"My daughter reads all the time, but she doesn't seem interested in writing," Molly's mother worried. As the director of an after school writing program, I hear this complaint frequently. I gave Molly's mother my typical response,
"Congratulations! You've already won half the battle."
If your children enjoy reading, when they start writing regularly they will have a built-in a resource that will encourage them to experiment with tone, improve sentence structure, and expand their vocabularies. Children do some of their best learning unconsciously; they have a fantastic capacity to absorb and reprocess. Once an avid reader gets past writing blocks, their writing will naturally improve faster than that of peers who don't read much. Of course, the real trick is getting them writing in the first place.
Writing takes more effort and patience than reading .Good writing requires daily practice and good readers don't automatically become good writers. To free up your child's inhibitions about writing, ask your child to use writing to assist you with routine day-to-day tasks. For example, before you go shopping ask your child to help you write a list of things you need. As a reward, ask your child to write a wish list for your shopping trip. Before you take a vacation, ask your child to write down the places they want to visit, the things they want to do, the type of restaurants they want to eat at, and the hotels they want to stay in; before their birthday party, ask them to write down the presents they wish to receive, the people they want to invite, the food they want to eat, the cake they wish to have. This sort of list making may seem prosaic, but it emphasizes a crucial idea: writing is a way to get what I want in life.
Talking about books is a great way to get your child thinking about character, plot, theme, dialogue, and fiction's other building blocks. Ask your child to list the characteristics of a some favorite fictional protagonists or antagonists. What personality traits do these characters have in common? Are they kind or cruel? Comforting or sinister? Funny or serious? Ask your child to create a character who also has a few of these common traits; challenge your child to give the character at least one new trait.
Once you get the ball rolling, the relationship between reading and writing becomes reciprocal. Your child will absorb important grammar and style rules while reading; simultaneously they will feel a greater sense of purpose when reading.
Joyce Svitak is the co-author of "flying fingers" --master the tools of the learning through the joy of writing. She is also the principal of her school called seeds of learning. Please visit http://www.adorasvitak.com for more writing and reading tips and http://www.seedsoflearning.com for her writing workshop in Redmond, WA.
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