Encouraging Children to Write.

For many children we now know that they will not go back to school this academic year. I've always believed that parents and carer's skills of educating their children have been over-looked by society, that learning is seen as a specialised area only achieved in the presence of qualified teachers. Teachers are very skilled (I'm one of them!) and do a fantastic job but the curriculum has been narrowed and focused on achieving targets for so long in a way that is causing worry right now for a lot of parents (and maybe teachers too). Concerns such as children "falling behind", "not being where they should be"' "missing an education" etc are common. I too have been deeply concerned about the difference between the amount of work set and sent via the internet to my children and the amount they have completed. I have had to battle with myself over this lots of times, I've had to stop following people online who are sharing their child's learning and even if they mentioned 'home schooling'. If this is you, this is not, of course because you are doing something wrong it's because it was triggering for me. It was playing on my insecurities. It was adding fuel to the fire that was burning inside of me making me feel inadequate because how could I not manage this situation when I can manage a class of 30 kids? So because we are clearly in this for the long run I have decided to put pen to paper (well actually tap away on my keyboard) and do two things
1. Reassure you that you are fab!
2. Share some practical ideas that I have found useful in the 20 years I have taught primary and early years and the 12 years I have been a parent.

So 1. You are doing a fab job. Remember that. At all times. You are doing what I am doing and every parent is doing. You are doing the best you can do within your circumstances and your unique family. Your child is exactly where they need to be right now in terms of academic success/learning etc. Children usually are exactly where they need to be. Adults (usually the education system, but there are other influences here) are the ones who decide what age a child 'should' be able to do something. This is made up! Of course it's made up, someone has decided this based on .... I'm not sure what exactly. Maybe averages (there's no such thing as an average child!). Children are not missing out on an education they are still learning. A child learns all the time. It is impossible to stop a child from learning (that doesn't mean children always learn what an adult wants them to - otherwise all children would actually be at the same level exactly if they have received the same standardised National Curriculum. This is not the case, all children had different strengths prior to this pandemic and still do). In many ways, for many children the quality of learning happening now is much better quality than it was when all children are in school because many children are within their own families, usually with a loving caregiver who knows the child much better than anyone else in the world! By this I don't mean teacher's don't do a fantastic job it's just that a parent knows the child best and learning can often happen better with the support of a loving parent or carer.

How you approach learning at this time with your child is going to be unique to you and to your unique child and your unique circumstances. I am not going to dwell, right now, on the numerous ways families are attempting this. You've probably chatted with friends about this and looked at people's posts online etc to have an idea. If you haven't, perhaps don't because it is tempting to compare and then feel guilty. I liken this feeling to when I had my first child. Things might have been going well at a particular time (in a kind of confused, sleep deprived I have no idea what I'm doing sort of way!) when I would rock up to a baby session or play group and chat with a parent, find out they were doing something different and I would feel like I needed to change everything and be like them! This feeling comes from a lack of confidence because as a new parent I (like many others) was pretty much out of my depth with no clue how to get back to the shallows. This is a similar to how many parents are feeling about education right now. That doesn't mean people shouldn't chat or share posts about their children's learning. However, it may be worth thinking about avoiding seeing exactly what others are doing if you are finding this triggers insecurities, comparisons and panic in you too! Until you can get to a place of confidence in what you are doing and how your child is learning (which, to be honest, in a global pandemic may never be 100% confidence) possibly use social media carefully in a way that is helpful but does not make you feel bad. That also means if this isn't useful because I am sharing ideas stop reading now! It might seem wierd I've decided to write this after describing my feelings however it came about after talking to a neighbour and realising there are lots of simple ideas I use that might be helpful to others. I've spent several weeks writing this, changing it and considering if this is a help or a hindrance. You decide. I like to think that I am not 'home schooling' my kids, sometimes we do a bit of 'emergency schooling' or 'distance learning'. However, mostly we learn or we be or we relax and we try to live the best we can in these tricky times. I follow my children's lead and let them decide how much work set by the school to complete and when to do it and around this we simply live the best we can.

So that leads me onto 2. Some practical ideas.
Please bear in mind these are some ideas that have been beneficial for my children or children I have taught in the past and they might create some learning for your child, they might not. That's the thing with children you can't actually predict what will be useful all the time (you know that already, of course). If this isn't useful don't follow the ideas. If you try something and your children aren't interested stop. This is not about forcing learning 'situations' on to children it's just a few ideas that might be useful. Some of them may even buy you 10 mins with a cuppa (but I'm not guaranteeing that!).

- In a tray or baking tray, sprinkle a little sand, flour or salt. Shake the tray so that there is a fine layer covering most of it. Then with a finger (or you can use a stick) draw, make marks or write words. This activity is suitable for children from around 2 years old to any age if they like it! We haven't done this for a while but my children (who are now 10 and 12) liked it last time we did it. If you want some curriculum links in terms of the EYFS (Early Years Foundation Stage, from birth to age 60 months+) this support physical development (fine motor control) and possibly writing skills as well as most likely a whole host of other areas because that's how learning happens. It's rarely just one 'area' or 'subject' that is learnt at one time. In the past when my children (in KS1 or KS2) had lists of spellings to learn we sometimes used these trays to practice the spelling. If you want to start again with a 'blank' tray simply give it a gentle shake again. Once set up this might be one that buys you a little time. I'd suggest starting off playing with this with your child and then leaving it out for them to come back to. Outside is good but it isn't that messy on a kitchen table as you only need a small amount of flour, salt or sand (though of course it will go on the floor, flour coats clothes quite nicely and depending on the age of your child they might eat some of it!).

- A type-writer! I know you probably haven't got one or probably can't get one right now but I bought my 10 year old one from a charity shop just before they shut. This has been brilliant and she has loved typing away. Although you might not have a type writer you've probably got a computer, tablet or phone (otherwise how are you reading this!?). Kids often love to type away on a screen instead of picking up a pencil!
Another good thing to do (especially if they find typing difficult) is for them to come up with the ideas and you to be their scribe. The process of formulating ideas often comes really easy for children, kids tend to have fabulous imaginations. But the process of formulating these ideas into sentences, thinking about spelling and maybe punctuation is often quite off-putting. I remember clearly a year 5 child I taught who struggled getting pen to paper but wrote the most amazing poem when he said it out loud and I typed it on a computer. Of course, being a scribe means you can also model the correct spelling (or how to find it if you don't know how to spell a word) and the correct punctuation. Older children with their own phone are, obviously, writing every time they send a message.

- Writing for a purpose. Letter writing has been very popular in my house in the last few weeks for one child (but not the other). Delivering the letter to a friend who lives nearby has also given us a purpose for a walk (as would a walk to the post box for a friend or family member who lives further away).

-Shopping lists are another form of writing for a purpose. We have a piece of scrap paper blue-tacked to the inside of our kitchen cupboard, this is our family shopping list. The children can add whatever they want on the list. We have done this, not as an exercise in writing but because we believe children should have the right to make decisions about things that affect their life. It also came from the kids regularly asking us to buy some specific food item. I didn't like feeling that I was expected to remember their ideas so I set up this very simple system so they had a way of expressing what they would like. This doesn't mean you have to buy everything they write, I'll leave that judgement up to you and your budget. If they are asking for items that are too expensive this could lead to some valuable maths work on budgeting, living within our means, balancing everyone's wants and needs etc. Personally I have found my kids have been really sensible and add a few items now and again. The list photographed was just before my daughter's birthday where there are more items added to the list because she wanted to make her own birthday cake and plan her birthday tea.

- Reading. Either your child reading to themselves or looking through a book independently or you reading to your child (say at bedtime) or a relative video calling and reading to your child or an online resource with someone reading a book (our primary school has some members of staff doing this as a YouTube video) or there are some facebook pages. Reading and an enjoyment of books is, obviously, an important thing to develop in itself but it's also very important to develop writing skills. Writers are readers. Writers get lots of ideas from reading. Writers learn (in a natural way) about grammar and word choices through simply reading or hearing stories or poems or non-fiction books, or (age appropriate) newspaper articles or recipes, instructions, the ingredients in a box of cereal being read to them. All are equally valid, if they are of interest to your child.

- A writing area. This could be a desk. This could be a drawer. This could be a pot with a pencil in and a piece of paper next to it. Basically I'm saying if you can have a few resources available that your child can access they are more likely to write (though they might not). Things I keep are scraps of paper, a few sheets of printer paper, pieces of cardboard cut from cereal packets, old envelopes (that we can reuse), old cards (the front part cut off could become a postcard) and then sometimes I fold bits of paper into simple books.

- A notebook. Having their own notebook sometimes encourages writing in a way a piece of paper doesn't! Making one by stapling pieces of paper together, might work just as well. In the past this has encouraged story writing and drawing. More recently my children have watched YouTube videos and then written instructions and recipes from them into their note books to use later. Dancing and stretching has become popular since restrictions have been in place so the instructions are often on this theme and they then use them to practice techniques.

- Chalk. Kids often like to write (or draw) on a patio, drive or garden path.

- Add opportunities to write with things they like to play with. Examples include a shopping list (just a scrap of paper and a pencil) in amongst a play kitchen. Paper in the lego box (possibly for designing a model) etc.

-Magnetic letters sometimes create inspiration to create words when pen and paper doesn't. Suitable for any age. If you don't have magnetic letters you could write individual letters on scraps of paper and blue-tack them to the fridge. Alternatively if your child is learning specific phonemes (sounds) as set by school (probably if your child is in foundation, year 1 or possibly year 2) you could write these on paper or put them on the fridge with magnetic letters along with some other letters and see if your child chooses to play with them. For example, if your child has been sent work home and are learning say the 'ea' sound you could put this on the fridge with some other letters that create a word such as b, d for bead or s to make sea etc. They might play with them and not make words, that's fine. Older children might make their own word (possibly a rude one when they think no one is looking!).

-Spelling games including scrabble, boggle, bananagram, crosswords and wordsearches all can develop spelling skills if your child likes them.

This is no means the end of the list. The possibilities are, pretty much, endless. If you think your child might like them leave them out or offer to try the idea with them. If they inspire them to write, great! If not don't worry.
Please feel free to add any ideas you have got in the comments.

You might also like: Summer Learning