Parents: Make Writing Meaningful to Your Children

Writing project teachers have assembled a handbook for parents, now available in English, Spanish, Korean, Dari/Farsi, Vietnamese, and Russian. The tips below suggest what a parent or teacher can do to encourage writing. The handbook also describes how to make each tip work. For information about the handbook, please visit the California Writing Project website.

• Exchange Post-it® notes with your children. Put the notes on pillowcases or mirrors, or in lunch boxes, books, or any surprise location.
• Help children assemble photo albums of family events and write captions for the photos.
• Ask children to put their wishes and wants into writing and to suggest how they may work toward or contribute to getting what they want.
• Help children create a family newsletter or website to share with family members near and far.
• Suggest that your children write postcards to themselves when they are away from home. When they receive their own postcards in the mail, they will have a souvenir of their trip.
• Make writing practical and useful by having children write grocery and task lists, reminders and phone messages, instructions for caring for pets, or directions for getting to the park.
• Ask children to find a "golden line" in their reading—a sentence that especially attracts them and makes them aware of what clever or colorful writing looks like.

From Helping Children Learn To Write, an online National Writing Project Publication

http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/resources/help_write.csp

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Other Excellent Articles for Parents
from the National Writing Project:

Writing Together-An article with ideas and suggestions for writing activities you can complete as a family.

http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/resources/write_together.csp



Writing and Reading-An article discussing the reading-writing connection, and giving suggestions for helping your child enjoy reading.

http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/resources/write_read.csp



Other Resources-A list of links from the National Writing Project, ranging from informational sites with articles for parents to fun, interactive sites where your child can create and publish his or her writing, and everything in between.

 http://www.nwp.org/cs/public/print/doc/resources/other_resources.csp