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.
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.
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.
Other purposes for writing assignments may include sending a letter to a friend or relative, entering a writing contest, writing a letter to the newspaper editor, writing a summary of your science fair project, sharing a story about an event in your life, writing a ministry letter, or a myriad of other purposes. Do your children have a purpose for their writing?
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.
Using the process of writing format through publishing automatically gives your child a purpose for writing. As you look for a writing program, look for one that uses writing with whatever subjects you are studying. Writing should not a separate subject in and of itself. That's the way life is...writing is part of all aspects of your life and your students should be able to write in many areas. Writing in a variety of subject areas will also show your students that writing has a purpose in all of life.
About the Author:
Kerry Beck enjoys helping homeschool moms and classroom teachers with writing activities. Go grab her free mini-course about writing lessons right now.
Get all the information and photos:: http://coringa.info/education/how-to-motivate-your-students-to-write
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