Writing is the foundation for good thinking
How you ignite your child's interest in writing, foster their creativity, build their skills, and nurture a lifelong love and appreciation for the written word.
"Clear writing gives poor thinking nowhere to hide."
— Shane Parrish
When children practice articulating their thoughts through writing, they also learn to think more clearly and critically. Clear writing is like a playground for the mind; it encourages children to explore their ideas, organize them coherently, and communicate them effectively. As they write, children engage in a reflective process where they refine their ideas and gain a deeper understanding of the topics at hand. For homeschooling families guiding children through this process, it not only improves their writing skills but also significantly contributes to the development of robust thinking skills. Through engaging with the act of writing, children learn to dissect complex ideas, make connections, and express themselves with clarity and insight, thereby laying a strong foundation for great thinking.
Below you will find some writing strategies that have been successful for us.
1. Start with the interests of the children
First get your child to love writing, then worry about what or how they write. If your child loves Taylor Swift, let her write her own lyrics for a Taylor Swift song and record herself singing it. If your child is a passionate video gamer, let him write a review of his favorite video game or a script for a new video game. If they love art, let them create a graphic novel or a comic strip. There are so many ways to tailor writing to what your child loves. Once they feel excited and confident about writing, then you can focus on having them write in different formats and on more serious topics.
This is one of the many benefits of homeschooling; you can tailor learning individually to the child, making learning significantly more effective, which is very difficult, if not impossible, in a traditional school setting.
2. Give the children's texts a purpose
Too often kids’ writing assignments feel contrived and without purpose. Kids are left wondering: why do I have to put all this effort into writing just for the sake of it? But it doesn't have to be that way! There are lots of ways to give your kids’ writing an authentic, real world purpose. Perhaps they have an issue they are passionate about and they can write a letter to their local politician. Or they could create a short documentary educating the public about an issue they care about. Writing a script for a short video is a great way to get your kids writing clearly and with purpose. Have your child write a persuasive essay or give a persuasive speech on something they deeply want. Our daughter desperately wants to get a pet so she put a ton of effort into writing a persuasive essay arguing why our family should get a pet - and it very nearly worked! Another way to help your child’s writing feel more purposeful is to give it an audience. If you search online you’ll find many writing competitions and kids’ literary journals that your child could submit their work to. Or you could organize a little gathering of friends and family to hear your child read their latest story or give a persuasive speech about something they care about.
3. Let the ideas flow!
Often kids’ have so much more to say in their heads than they are able to get down on paper and this is especially true of younger children or those that have learning differences. While having your child work through the process of writing down their own thoughts is important, sometimes it’s more important to just let their ideas flow. Whether it’s having your child dictate a story to you while you write it down or letting them use a voice-to-text app, allowing them to let their ideas flow without the constraint of handwriting or typing or spelling or grammar can make them feel more excited about writing and more successful.
5. Pen Pals, Letter Writing & Journaling
There’s something magical about receiving a handwritten letter. Pair your child up with a friend or family member to exchange letters. Or find a penpal from another country using Global Pen Friends. Not only does this hone their writing skills, but it also teaches patience and the joy of anticipation!
You might also see if your child enjoys journaling. Buy or make a special diary where they can share their thoughts, hopes and dreams on a regular basis. Not only does it develop their writing skills, but it’s also a place for them to work through their feelings and ideas.
6. Make it Collaborative and playful
There’s nothing more fun than writing a story together! Get siblings or friends together for a collaborative writing session - one child writes a few lines or a paragraph, and then the next child continues. Kids could go in order or roll a dice to see who goes next. It becomes a fun, collaborative, friends-written story.
8. Revision is key
While it’s important to let your children’s ideas flow, it’s equally important to get them into the habit of revising & editing their work. The very best writers are those who re-read and revise their work multiple times. This can be daunting so have your child work on this in bite size chunks. Treat it like a scavenger hunt where you ask them to complete a series of challenges - like find and correct 2-3 spelling mistakes, find and replace 2-3 overused words, add in 2-3 descriptor words and make one sentence shorter. You can work up to them being able to revise and edit an entire piece of writing but the important thing for now is to get them used to the idea that writing is not done the minute you finish your first draft.
7. Don’t shy away from AI
There’s a lot of debate in schools right now about whether or not students should be able to use ChatGPT and other AI tools to assist with their school work. It is of course important for children to learn to write unassisted but there are ways to use AI that can enhance your child’s enjoyment of writing and help them develop their skills. ChatGPT is a great place, for example, to generate story and character ideas. If you’re stuck with your story, you can ask ChatGPT for plot suggestions or character ideas. You can co-write a story with ChatGPT by having your child write a few lines of a story, then ask ChatGPT to write a few, and so on and so forth. You can ask ChatGPT to help you develop arguments for an argumentative essay or to help you dig up evidence for your arguments. You can hone your debate skills by providing ChatGPT with a topic to debate and asking it to take the opposing position. You can also ask ChatGPT to critique your writing - often the best way to improve your writing is to see how it could be enhanced or rewritten.
4. Spark the imagination of the children
While it’s good to give your child freedom to write about whatever they wish, sometimes a blank piece of paper can be intimidating. In these moments there are many ways to spark your child’s imagination with creative, surprising or humorous prompts. Create a ‘lucky dip’ bag of different prompts that your child can pull from - the sillier or more imaginative, the better! You can find lots of fun prompt ideas online or you can enlist the help of ChatGPT. Here are a few examples:
To create prompts that are personalized to the age and interests of your child, try putting this prompt into ChatGPT:
Magical Egg
Imagine you found a magical egg in your backyard. Describe the creature that hatches from it and the adventures you go on together.
Time Travel
You've just discovered a time machine that can take you to any period in history. Where would you go, who would you meet, and why?
Secret Door
While playing in the attic, you stumble upon a secret door leading to a mysterious land. What does this land look like, and who lives there?
Day in the Life
If you were the President or a King/Queen for a day, what rules would you make? What would your typical day look like?
Island Adventure
You find yourself on a deserted island with only three items. What are they, and how do you use them to survive and find your way back home?
Superpowers
Overnight, you gain the ability to talk to animals. What do they tell you, and how does your life change?
ChatGPT prompt
I'd like to generate some fun and imaginative writing prompts for my child. Please start by asking me some questions about my child so that you can generate prompts that are personalized to their age and interests.
Lumos Newsletter
Receive regular updates about what's happening at Lumos.
Writing is the foundation for good thinking
How you ignite your child's interest in writing, foster their creativity, build their skills, and nurture a lifelong love and appreciation for the written word.
"Clear writing gives poor thinking nowhere to hide."
— Shane Parrish
When children practice articulating their thoughts through writing, they also learn to think more clearly and critically. Clear writing is like a playground for the mind; it encourages children to explore their ideas, organize them coherently, and communicate them effectively. As they write, children engage in a reflective process where they refine their ideas and gain a deeper understanding of the topics at hand. For homeschooling families guiding children through this process, it not only improves their writing skills but also significantly contributes to the development of robust thinking skills. Through engaging with the act of writing, children learn to dissect complex ideas, make connections, and express themselves with clarity and insight, thereby laying a strong foundation for great thinking.
Below you will find some writing strategies that have been successful for us.
1. Start with the interests of the children
First get your child to love writing, then worry about what or how they write. If your child loves Taylor Swift, let her write her own lyrics for a Taylor Swift song and record herself singing it. If your child is a passionate video gamer, let him write a review of his favorite video game or a script for a new video game. If they love art, let them create a graphic novel or a comic strip. There are so many ways to tailor writing to what your child loves. Once they feel excited and confident about writing, then you can focus on having them write in different formats and on more serious topics.
This is one of the many benefits of homeschooling; you can tailor learning individually to the child, making learning significantly more effective, which is very difficult, if not impossible, in a traditional school setting.
2. Give the children's texts a purpose
Too often kids’ writing assignments feel contrived and without purpose. Kids are left wondering: why do I have to put all this effort into writing just for the sake of it? But it doesn't have to be that way! There are lots of ways to give your kids’ writing an authentic, real world purpose. Perhaps they have an issue they are passionate about and they can write a letter to their local politician. Or they could create a short documentary educating the public about an issue they care about. Writing a script for a short video is a great way to get your kids writing clearly and with purpose. Have your child write a persuasive essay or give a persuasive speech on something they deeply want. Our daughter desperately wants to get a pet so she put a ton of effort into writing a persuasive essay arguing why our family should get a pet - and it very nearly worked! Another way to help your child’s writing feel more purposeful is to give it an audience. If you search online you’ll find many writing competitions and kids’ literary journals that your child could submit their work to. Or you could organize a little gathering of friends and family to hear your child read their latest story or give a persuasive speech about something they care about.
3. Let the ideas flow!
Often kids’ have so much more to say in their heads than they are able to get down on paper and this is especially true of younger children or those that have learning differences. While having your child work through the process of writing down their own thoughts is important, sometimes it’s more important to just let their ideas flow. Whether it’s having your child dictate a story to you while you write it down or letting them use a voice-to-text app, allowing them to let their ideas flow without the constraint of handwriting or typing or spelling or grammar can make them feel more excited about writing and more successful.
5. Pen Pals, Letter Writing & Journaling
There’s something magical about receiving a handwritten letter. Pair your child up with a friend or family member to exchange letters. Or find a penpal from another country using Global Pen Friends. Not only does this hone their writing skills, but it also teaches patience and the joy of anticipation!
You might also see if your child enjoys journaling. Buy or make a special diary where they can share their thoughts, hopes and dreams on a regular basis. Not only does it develop their writing skills, but it’s also a place for them to work through their feelings and ideas.
6. Make it Collaborative and playful
There’s nothing more fun than writing a story together! Get siblings or friends together for a collaborative writing session - one child writes a few lines or a paragraph, and then the next child continues. Kids could go in order or roll a dice to see who goes next. It becomes a fun, collaborative, friends-written story.
8. Revision is key
While it’s important to let your children’s ideas flow, it’s equally important to get them into the habit of revising & editing their work. The very best writers are those who re-read and revise their work multiple times. This can be daunting so have your child work on this in bite size chunks. Treat it like a scavenger hunt where you ask them to complete a series of challenges - like find and correct 2-3 spelling mistakes, find and replace 2-3 overused words, add in 2-3 descriptor words and make one sentence shorter. You can work up to them being able to revise and edit an entire piece of writing but the important thing for now is to get them used to the idea that writing is not done the minute you finish your first draft.
7. Don’t shy away from AI
There’s a lot of debate in schools right now about whether or not students should be able to use ChatGPT and other AI tools to assist with their school work. It is of course important for children to learn to write unassisted but there are ways to use AI that can enhance your child’s enjoyment of writing and help them develop their skills. ChatGPT is a great place, for example, to generate story and character ideas. If you’re stuck with your story, you can ask ChatGPT for plot suggestions or character ideas. You can co-write a story with ChatGPT by having your child write a few lines of a story, then ask ChatGPT to write a few, and so on and so forth. You can ask ChatGPT to help you develop arguments for an argumentative essay or to help you dig up evidence for your arguments. You can hone your debate skills by providing ChatGPT with a topic to debate and asking it to take the opposing position. You can also ask ChatGPT to critique your writing - often the best way to improve your writing is to see how it could be enhanced or rewritten.
4. Spark the imagination of the children
While it’s good to give your child freedom to write about whatever they wish, sometimes a blank piece of paper can be intimidating. In these moments there are many ways to spark your child’s imagination with creative, surprising or humorous prompts. Create a ‘lucky dip’ bag of different prompts that your child can pull from - the sillier or more imaginative, the better! You can find lots of fun prompt ideas online or you can enlist the help of ChatGPT. Here are a few examples:
To create prompts that are personalized to the age and interests of your child, try putting this prompt into ChatGPT:
Magical Egg
Imagine you found a magical egg in your backyard. Describe the creature that hatches from it and the adventures you go on together.
Time Travel
You've just discovered a time machine that can take you to any period in history. Where would you go, who would you meet, and why?
Secret Door
While playing in the attic, you stumble upon a secret door leading to a mysterious land. What does this land look like, and who lives there?
Day in the Life
If you were the President or a King/Queen for a day, what rules would you make? What would your typical day look like?
Island Adventure
You find yourself on a deserted island with only three items. What are they, and how do you use them to survive and find your way back home?
Superpowers
Overnight, you gain the ability to talk to animals. What do they tell you, and how does your life change?
ChatGPT prompt
I'd like to generate some fun and imaginative writing prompts for my child. Please start by asking me some questions about my child so that you can generate prompts that are personalized to their age and interests.
Lumos Newsletter
Receive regular updates about what's happening at Lumos.
Writing is the foundation for good thinking
How you ignite your child's interest in writing, foster their creativity, build their skills, and nurture a lifelong love and appreciation for the written word.
"Clear writing gives poor thinking nowhere to hide."
— Shane Parrish
When children practice articulating their thoughts through writing, they also learn to think more clearly and critically. Clear writing is like a playground for the mind; it encourages children to explore their ideas, organize them coherently, and communicate them effectively. As they write, children engage in a reflective process where they refine their ideas and gain a deeper understanding of the topics at hand. For homeschooling families guiding children through this process, it not only improves their writing skills but also significantly contributes to the development of robust thinking skills. Through engaging with the act of writing, children learn to dissect complex ideas, make connections, and express themselves with clarity and insight, thereby laying a strong foundation for great thinking.
Below you will find some writing strategies that have been successful for us.
1. Start with the interests of the children
First get your child to love writing, then worry about what or how they write. If your child loves Taylor Swift, let her write her own lyrics for a Taylor Swift song and record herself singing it. If your child is a passionate video gamer, let him write a review of his favorite video game or a script for a new video game. If they love art, let them create a graphic novel or a comic strip. There are so many ways to tailor writing to what your child loves. Once they feel excited and confident about writing, then you can focus on having them write in different formats and on more serious topics.
This is one of the many benefits of homeschooling; you can tailor learning individually to the child, making learning significantly more effective, which is very difficult, if not impossible, in a traditional school setting.
2. Give the children's texts a purpose
Too often kids’ writing assignments feel contrived and without purpose. Kids are left wondering: why do I have to put all this effort into writing just for the sake of it? But it doesn't have to be that way! There are lots of ways to give your kids’ writing an authentic, real world purpose. Perhaps they have an issue they are passionate about and they can write a letter to their local politician. Or they could create a short documentary educating the public about an issue they care about. Writing a script for a short video is a great way to get your kids writing clearly and with purpose. Have your child write a persuasive essay or give a persuasive speech on something they deeply want. Our daughter desperately wants to get a pet so she put a ton of effort into writing a persuasive essay arguing why our family should get a pet - and it very nearly worked! Another way to help your child’s writing feel more purposeful is to give it an audience. If you search online you’ll find many writing competitions and kids’ literary journals that your child could submit their work to. Or you could organize a little gathering of friends and family to hear your child read their latest story or give a persuasive speech about something they care about.
3. Let the ideas flow!
Often kids’ have so much more to say in their heads than they are able to get down on paper and this is especially true of younger children or those that have learning differences. While having your child work through the process of writing down their own thoughts is important, sometimes it’s more important to just let their ideas flow. Whether it’s having your child dictate a story to you while you write it down or letting them use a voice-to-text app, allowing them to let their ideas flow without the constraint of handwriting or typing or spelling or grammar can make them feel more excited about writing and more successful.
5. Pen Pals, Letter Writing & Journaling
There’s something magical about receiving a handwritten letter. Pair your child up with a friend or family member to exchange letters. Or find a penpal from another country using Global Pen Friends. Not only does this hone their writing skills, but it also teaches patience and the joy of anticipation!
You might also see if your child enjoys journaling. Buy or make a special diary where they can share their thoughts, hopes and dreams on a regular basis. Not only does it develop their writing skills, but it’s also a place for them to work through their feelings and ideas.
6. Make it Collaborative and playful
There’s nothing more fun than writing a story together! Get siblings or friends together for a collaborative writing session - one child writes a few lines or a paragraph, and then the next child continues. Kids could go in order or roll a dice to see who goes next. It becomes a fun, collaborative, friends-written story.
8. Revision is key
While it’s important to let your children’s ideas flow, it’s equally important to get them into the habit of revising & editing their work. The very best writers are those who re-read and revise their work multiple times. This can be daunting so have your child work on this in bite size chunks. Treat it like a scavenger hunt where you ask them to complete a series of challenges - like find and correct 2-3 spelling mistakes, find and replace 2-3 overused words, add in 2-3 descriptor words and make one sentence shorter. You can work up to them being able to revise and edit an entire piece of writing but the important thing for now is to get them used to the idea that writing is not done the minute you finish your first draft.
7. Don’t shy away from AI
There’s a lot of debate in schools right now about whether or not students should be able to use ChatGPT and other AI tools to assist with their school work. It is of course important for children to learn to write unassisted but there are ways to use AI that can enhance your child’s enjoyment of writing and help them develop their skills. ChatGPT is a great place, for example, to generate story and character ideas. If you’re stuck with your story, you can ask ChatGPT for plot suggestions or character ideas. You can co-write a story with ChatGPT by having your child write a few lines of a story, then ask ChatGPT to write a few, and so on and so forth. You can ask ChatGPT to help you develop arguments for an argumentative essay or to help you dig up evidence for your arguments. You can hone your debate skills by providing ChatGPT with a topic to debate and asking it to take the opposing position. You can also ask ChatGPT to critique your writing - often the best way to improve your writing is to see how it could be enhanced or rewritten.
4. Spark the imagination of the children
While it’s good to give your child freedom to write about whatever they wish, sometimes a blank piece of paper can be intimidating. In these moments there are many ways to spark your child’s imagination with creative, surprising or humorous prompts. Create a ‘lucky dip’ bag of different prompts that your child can pull from - the sillier or more imaginative, the better! You can find lots of fun prompt ideas online or you can enlist the help of ChatGPT. Here are a few examples:
To create prompts that are personalized to the age and interests of your child, try putting this prompt into ChatGPT:
Magical Egg
Imagine you found a magical egg in your backyard. Describe the creature that hatches from it and the adventures you go on together.
Time Travel
You've just discovered a time machine that can take you to any period in history. Where would you go, who would you meet, and why?
Secret Door
While playing in the attic, you stumble upon a secret door leading to a mysterious land. What does this land look like, and who lives there?
Day in the Life
If you were the President or a King/Queen for a day, what rules would you make? What would your typical day look like?
Island Adventure
You find yourself on a deserted island with only three items. What are they, and how do you use them to survive and find your way back home?
Superpowers
Overnight, you gain the ability to talk to animals. What do they tell you, and how does your life change?
ChatGPT prompt
I'd like to generate some fun and imaginative writing prompts for my child. Please start by asking me some questions about my child so that you can generate prompts that are personalized to their age and interests.
Lumos Newsletter
Receive regular updates about what's happening at Lumos.