Summer writing for children

Summer is an excellent time for children to improve their writing skills. We often think about having our children read over the summer. Many programs promote children’s reading over the summer to improve their reading and comprehension skills. Yet, it is just as crucial for students to work on their writing skills.

Even before we start writing, there are skills that young children need support developing. Having children recall events or activities and discuss them helps them build their comprehension skills, allowing them to understand how to talk about activities or things. This is a prewriting skill children need support developing. We often skip asking them to write about something; they appear lost and do not know what to do. This is most likely because they haven’t developed an understanding of remembering and retelling experiences.

This is where having them tell about their day at the dinner table plays an important part in their writing development. They need to be able to discuss and talk about experiences before they can write about them.

Think about having them keep a journal of their summer. There are many different types of journals or notebooks that they can use to document all they accomplished during the summer.

If they have difficulty coming up with something to write about, have them draw a picture and write a couple of sentences about their image. If they are struggling, have them tell you about it and write a couple of sentences for them to copy into their journal. Sometimes, it can be overwhelming to think about what to write, then get it down on paper and remember how to spell the words. The objective is to allow them to work on their writing skills, which will also build their comprehension skills.

It doesn’t have to be a masterpiece; it is a process. After a couple of weeks, look back on their entries and help them see the improvements they have made in their writing/journaling. Make sure you take time to celebrate their achievements.

Kids love to make books, and providing guidance gives them the chance to improve their ability to process information and write it for later review.

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Scott Smith has been in education for more than 40 years. Smith currently lives with his wife in Mosier and serves on the Board of Decoding Dyslexia of Oregon.