Relying on Google search, this is among the top questions for many parents. And while most teachers concentrate on reading and math, their young students lack writing skills, which makes their moms and dads feel helpless:
Kids don't like writing, but they need to master this skill; you don't know how to motivate them to write, but you say they should do that. Result? Unhappy kids who believe that writing is difficult, boring, and useless.
How do you get your kid to love writing? The same as you did it with reading. You read books to them, right? So why not write with them?
Incorporate writing skills into your everyday life. These tips will help you get a child interested in writing, so they could develop critical thinking and the argumentation of their thoughts in adult life.
Create a Bright Writer's Toolbox!
I've got this tip from Anna.
Once your kid gets a writing space and you start setting writing prompts for him or her, you may face negative reaction and unwillingness to do what you want. They just don't understand you want to promote a love of writing, so try another tack: give them something they are excited about.
Buy a bright box from a craft store and add some fancy instruments for writing there. You know what your kid loves, so you are free to choose tools that will inspire him or her to write.
can be colored pencils, stickers, a fun notebook, a personal spelling
dictionary, cards with writing ideas, stamps, a pen with a favorite
Organize some mini-lessons or writing sessions with your kid. Ask to write a short story about how they spent a day, what happened with your cat, what was in a movie you watched yesterday together... They could also write a letter to your far-away relatives and tell all the news. Choose topics of your kid's interest, so they would motivate him to share thoughts.
Let Them See That You Write!
Become an example for your kid to follow. When you write a shopping list, send an email, or craft a note for your second half and your preschooler asks what you are doing – take a second, show him what you do, and explain why you do that.
Write thank-you notes together, create notes for all-family launch boxes, etc. It shouldn't be long expository essays or something like that; your kid just needs to see that writing can be creative and exciting, not just boring and unwanted.
Encourage Them to Write a Book!
I bet you have many books at home and you read stories to your kids before they go to bed. Why not encourage them to write own books?
Childhood is the time when imagination flourishes and we build tons of stories in our head. Ask your kid to write one of them. When done, you can print and put it on the shelf with your other books! Don’t limit your child with one genre: poems are okay to practice, too. :-)
you can submit their stories to writing contests or children's
magazines. Just imagine how proud your son or daughter will be to see
their book live.
Ask Them to Help You With Shopping Lists
Doing so, you make a child see that writing is a skill they can use in everyday life. Ask them to add some items in your shopping list to practice some writing. Or, you can make them responsible for a certain item and ask to add it to a shopping list each time when it's out in your kitchen.
So you'll teach responsibility, not only writing. And, as a rule, kids do love such activities: they feel you trust them, and they do everything for you to praise them for being so responsible.
And one more thing:
When your kid just begins writing, his or her stories are mainly pictures. Encourage him to draw items in shopping lists, let him illustrate stories with some stamps or stickers, and don't be angry if a kid decides to draw comics together with words to tell his story.
Creativity and art are powerful motivators.
Find Alternative Ways of Writing
Pens or pencils aren't the only instruments to use for writing. Why not type stories on a laptop? Or, if your kid finds it hard to write with a pen, forcing him to do that may destroy a motivation to write.
Be creative and find alternative ways so your child could practice writing: a tray with sand where he will write with fingers is among the instruments you could use. Or use salt instead of sand. The idea is to build up the strength in your child’s hands for better motor control so that he wouldn't find the act of writing itself difficult.