My Thoughts on Teaching Writing

Recently, I've been asked by friends and on a board I frequent how do I go about teaching writing. I guess it's not a topic I really gave much thought to, it just kind of happened in a way that was natural for me and my kids!

I use Learning Language Arts Through Literature as my primary language arts curriculum. I thank God for that curriculum! It was something I picked because it had everything in one box! I, again, didn't think it through too much, it was easy for me to teach, so I bought it. I had no idea about Charlotte Mason, Ruth Beechick, or learning/teaching styles at the time. But God led me to the curriculum that "fit" our family to a T!

The thing about that curriculum is, it's gentle. It's thorough, but, it isn't "rammy" or it doesn't teach things before a natural progression occurs. It doesn't go into too much grammar until it first teaches reading thoroughly. It then works toward fluency in reading while using excerpts from good children's literature to teach the child to appreciate good writing, good grammar, and all that goes with that through copywork, narration, and dictation. I love that! It flows.

It starts getting more into grammar at about 4th grade and progresses in difficulty from there. But, it makes sense.

So, how do I teach writing when we haven't even covered much grammar until about 4th grade? Do I just wait until then to get them writing? NO WAY! We use that time wisely in fine-tuning their imaginations! We use daily journals.

In their journals I let them write whatever they want. When they are too young to write, they draw and narrate to me what they want written. I use writing prompts to help them with their creativity a few times a week or as needed if they can't think of anything to write. I don't worry about things like spelling, capitalization, or punctuation until we've covered those things.

Once we've covered a component of writing such as punctuation, I expect to start seeing it in their daily journals. If I notice they are still making mistakes, I reinforce that component using worksheets or drills. If after that they are still making those mistakes, I will then talk with them about it. I want to find out if they are just still not understanding that component, or, which most often happens, they are just writing too fast and not carefully to do it correctly. From that point on, if they make those mistakes, I make them write the page over. I try not to correct their journals too much. I want them to be freely creative and fun for them, not more schoolwork!

They continue to journal even after I may not require it . They love journaling! My oldest has three different journals going at once: her prayer/Bible reading journal, her journal for her feelings, and one with ideas for stories, books, and articles she wants to write. She loves writing! She's good at it.

I'm convinced that if I had pushed and pushed, it would have gone the other way with her. Some kids can handle it. My oldest won't and my youngest can't. They would have melted under the pressure! As it is, they have been able to grow naturally as writers. They've been able to use their creativity and imaginations in their writing.

I've read things written by kids who write mechanically perfect, but, unfortunately, somewhere along the line the creativity was not developed or encouraged. It's hard for them.

The way I approach writing is not for everyone. Everyone is so different. I don't approach writing exactly the same with each of MY kids. Each one has their own personal struggles and abilities. Each has had to overcome some challenge along the way and each have new challenges they will face. Our job, my job, is to find the best way for each child and encourage them in the journey to becoming a good communicator through writing.