How to Encourage Kids to Love Writing

This summer I’ve been posting reviews of our writing products as well as some articles about writing. This is an article that I wrote last summer that I thought you might find helpful.

The most common complaint I hear from parents has to do with their child's approach to writing. It's quite normal for children to resist writing lessons. I'm here to tell you that it doesn't have to be that way. By providing your child with a clear purpose for their written assignments, you will boost their motivation and encourage them to do their best work. Through the process of writing format through publishing, my kids do better work, and are happier about it, too!

I have three children, and each are published authors despite their tender ages. When he was eight, my son wrote a jungle book to teach younger children their ABCs. He painstakingly researched each plant and animal in the jungle for a full year before he was ready to complete his Jungle ABC book. Using a writing style checklist (part of the Excellence in Writing program) helped him to write an effective paragraph for each plant and animal he chose.

Here’s a video review of some of our writing products,
“Ancient History-Based Writing Lessons.”

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.

Here's how we kept our son motivated, saving us from nagging and arguing. First, we assigned him a writing topic that was interesting to him. He's been fascinated by jungle plants and animals for years, and was happy to keep reading and learning more. Second, he was excited at the thought of writing his own book, one that he could sell to earn money for his efforts. Because he had a reason for writing, he remained motivated to complete the project.

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 your child has a purpose for writing, he needs to put his ideas down on paper in a thoughtful, cohesive manner. There are many writing programs on the market, but best source I have found to teach your child "how" to write is Excellence in Writing. This course deals with the "hows" of writing instead of "what" to write about.

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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Copyright Kerry Beck, 2009
You have permission to reprint this article, as long as you don’t make any changes and include the bio below.

Kerry Beck enjoys helping homeschool moms and classroom teachers with writing process. Go grab Kerry's free mini-course about Teaching Writing Easily at http://www.howtoteachwriting.com/ today.