Writing for Pleasure

Bedtime stories are sacred.  A time for snuggling up, just one parent and one child, letting go of our reality, and diving together into a fantasy world.  Pictures books bring the fantasy to life through the illustrator's visualization.  Chapter books allow our imaginations to run wild, creating worlds limited only by our interpretation of the words on the page.

The journey with each of the Sprouts has been a little different.  With Fi, the jump to chapter books was early and accelerated.  We plowed through traditional girl texts like Little House on the Prairie and Ramona the Pest.  It was not long before we were delving into Narnia.  And then we blinked and she saw reading ahead of us in the day and saying the next night at bedtime, "I'm done that one already."  And then came the Christmas holiday where she plowed through Harry Potter (all seven books) by herself in two weeks.  Now we are struggling to find books that are challenging and interesting, but don't include content that isn't appropriate for a ten year old.

With Jo, we waited a little longer to jump into chapter books.  We assumed that he was a weaker reader and, as a boy, less interested in fiction.  We were wrong.  He just expresses his interest differently.  His favourite so far is Owls in the Family.  That book prompted curiosity about owls, a new group of stuffed friends for his collection (two owls who are named Wol and Weeps).

Last night LK and Jo started The Trumpet of the Swan.  In this story a boy keeps a journal, writes down his observations about the world around him, and asks questions that come out of them each day.  Jo has been a reluctant writer so far.  LK and I have been wrestling with how we can help him see the power of writing as a tool to communicate his ideas without increasing the 'homework'.

Sidebar:  I hate homework and have trouble believing it its value.  I would so much rather spend the time I have outside school and work with my kids doing learning activities I choose and enjoy than worksheets or projects assigned by someone else.  There is much more to their education than what the Ontario curriculum determines to be important.  Sermon over.

Anywhooo,  at the end of the first chapter LK and Jo decided that Jo would like a journal to write down his thoughts and questions about the day.  Today, while in town for church and errands we picked up a book for him (with a special hardbound cover) for him to begin.

As I sit with my brainstorm notebook open on the table typing this (to model that I write for pleasure), the Little Sprout sits beside me doing his journaling.  Well, more accurately bounces back and forth from the living room where LK is giving him support in sounding out his words.

Interestingly, he has a homework assignment that his very gracious teacher accommodated me with; adding a writing component to the regular reading homework each week.  This homework is a battle to complete every week.

In contrast, writing in his journal is something he is thrilled to do, and then read aloud to his family.  And at the end of it he is excited.  What a difference it makes to choose to do something oneself than to be obliged to do it by someone else.