• Write notes and invitations by hand. When opportunities arise to make party invitations or send out thank you notes, enlist your kids’ help for a little meaningful practice.
• Play board games with writing elements. Let your child be the scorekeeper in a card game or look for game such as Hangman,  Scattergories, Scrabble, or Jeopardy that require writing and vocabulary practice.
• Use writing prompts to create short stories or books together. Kids who struggle with finding something to write about can be encouraged by fun creative writing prompts. 

HOW TO TALK ABOUT WRITING WITH KIDS AT HOME

When talking about any kind of writing at home, use these simple tips:

• Be positive when talking about your or your child’s writing.
• Forget about spelling and focus on content.
• Discuss why your child has to write something so they connect it to their life.
• Ask questions instead of pointing out mistakes. For example, you might say, “What does this word say?” instead of, “You spelled cake wrong.”
• Praise your child’s effort and individuality.

SURPRISING WRITING TIPS FOR PARENTS

When you think of working on writing skills, you probably imagine pencil and paper at a desk or table. To help keep kids engaged in writing practice, you may need to get a bit more creative.

• Read together often. Kids not only get to see how words look, but they might also gain motivation to write their own books and stories.
• Be a writing role model. Kids learn from modelling, so watching you write with positivity can actually help kids get better with writing at home.
• Look for creative ways to write, such as using dry erase markers on windows and sliding glass doors. Writing doesn’t have to be conventional. 

Most of all have fun and enjoy this time together!!