Children Write the Future

Written by Writer Dad on January 19, 2010 - View Comments
Categories: Children Write the Future

Children Write the Future.

It’s not yet a cliche, but I sincerely hope it will be. Those four words hold an elemental truth. Yet, as a culture, we are not doing near enough to ensure that their tomorrow is better than our today.

Communication is the key to unlocking the best possible future. Children should be given the tools they require at the earliest opportunity. Reading and writing are in many ways central to success. And though the bare minimum is maintained with reading, writing is the red headed step child of modern academia.

This is in some ways understandable, but it is by no means acceptable.

Teaching writing is difficult; far more subjective than the black and white, right or wrong rules which make up mathematics. Yes, there are the rules of grammar and syntax, and mechanics are important to clear, effective writing. But they are secondary to getting thoughts from the brain to the page – a process which is far more difficult to teach.

Many children hate to write. Their teachers are often not only on the other side of the desk, they are on the other side of that thought as well.

Yet children are capable of far more than they are generally given credit for. By endowing them with the toolbox early, then working to sharpen their skills year after year, we can provide our children with the essential skills that the inevitable tomorrow will certainly require.

For the first time in history, we are preparing our children for a future we can barely anticipate. The Internet has changed the game. Modern education is in many ways failing to keep pace. One thing is certain. The world will be ever more reliant on fluid communication, and it is those voices with the ability to communicate with clarity who will be the leaders and torchbearers of tomorrow.

This is a principle belief for both Cindy and myself; the foundation behind our mutual site, Children Write the Future, and the theory we heartily practice with our own two children.

Our daughter has been writing each Thursday at Children Write the Future. As I’ve mentioned before, though our little girl loves to write, she hates to edit. Having her write for one of our sister sites was one of the ways we were finally able to help her get over her discomfort with the process. I told her she could go to her room, close the door and fill her notebooks with stories.

She would never had to edit a word if she didn’t want to. However, if she wanted to publish her words online (she loves the word publish) and expected others to read them, she needed to make sure she was putting her best on display.

She has done this, and I’m exceedingly proud of the work she’s done so far.

To reward her effort, and to help her further grow as a writer, I will be sharing the Children Write the Future feature with her. Sometimes I will write, but I believe it will be mostly her. She has been fascinated at the attention I’ve given this site over the last year, and when I told her she was graduating, well, I think I probably could’ve gotten her to edit a manuscript or two.

I am excited to share this space with her, and her with you. It will mean the world to her. And really, isn’t that what being a writer dad is really all about?

You have seen my children through my eyes for a while now. I look forward to looking through my daughter’s eyes with you.

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  • cindyplatt
    Asking children to edit their work is like telling them they are on eternal restriction. It is not easy to look at your work because you might not like what you see, but if we are taught that it is fun to look back and know you can fix it, change it or make it better then we are treating it like art.
  • writerdad
    Exactly!

    And I think that approach has worked really well with you know who. I've never seen her more eager to return to her work, actually excited to improve it.
  • In his books, "Beating the Street" and "One Up on Wall Street," former Magellan Fund chairman Peter Lynch explained the best tactic for picking profitable stocks were those with mission statements easily recited by pre-teens. Think about that for a moment, and you'll grasp why publicly-traded auto repair shops like Pep Boys have performed well but pharmaceutical companies have bounced all over the place.

    If a child can't explain what a company does to make money, it's not going to make as much money.
  • Hi Ari,

    Yeah, it's that old clarity over cleverness thing. I have great difficulty with that myself, though I've come a loooong way in the last year. Writing sales copy has helped a lot. It's at constant odds with my fiction, where the way I turn a phrase seems to be more important as anything else. With sales copy, though, it's all about what drives behavior. For that, you HAVE to be crystal clear. As you said, if a child can't explain it, then you haven't done your job.
    .-= Sean´s last blog ..10 Words to Kickstart Your Creative Engine =-.
  • getting thoughts from the brain to the page

    This seems like it should be easy, but it's not necessarily the case. I struggle with this myself sometimes.
    .-= Selfish´s last blog ..How To Tie Shoelaces: A Forgotten Skill? =-.
  • Haha, me too my man. Me too. How is voice recognition working for you? Does it help?
    .-= Sean´s last blog ..This is Why Your Child Doesn’t Like to Write =-.
  • Works well in terms of getting sheer volume down on the page. How much of that volume is useable is debatable. :)
  • "For the first time in history, we are preparing our children for a future we can barely anticipate."

    SO. TRUE.

    Technology is making advances at such rapid paces and the young adapt to it in rather unexpected ways. Like email: most kids are texting or using MySpace/Facebook to communicate. Not many are blogging or tweeting but they are all about posting pictures and YouTube videos.

    And the fact that we are talking about kids and social media is almost mind blowing.
    .-= Hayden Tompkins´s last blog ..4 Steps Toward A Better 2010 =-.
  • Mia
    It's too crazy! Did you read that New York Times article that said kids were spending, ON AVERAGE!, 8 hours a day connected? That's crazy! Can you imagine what it's going to be like in another 10 years? I can't. No way, no how. But I do know I want to be in a place where we can take our children elsewhere if need be. Cuz I a feared for their future. : )
    .-= Mia´s last blog ..This is Why Your Child Doesn’t Like to Write =-.
  • Oops. That was supposed to be me, but my daughter was still logged in. : )
    .-= Sean´s last blog ..10 Words to Kickstart Your Creative Engine =-.
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