Writing With Purpose

When you give your children a writing assignment, do they complain and whine about it? I had the same problem, until I discovered something last summer which made all the difference - when my children had a purpose for their writing, they were more willing to complete the assignments. Along the way, my kids learned the process of writing format through publishing.

All three of my children are published authors. For example, my son wrote an ABC jungle book at the age of 8. It took him a full year studying the jungle and its animals to choose the best plants and animals for his book. He then wrote a paragraph for each letter, referring to the Excellence in Writing style checklist to make sure his writing was of professional quality.

Given his age, it was unrealistic to force him to work on his book every day. It was an ongoing project that he worked on regularly, and completed at the beginning of June. However, he remained motivated through the entire year, an amazing feat for one so young.

There were a couple of reasons for his motivation, which ultimately led to a successful book launch. To start, he was fascinated by the jungle and its creatures, so he was researching something that was already interesting to him. It rarely felt like work! He was also thrilled at the thought of becoming a published author, earning money by writing and publishing his own book. Having a purpose for writing is the key to motivation.

Not all writing assignments lead to a money-making opportunity - there are many other ways to introduce purpose into your child's writing. Experiment, and look for new reasons to write. Perhaps your child can write a letter to the editor of the local newspaper on a preferred topic; enter a poem or story in a writing contest; share news in a letter with family or friends; or write a story about an incident in their life. Be creative, and find new reasons for your children to write - they will approach their writing with a fresh outlook and increased enthusiasm.

Once you have given your child a purposeful writing assignment, help them to first put their ideas onto paper, and arrange those ideas in a cohesive, logical order. There's a program on the market which, in my opinion (as a mother and former teacher) is the best. Check out Teaching Writing: Structure & Style, which excels in teaching your children how to write effectively for a range of reasons - letters, essays, stories, and more.

You can give your child(ren) a great reason for writing when you use the process of writing format through publishing. Try to integrate writing into any subject you are studying with your child. Writing should never be treated as a separate topic, since it is a valuable skill that transcends the subject material. By encouraging your child to write on a range of topics, he (or she!) will understand the purpose that writing has in all aspects of life.

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© Kerry Beck, 2008
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.
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Kerry Beck helps teachers and homeschool moms with the process of writing format through publishing. She has a free mini-course to show you how to teach writing at Teaching Writing.

Scrapbooking, Writing & Summer Time

Writing should be an integral part of our lives! Why not include it in your summer activities?

As I ponder how we spend the last few weeks of summer, I am reminded of the educational value of scrapbooking. In the past I have written about ideas you can use to teach your children writing and art techniques as you scrapbook. Since we enjoy scrapbooking so much, I plan to have my children make some scrapbook gifts and integrate scrapbooking with writing. For many of the pages they create, they will be writing a paragraph about that page.

Of course, I will use Excellence in Writing to work through the writing process by developing a brief outline, writing a rough draft and editing their paragraph for stylistic techniques and possible errors.


Writing can take many forms throughout the summer. Your kids may write letters to grandparents, friends at camp or other friends/family. They might keep a journal of what their favorite summer memory. Or, write an article about their vacation. You can even publish the article online at www.ezinearticles.com.

Personally, I love to hear what my family and friends are doing. Reading Christmas letters is a special treat in our house. Do you send out a Christmas letter updating your friends and family? Let your children help you write your letter and start this week.

For several years, our children are co-authors of our Christmas letter. When they were younger, they simply wrote sentences about events they enjoyed. They have also written paragraphs about one of their favorite memories of the year and one of the lessons God has taught them this past year. You can use Excellence in Writing's unit on creative writing to develop a well-written short essay (3-5 paragraphs).

Who knows???
If we start now, maybe our Christmas letter will be ready to mail by Thanksgiving. (Well, don't hold your breath!)

One last idea is to have your children write down is their favorite memories about this past summer. I am keeping their answers in their journals. Won't it be fun to look back and see what they thought was important in 2008?

Blessings,
Kerry Beck

ps. You DON'T have to scrapbook to use these ideas. Simply get a cool journhal or journal to keep copies your kids' thoughts & writings...for memory sake.

Kerry Beck helps teachers and homeschool moms by using predictable books in writing. She has a free mini-course to show you how to teach writing at Teaching Writing.