One way to encourage children to write is to have an end purpose.

KIDS CAN WRITE—TWO

“Kids Can Write” is a series of reading and writing tips for folks who teach and nurture kids. I’ve field tested all the ideas in public schools, private schools, homes, or home schools. Hopefully, they will work for you, too! Please contact me with questions or suggestions.


MAKE IT COUNT
So many children see no point in writing. With cell phones and video cameras available, what’s the point of writing? With my own children and grandchildren, and with students in the classroom, I make sure each writing project is purposeful.

THANK YOU LETTERS
Thank-you letters for Christmas gifts, particularly when they’ve arrived from afar, make sense to a child. If Amy thanks Grandma for the gift, then maybe there’ll be another one next year! And it’s especially meaningful if Grandma has also sent Amy a thank-you note for that picture Amy so carefully drew.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Older children will be excited to see their words in print when they write a letter to the editor of a smaller newspaper. Don’t bother sending student letters to the WASHINGTON POST and other large newspapers. Their Letters to the Editor sections are dotted with names such as Colin Powell or John Ashcroft. But in smaller newspapers, letters from children are often published, particularly if the children mention their age. And occasionally, they are taken seriously. Last year, letters from students to the local newspaper and to state congressmen secured air conditioning for one of our schools. This year, students are bombarding the newspaper with woeful tales of inadequate funding in their own schools.

WORKSHEETS
While worksheets keep the child occupied at his seat, education research shows they seldom accomplish much. Certainly, for most children, they kill the incentive to write.
Instead of the busy work of worksheets, find writing projects that serve a purpose.

Elaine Masters teaches writing workshops for students, writers, and parents. She also teaches teachers how to teach kids how to write. See the “Books” category for her currently available books.