Journaling with your children
Begin keeping a journal when your children are very young, perhaps in kindergarten. Choose a journal that allows the both of you to record several years of their life. In helping your child to write about their life, you will promote a love of both reading and writing. Ask them to record how old they are, who their teacher is, who their friends are and what they are learning. Let them share all of their favorite things: food, animals, colors, etc. Make sure they write down what they want to be when they grow up as they will surely get a kick out of that when they are older. Let them trace their hand. Paste a class photo in the journal. Try to find a journal that includes pocket dividers so you can save special projects that they bring home. Keeping a journal with your child not only brings the two of you closer but it allows you to explore the world together.
Road Trip Journal for Kids
A ChildrenĄ¯s Road Trip Journal filled with activities is the perfect way to keep kids busy when you hit the road! Children can start to use it even before they get into the car. They can keep a list of what they bring, maintain a calendar of fun things that they will do, and take along addresses to send postcards to friends. In the car, they can write about and draw all of the things they see along the way. An additional bonus is that they can play games like car bingo, test their knowledge of the US states or keep track of where they are going if a map is included.The right ChildrenĄ¯s Road Trip Journal brings the perfect balance of education and fun!
Horse Diary for Children
Does your little one love horses? Try giving your child a diary with images of horses on the front cover. Use the pictures as inspiration for writing. Talk about how horses sometimes graze in fields and other times they gallop across the land. Then relate horse behavior to the release of thoughts on the page. For example, your child can either spend time writing about one main thought or write with the hope of capturing all different thoughts as they race through their head. This is a good precursor to more serious free-writing as it teaches children how to unleash their imaginations. Additionally, you can encourage your child to read both fiction and non-fiction books about horses. Then, they can write about them. Copyright ? 2004 Natasha Reilly.
ChildrenĄ¯s Pet Journal
Children love animals and often end up asking to bring home a fish, dog, cat, hamster, gerbil, horse, etc. Whatever pet they own, try getting them a pet journal in which they can keep all the information about their pet or pets. You may want to seek out an interactive pet journal that includes specific questions they will have to answer. A journal of this type encourages your child to take responsibility for their animal. The more responsible they are, the better equipped they will be to answer the journal questions. They can write a description of the animal along with a history of how that pet came to be a member of the family. Take a picture of the animal and paste it inside with information about its favorite treats and toys. Encouraging your child to write both descriptive information and factual information allows them to enhance their writing skills. This type of journal persuades children to look closely at details which are extremely beneficial for developing their writing and for noticing important things in life as well. Copyright ? 2004 Natasha Reilly.