July 1, 2013

My book review in the July 2013 issue of Parenting: School Years is all about keeping kids reading during the long summer break, but what about writing?  How can you keep your kids from losing the  important literacy skills of writing?  Create summer journals!

Take ordinary composition notebooks ($1.00 or less on sale) and any craft materials you already have at home; construction paper, scrapbook paper, stickers, duct tape, seashells, etc., and let loose.  The kids can start by decorating a journal to reflect their personalities, or at least their interests this summer. (1D, anyone?) Then each day they can write about their activities.  Kids not crazy about writing?  They can write for half a page, and illustrate the other half.  Movie ticket stubs,  beach sand, photos can all be adornments to daily entries.  Don't worry about grammar or spelling.  The point of this is to keep the creative juices flowing and keep them writing.   And don't forget to have them date each entry, including the year.  Someday this will make an adorable memory book of a gone by summer.

Happy reading and writing,

Christine

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