Journaling With a Child

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm Laura from youngwritersworkshops.com and I'd like to talk about how to start journaling with your child to write down some personal thoughts or feelings. It can also be a good way just to get started on writing in general and on some of the mechanics of writing, holding a pencil, putting words on paper. Those are all really important things that a child gets from having a journal. I always suggest having the child pick out a journal that they will really feel good about, one that feels good in their hand and it is one that they like to write in. It could be something as simple as a spiral notebook with a picture that they like or a color that they like or it could be a little bit fancier something like a bound book that is blank with lined pages. Start by encouraging a topic that you think your child will be able to respond to and you might give them a prompt like my favorite thing I did today or what my perfect day would be. This of course depends on how old when you are starting to journal with your child but make it a process where they feel it is really fun and they feel really connected to the process of sharing their thoughts. I always encourage young writers to also write down their idea for writing so that they do not feel free to not have to expand on something but just to use their journal as place to store ideas for things that they might want to write about in the future or just passing thoughts that they have that they want to capture and not lose. So a journal doesn't have to be a specific place where you write entries or stories or any specific kind of writing it is just a book where anything that you want to express can be written. I think one of the most important things for you to remember is that this journal is something that your child gets to be in charge of so even if you are doing the project with them be sure to let your child take the lead. So that is a little bit of information about how to start journaling with your child."