“Children should spend more time writing. Opportunities to write more than a sentence or two are infrequent in most American elementary school classrooms. As well as being valuable in its own right, writing promotes ability in reading.”
~ Exerpt: Becoming a Nation of Readers
Sean and I teach a Writer’s Workshop for 4th Graders at Mia‘s school each week as part of our volunteered hours. Time is the greatest philanthropic gift to our school, and even at its most scarce we are always happy to give it.
Attitudinally, our group of 30 writers ranged from enthusiastic to aw man, we have to write? We started our first class with reasons why writing is important, Sean and I moving the entire class through the writing process from brainstorm to final edit.
- Writing is critical thinking.
- Writing is a tool for learning.
- Writing benefits reading.
- Writing applies language skills.
- Writing is communication.
- Writing encourages discovery.
- Writing reveals the writer.
- Writing is fun.
Why Teach Writing?
Writing IS fun. Working with Writer Dad is a joy because he turns writing into recreation. He’s hilarious, loving, quick witted, smart all the way to infinity and beyond, the best father you could ever imagine, and yes an amazing writer. No doubt, no diggity.
Starting a blog is writing personified. Think about it: when you write a post you are embracing the writing process. Pre-write on a napkin at the stop light on the way to pick up the children, first draft in your mind as you’re driving, sloppy copy in your notebook digital or spiral, revise, edit and hit publish.
Yes, children, writing is fun and let us show you why and how. The response from our parents has been overwhelming. Some admitted their child did not want to come to the workshop. We were shocked when parents confessed. Some of the students that dreaded the idea of writing the most have now taken the ball and are ready to swish it through the net.
We got them where we wanted. Writing is fun. We will continue to work with this group until the end of the year. We have invested in their abilities and they have become attached to the positive rapport, consistent encouragement to continue writing, and now best part …publishing their efforts on the school website. Nothing builds traffic to a school website more than, “Look what my baby did!”
Cindy Platt is an educational consultant and home school expert.
About Sean Platt
Well done you guys for what you’ve achieved! With you 1,000% on this one! Writing isn’t just fun, it’s life! It’s a way of examining and shaping our thoughts and experiences as well as finding a vehicle to express our deepest feelings.
Teaching creative writing to kids was one of my greatest pleasures – they have fewer hangups than the adults! I especially liked the lessons we did on haiku, cross sense descriptions and making up words. My own kids have grown up thinking that reading and writing have great worth (they both write beautifully – I got short stories from each of them as my special Christmas gift) but what makes me deeply, deeply sad is how many kids and parents think of writing as just a ‘boring, hard school thing’.
Get your online school up and running as fast as you can – the world needs you both and many kids and parents will be blessed!
Well done you guys for what you’ve achieved! With you 1,000% on this one! Writing isn’t just fun, it’s life! It’s a way of examining and shaping our thoughts and experiences as well as finding a vehicle to express our deepest feelings.
Teaching creative writing to kids was one of my greatest pleasures – they have fewer hangups than the adults! I especially liked the lessons we did on haiku, cross sense descriptions and making up words. My own kids have grown up thinking that reading and writing have great worth (they both write beautifully – I got short stories from each of them as my special Christmas gift) but what makes me deeply, deeply sad is how many kids and parents think of writing as just a ‘boring, hard school thing’.
Get your online school up and running as fast as you can – the world needs you both and many kids and parents will be blessed!
when you enjoy the fun in writing, readers get its share too, while reading !
when you enjoy the fun in writing, readers get its share too, while reading !
They’re not too young to learn that “writing is powerful and can change the world”
They’re not too young to learn that “writing is powerful and can change the world”
Yes, writing really is FUN. For me, writing is also release. There is just something about pouring my thoughts and ideas into a word document but what I really love is being able to go back, clean it up and make it read exactly the way I want it to read. In a sense, writing is forgiving. I also enjoy the response to the articles I write on the fly at 4am .
Yes, writing really is FUN. For me, writing is also release. There is just something about pouring my thoughts and ideas into a word document but what I really love is being able to go back, clean it up and make it read exactly the way I want it to read. In a sense, writing is forgiving. I also enjoy the response to the articles I write on the fly at 4am .
That is awesome! Good work, the both of you. It must be a great feeling to impact the kids in such a way.
I also caught the writing bug in fourth grade. And it was due to a teacher… who I happened to have a huge crush on.
That is awesome! Good work, the both of you. It must be a great feeling to impact the kids in such a way.
I also caught the writing bug in fourth grade. And it was due to a teacher… who I happened to have a huge crush on.
“Blogging is writing personified.” I love this sentence. It is so very true. And the way you describe the blogging process – right on.
“Blogging is writing personified.” I love this sentence. It is so very true. And the way you describe the blogging process – right on.
Awesome work. Congratulations! You both will have made a big difference in the lives of those kids by inculcating in them a love for writing.
And I really did not realize that a LOT of people blog the way I do – amidst children, milk, rides, screams and naps :)
Awesome work. Congratulations! You both will have made a big difference in the lives of those kids by inculcating in them a love for writing.
And I really did not realize that a LOT of people blog the way I do – amidst children, milk, rides, screams and naps :)