Writing At Home Can Be Fun!

Fun writing tools can make all the difference!

I’m in the middle of the Literacy Clinic - this is the time of the year when my students, who are graduate students and teachers, work with students in preschool, elementary, middle, and high school - to support them with reading and writing. The Literacy Clinic is held after school hours so parents are on campus while their children are working with my students. As I am moving from classroom to classroom, I speak to parents to hear how their children are doing in school and also hear about any pain points with reading and writing.

A question that has come up lately is how to get kids to write more at home - without the writing turning into an essay (which, let’s face it - is not tons of fun for anyone!). As I have been asked this question, I have observed that the kids themselves are interested in writing. A group of kindergarten students told me that they want to learn to write and they want to write a book. This is great news and can be capitalized on at home.

Post-It Note Writing

I can’t take the credit for this one. It actually came from my kids. I have lots of post-it notes at home. They are different shapes (stars, hearts, ovals, emojis, etc.) and my daughters take my post-it notes constantly. They use the post-it notes to write notes back and forth to each other. They will sit at their desks and write notes, then run and slide them under the other’s door. They are silly notes and my only rule is that whatever they write is kind (not mean) and appropriate.

This gets them writing to each other and I do not have to do much of anything expect provide post-it notes and writing instruments. This is a great activity to do before going to bed or I will tell them to write post-its to each other when I have a zoom call or work call.

Write Lists

I love writing lists and my kids see all of my lists around the house, which is probably why they have taken to writing lists of their own. I will often dictate and have one of my kids write a list for me - either for groceries or Target. This is functional literacy at its best - which means writing for a clear purpose. When they are writing lists with me, they are asking about spelling and it is a great way for me to review spelling patterns and vocabulary - if any words are unfamiliar to them.

Make a Book!

All of our kids have interests that they want to learn more about. I have found it helpful to take advantage of these interests and have them learn more about them. They can make little books about what they already know about their interest.

Recently, my family adopted two kittens. My girls love these two little guys. Last weekend, I needed to take care of some grading for my classes, so I had them sit at the dining room table with me and make a list of everything they knew about the kittens. Once they had the list, they were able to start to put a book about the cats together.

This was a great activity because they were able to sit with me and hang out while I got some work done, they were not on a screen, and they were writing to share what they knew and wanted others to know about the cats.

Reading is often seen as a bonding activity between parents and children. But, writing can also be done in a fun way that does not take much time and in a social approach - either between siblings or with a parent. If you give any of these a try, let me know how it goes for you and your child. Happy Writing!