Ages 6-10: Writing

As your child becomes more and more proficient in writing, he or she should be encouraged to write as much as possible.  Writing is a powerful tool for children.  They realize for the first time that they can create something permanent which is based on their own experiences and thoughts.  When your child is first making this realization, make sure to provide added support and encouragement.  One way to encourage your child to write more is to give your child a beautiful diary or journal in which he or she can write his or her thoughts, ideas, dreams and more.  (You should consider doing the same if you aren’t already.)  You can also add to this by giving your child their own sets of special pens and pencils.  Make sure your child knows that these items are for him or her alone and that they do not need to be shared with anyone else. 

To encourage your child to write, help identify which areas in which your child is most interested.  If your child is interested in zebras, help your child write a short book about what they like about zebras.  Pictures are not necessary but usually children like to have the two together.  You can either find pictures on the internet to print out, cut and paste above the text or your child can draw the pictures.  You can also encourage your child to write about his or her thoughts on zebras as a journal entry.  Another topic of interest for children during these ages is about school and peer activities.  Your child may have a favorite friend or maybe there is another child in school who is causing your child grief.  One way to help your child work through such thoughts is to write them down.

For parents of bilingual children, we are confronted with the issue of which language our child will use for writing.  At the beginning, don’t let this issue come between your child and their love of learning to write.  If they are enjoying learning to writing letters and words in the community language, don’t jump in and force them to write in their second language.  Pressure tactics may work in the short term but could possibly have more long-term negative consequences.  Here are some things to consider and tips on gently encouraging your child to write in their second language:

• Does your child have a large enough vocabulary in their second language to feel comfortable writing words and sentences?  If not, work on building up their vocabulary while they are working on learning to write.  If you child can’t express him or herself verbally, it will be difficult to communicate with the written word.
  
  
• Do the languages in your household consist of more than one written script?  This shouldn’t be a problem but it will mean that writing initial letters won’t be able to overlap between languages and so have the patience needed to address both scripts.
  
  
• Do you have books in both languages?  Your child needs to see the written script, whether the books are created by you or are published books.
  
  
• Has someone shown your child how to hold a pen and pencil?  It could be that your child doesn’t feel comfortable writing because they don’t feel that they have a good grip on their writing utensil.
  
  
• If all of the above are in place and your child is still not interested in writing in their second language, then consider coming up with a compromise: see if your child is interested in writing in their second language on some days and in the community language on other days.  It is possible your child will consistently not want to write anything on their second language days so just be patient.  On such days, make sure your child sees you writing in the second language.  You can write something for yourself or you can write something for your child (a little book, a letter, something to hang on the wall).
  
  
• Do you have a chalk board or a white board?  Sometimes when children can write on something special, they are more interested.  Try to find fun things that your child can write with… writing with their fingers in ketchup on a cookie tray, colored pencils on an old piece of plywood, on the window after steaming it up with their breath, in the sand outside in the sandbox.
  
  
• What about writing a letter to a friend, family member or pen pal who only understands the second language?  Remind your child that their grandparents in the other country can’t read the community language so your child will have to write their letter in the second language.

Most importantly, help your child experience the gift of writing enjoyment and expression.  It is a treasure that they hopefully will cherish.  Be patient and help them enjoy writing in both languages.  In time they will come to appreciate the time and effort you put in to help them master writing in their second language.

• Ages 0-2: "Parentese"
  
• Ages 3-5: Listening
  
• Ages 6-10: Writing
  
• Ages 11-18: Discussion

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