Most parents know that reading to their kids is important, but don’t often write with them. Not surprisingly, many kids are great readers but struggle with writing. Writing with your kids is really fun; here are a couple of tips.

Make Books
Take a piece of construction paper, fold it in half and staple some copy paper inside. With young kids, you can “write” the story with illustrations first; this helps them follow along. See my post about making books with pre-schoolers. If the kid is doing the writing, don’t spend too much time getting it perfect. The emphasis is on the creative process, not the spelling or handwriting. Older kids will have fun making their own illustrations. These books become a part of your library and kids love to read them over and over again. 

Choose Non-Fiction
Kids tend to get stuck on the autobiographical “About Me” books (What I Want to be When I Grow Up, My Family, etc.). Help them get past this by realizing that everyday things are book-worthy. When they get the hang of writing about things that really happened, there is never a shortage of material.

Write Small
Beware the “My Summer Vacation” story. The subject is way to big to be interesting. It will inevitably sound like a laundry list of events (First, we flew on the plane, then we went to the hotel. We went to the beach and built a sandcastle…). Instead, help them choose one, much smaller event - maybe just the airplane. The details will make the story colorful (I ate two tiny bags of peanuts and drank a cup of tomato juice…).

Write Often
Don’t wait for something special to happen. Write about walking to the park, baking a cake, getting a haircut, visiting a friend…

Additional Resources:
US Department of Education