Throughout the centuries, powerful writers have inspired, amused, and profoundly altered the way we view ourselves, others, and the world around us. Great writers have something interesting or important to say and share it in compelling ways. They can communicate  clearly in a way that is engaging and easy to understand. Their writing has personality. The following tips can help as you inspire your children to become great writers.  

Learning to write starts before a child can hold a pencil.   

Writing is about sharing with others, which does not require being able to hold a pencil. Encourage your child to use words to share their feelings and ideas. They can dictate stories, journal entries, or letters while you write them down. Have them make audio recordings. There are lots of ways to help children communicate their ideas long before they can write. 

Good writing  can’t come out of an empty brain. There must be ideas, information, experiences, feelings, or opinions a child wants to share. Talking with children, or more importantly, asking questions and listening, is an important precursor to writing. The more readily a child can share their thoughts, the more likely they are to become good writers.  

Create a home and school environment that encourages creativity. Teaching children to synthesize information, think critically, ask questions, ponder, and meditate about important things are all important aspects of writing that start at an early age. Build children’s confidence that they have something worth sharing and that they have the ability to share it.  

Help children develop fine motor skills. Young children are generally motivated to put things down on paper. This starts with scribbling, drawing, and coloring. Encourage them to develop the skills necessary to transfer what is in their minds into written form. Young children should have plenty of experience with paper, crayons, and pencils. They should learn early that paper and pencil are their friends and they can do great things with them.  

Reading quality literature is a critical component of learning to write.  

If you want your  child to write well, teach them to love reading. Children learn from examples. The more a child reads, the more “writing mentors” they can look up to, and the more ideas they have to draw from. Introduce them to a variety of authors and writing styles. This will help them develop their own style and voice.  

Not all books are created equal. If a child reads books that are written poorly, they are likely to mimic that style and language. If they never branch out and read on a variety of topics, they are likely to struggle when writing within different disciplines. Reading quality literature on a variety of topics will help your child become better at writing. 

Good writing comes from actually writing—not doing worksheets on how to write.   

Teaching the mechanics of writing is important, but an overemphasis on worksheets, especially at an early age, can kill a child’s love for writing and prevent them from developing writing fluency. Initially, encouraging children to write freely, without concern for mechanics, goes a long way toward developing fluency. Once their ideas are down on paper, you can use their own writing as a springboard for studying mechanics. Teach the rules of punctuation and grammar by helping them correct the mistakes in their writing. Keep track of misspelled words and use those as their study list.  

Unlike math or science, where you can easily test to determine if the student knows the material or not, writing is much more open-ended. What the child needs to learn, or practice will become clear as they continue to write. Their motivation to learn the rules of grammar will be much greater when they see a direct connection between learning those rules and the finished quality of their writing.  

So how do you measure improvement or progress in writing? How do you know when your child is on track? Three important milestones can help evaluate your child’s progress.  

1. Basic writing mechanics.  

A child can use letters to write a message and others understand what they were trying to communicate. I will never forget the first time my child gave me a picture with the words, “I love you” written on it. It is hard to know if it was more exciting for them or for me! They clearly communicated something important to them in writing. Start by giving your children crayons and encouraging them to draw using correct pencil grip. Next, help them start forming letters correctly. Once they can write letters, teach them how to use letters to write words and basic sentences.  

2. Writing fluently.  

Writing starts as a very laborious process, but gets easier the more you do it. Eventually, writing just flows naturally. From an early age, get your kids excited about communicating with others through writing and have them write, write, and write. Whenever possible, have them share their ideas and writing with others. You know your child is a fluent writer when they can easily and consistently put their thoughts on paper in a clear, understandable way, and they enjoy doing so.   

3. Engaging writing and good craftsmanship.  

Writing fluently is an important milestone, but it is not the end goal. Children also need to learn to express themselves well. A surprising amount of craftsmanship can be learned just by completing writing projects, getting feedback, and making revisions. As children learn to think critically and analyze information, they must also learn to organize their ideas in a way that makes sense to others. This is where outlining becomes a powerful tool. Outlining helps refine and support ideas with specific information, examples, or anecdotes that give depth and perspective. A sign your child is becoming a good writer is when people are drawn to their writing in a way that inspires them and keeps them wanting to read more. 

So, what can you do to help your child meet this milestones? Time is limited, so focus your energy on the activities that provide the greatest dividends.  In addition to reading great literature, we have found the following activities to be important for developing successful writers.  

• Journals & Family Devotionals: This daily activity is short and impactful. Keeping a daily journal encourages children to think about their life experiences, feelings, and perspectives and then transform those thoughts into written form. Having children read a passage of the scriptures each day (or advanced texts), and write their thoughts is a great way to teach them how to ponder, meditate, think critically, ask questions, share ideas and develop writing fluency.  

• Words to Remember. Using Simply Smart’s Words to Remember program helps students study grammar, style, spelling, handwriting, typing, and practice memorization skills while becoming familiar with important selections of literature from great writers. 

• Writing Projects. Regularly have your child complete a writing project and then share it with others by giving presentations to a co-op, creating your own “kids magazine,” enrolling in competitions and fairs, etc. As children get older, they can complete a smaller writing project once a week or larger projects over several weeks. Writing projects are specific assignments or activities that focus on mastering writing skills and organizational methods. Students should learn to write in the following forms: 1) expository, 2) persuasive, 3) creative and 4) practical (letters, etc.). Simply Smart writing projects use a “template” approach that helps students visualize how to complete the project. The projects are applicable for multiple ages and abilities and can be used repeatedly by varying the topic. No specific order must be followed, but children should rotate between different types of projects until they master them all.  

• Grammar & Style.  When teaching grammar, be efficient. Rather than doing endless busy work, focus on teaching the specific skills your child needs and then incorporating concepts into weekly writing. Simply Smart’s Grammar & Style lessons make it easy to teach grammar & style efficiently. Grammar should be taught as children continue to work on writing projects. You can spread grammar units over several years or complete them in a short period of time. The important thing is that at some point in time, your child learns the skills and concepts listed. Part of the mechanics of writing also includes spelling, handwriting, and typing.   

Improving writing craftsmanship is a lifelong, multifaceted quest, but teaching writing doesn’t have to be hard. Simply Smart has tools to help with each aspect of this process. The important thing is to get children to write and keep them writing. Challenge them to refine their thoughts, ideas, and compositions. Learning to write is like eating an elephant. Just keep taking one small bite at a time. Remember that even young children can share profound, powerful messages that change others. Make writing an important part of your child’s day.