Americans are writing more now than ever, thanks to the abundance of blogging, texting and the internet highway. Writers are influencing our world and the way we think.
Martin Luther was spot on when he said, “If you want to change the world, pick up your pen!” Harriet Beecher Stowe proved this with her compelling novel UncleTom’s Cabin. President Abraham Lincoln hailed her as “the little woman who started this great Civil War” because of the powerful narrative of slavery she portrayed. If the written word is so paramount in shaping the world around us, how can we as educators develop its importance in our homeschools?
Creative Writing is far more than leading your children to make up fanciful stories. It offers a multitude of educational opportunities building skills your children will use throughout their lifetimes.
- It teaches strategic thought and problem solving through learning how to write a plot.
- It teaches close observation through learning to develop sensory writing which happily overflows into science class!
- It teaches characterization, producing self expression and empathy.
- It livens up language class by teaching sentence structure and format in a fun way.
- It teaches how to unleash creativity, how to think outside the box, invent and practice imagination.
- It helps children succeed and grow in confidence. They may not feel brave enough to tackle a new skill, or process a current life experience but through speaking through the eyes of the characters they can write about it.
- It helps develop creative nonfiction writing by learning how to write vividly.
Tips to Help Your Child Succeed in Creative Writing
- Don’t make creative writing a lesson in grammar or spelling. This is paramount! If the critical voice becomes too noisy, it will drown out the creative voice and your child will stop wanting to write and may resist you. As their spelling improves during spelling class and grammar improves in language class, it will also improve in writing class.
- Whatever they write, praise, praise, praise! You may wince on the inside over the spelling or neatness, but don’t let on. They may beam at the fact that they produced only one sentence in the beginning. So water your little plants with encouragement and watch them grow, grow, grow!
- Let them write about what they love. Whacky plots, oddball characters, made up fantasy worlds and all. Many times a child is processing what they are learning about in life through their characters. .
- Keep tools handy that will help them succeed. Find a fun and inexpensive creative writing curriculum that can help you step by step. Look for something that is easy to use and will help your child stir up ideas.
- Give them a reason to write by starting a Friday night Flashlight Theatre or Writing Club. Invite grandma and grandpa, neighbors, friends or families over to listen to the next adventure or chapter your child or group has written. Turn off the lights and shine several flashlights on the reader. Pop popcorn or serve a favorite snack. Let your child read their stories for all to hear. Soon they will be motivated to write more and more and the other children may want to join in and write as well.
We need Christian writers in this generation! We need more authors like C.S. Lewis to remind us of courage, loyalty, the reward of godliness and the cost of evil. And those little writers, who are sitting at their desks in your homeschool, writing about puppies and kittens, could be the next world changers for Christ!
Jan May has been a creative writing teacher for over ten years and homeschool veteran of fifteen. She is also author and homeschool curriculum publisher of New Millennium Girl Books: Christian based writing books with hands-on appeal for all types of learners. She enjoys igniting creativity in children and believes that given the right tools and encouragement, any child can write and love it! www.NewMillenniumGirlBooks.com
