Family Style Writing

I remember one day when I was laborously cooking for the hard working cowboys. I was underprepared as I looked hurridly and diligently for a box of instant chocolate pudding to add to a dessert I was making. I found one box and in my haste I accidently added the pudding mix to my spaghetti sauce for spaghetti. I was distraught because that was my last box of chocolate pudding. Living 45 minutes from the nearest store doesn’t allow you the pleasure to just run quickly and pick up what you need to fix a messed up meal. Having this set back meant I now had to make homemade chocolate pudding.

Write Shop

This year I tried Write Shop C with my 3 kids who are in grade 2,3, and 6 for less than half a year. I tried to adjust each assignment to their age levels. This was in addition to my normal curriculum. I was doing this as a supplement along with a supplement in many other things. I truthfully appreciated this curriculum. It’s fun and child centered approach was delightful to me. The kids enjoyed the writing games that we were presented with. Nonetheless, trying to balance this extra ball was like fixing my spaghetti while regretfully making chocolate pudding from scratch while knowing I was on a time crunch. It was just about too much to handle.

I kept looking for workbooks and other curriculum that wouldn’t stress me out. I tirelessly searched christianbook.com, amazon.com, and lakeshore learning to no avail. I never found something to buy that fit what I wanted, but I found something better. Click here to take you to Write Shop.

Writing Importance

Moving on, it was important to me that my kids write well and what I wanted to be the center of any English curriculum we used. Perhaps it was so important to me because I often express myself through writing. I have diligently kept a journal since highschool. Oftentimes when I don’t want to or can’t express something adequetly in speech, I will write it out in words. Perhaps for this reason, it is so crucial to me that my children have the tools to be successful writers.

“A word after a word after a word is power.”

-Margaret Atwood
Elena Shvidko, “20 Inspirational Quotes For Writing Motivation”, tesol international association, October 14, 2016, http://blog.tesol.org/20-inspirational-quotes-for-writing-motivation/

I sadly realized the curriculum we decided to use did not use writing enough in the younger ages to satisfy my liking. Along with this, my 2nd grader now broke his arm the year before. This year I have seen the consequence of that as we have really battled with him writing anything at all. I also saw that my older boy and girl were not being challenged enough.

Grandma’s Time Proven Solution

Among all these thoughts in my mind, my grandmother provided a solution. She told me when she was a public school teacher, many of her students thanked her for teaching them how to write. Her method was very simple. She straightforwardly said that she gave her students a topic to write about and they wrote about it.

I decided to try this out in our homeschool. Daily over the last several weeks I have given my children a writing assignment. We grappled the first couple of days through this assignment. The kids grumpled and growled, but we pulled through it. They were given a topic and some time to think and write about it. If some of the kids finished before the others, they are told to draw a picture to add to their drawing. Another option I’ve given them is to add adjectives. After everyone finishes we have the kids each read what they wrote to the group usually from youngest to oldest. They really light up when they get to share their ideas with everyone else. I love watching how proud they are of there stories. Additonally, they often like to share there writing assignments with Daddy when he gets home.

Furthermore, the other major benefit of this to me is how easy it is. I struggle with crippling anxiety, so anything to make homeschool easier for me is a major win. If we are studying Mars during our circle time, then we can write about landing on Mars. In addition to this, today we were reading about a young man traveling on a ship to Jamestown. Therefore, I had my children write about how they would feel if they were in that boys shoes. It is a stress reduced and uncomplicated way to have my kids express themselves specially tailored to whatever is going on with our family each day. Additionally, I love that each kid can start where they are at and give there best effort.

Results Not From a Curriculum

After several weeks of this daily task you wouldn’t believe the results. Today I was ready to teach history or some other subject and my son who had broke his arm said, “Mom can’t we just write instead.”I can’t believe the progress. This kid who fought me tooth and nail to do any kind of handwriting or simple writing assignment a couple of weeks previous, was now asking me if he could write something. I am too say the least elated.

“If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write.”

-Martin Luther
Elena Shvidko, “20 Inspirational Quotes For Writing Motivation”, tesol international association, October 14, 2016, http://blog.tesol.org/20-inspirational-quotes-for-writing-motivation/

It’s bewildering how sometimes that solutions we are looking for aren’t in a shiny, fancy, and rigerous curriculum. Quite the contrary, they are often found in small and simple changes. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints there is a scripture that says, “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass^1.”

Resources 1. Alma 36:6-7 Book of Mormon, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, 1999