Creative Writing

I get questions from time to time from other homeschool moms who hate teaching writing. I hear things like: “How do you do it?” “What curriculum is best?” and “My kids just don’t like to write.” Some struggle particularly with creative writing. I think this is combination of what we perceive a piece of creative writing to be and wanting our kids to be able to write it all down at once. For most people and children, this is difficult. Writing comes more easily in steps and begins in the mind.

I don’t think you need to teach creative writing to children. For a few reasons:

1. Kids are naturally creative. They like to use their imaginations, create stories and my kids, from early on, wanted me to write down their stories and dreams even before they could write. In fact, my son woke up this morning and before I could open my eyes good he was describing in great detail a dream he had.

“There was a lot of water, but not too much water and a fish, but not a shark and I was riding my bike in the water. You were there, mom and Mrs. Andrea and Sara. There was water was in the grass, but I could ride my bike through it and I got stuck. I reached into the water, but the fish tried to bite me. It bited me in my knee and my finger. I grabbed onto Sara’s lap and she holded my hand.”

Now how’s that for his first creative writing exercise?

2. I think it’s more important for kids to get used to putting words on paper first. If it’s a struggle for kids to write words, they’re too young to be forced into a creative writing exercise. Instead, have them tell you the story and you write it down for them. It’s still creative. It’s still their words without the stress that may turn them off writing.

3. Journaling is the best way to get them used to writing without the fear of doing it wrong. We journal every day. Emeline is just beginning to go beyond, “Today we are going to…” Sometimes I give her some guidelines to move her past her familiar topic. One day I had her make me a list. Today she had to describe her favorite food. After a few months of journaling, I have them look back and choose one of their best or favorite pages and begin working with them to make it even better, to correct their mistakes and show them how to put it into a paragraph form.

Obviously I’m speaking to the writers themselves. You, as bloggers, are writers. You write every day. You carry a thought around in your head as you do the dishes, drive the kids around, tuck them in bed. You develop that thought into a few sentences and begin to imagine it, whether complete or in part, on the page. And then you type it, edit and publish. It’s a satisfying process. A process you have the skills to share with your kids.

We do this for a reason. A reason, I think, is best expressed by this statement:

“Writers are the custodians of memory, and memories have a way of dying with their owner.”
William Zinsser, Writing About Your Life

Have you ever wished you could talk with your grandfather just one more time about his experiences in World War II? I have. What if you were able to pull one of his old journals off the shelf and actually read his thoughts during that time? Wouldn’t that be just as precious to have?

Creative writing doesn’t have to be a scary thing all formed from some dreamy imagination, it can be memory based on fact. Scenes revisited from what we have seen. Smells that we have smelled, feelings that have swallowed us. A single thread of memory pulled until it unravels a story we’ve forgotten. Begin with what you know and teach that to your kids.

Melissa, aka Chickadee, is the devoted wife of her high school sweetheart and homeschooling mom to 3. In less than 2 months, they will welcome blessing #4 into their family. A former English teacher, she loves to tell stories, take pictures, and enjoy nature. Please visit Melissa at her blog A Familiar Path.

Tags: creative writing, Curriculum, Homeschool Methods, learning styles

Related posts:

1. Common Sense Solutions: Stress Free Writing I know what you’re thinking. The title is an oxymoron because writing is a source...
2. The Creative Child Do you have a creative child? While the other Kindergarteners were receiving year-end awards for...
3. Writing Woes? Do you have a child who likes to write? How about a reluctant writer?...
4. Making Writing Interesting In our schooling, I’ve always struggled with what to require for writing. I love...