Everyone can write.  And as a parent you can do so much to help your preschooler feel like a writer.  As soon as your child can hold a crayon, encourage drawing, scribbling, or writing.  Successful and fluent writers are confident in their abilities, and writing every day -- in whatever form  --  will help your child gain that confidence.

Give writers the tools they need.  Fill your house with pens, pencils, crayons, paper, chalk, gluestick, glitter, and any supplies you can think of to make writing fun. When kids have all the supplies they need, they’ll be more likely to experiment and play with writing.

Elementary

Children need real reasons to write.  Here’s one idea to give purpose to writing: Before you start off on your weekend errands, ask your child to help out by writing a grocery list of favorite foods, an agenda for a perfect day, or a list of places to visit.  Together, check off the items off as you go! 

Writers need real audiences to read and respond to their work.  The next time your child writes a story or poem, make color copies and distribute to family and friends.  Celebrate the publication with a book-signing at your house!

Middle School

Real writing can happen all the time:  both inside and outside school.  Help your child find real reasons to write outside school:  a letter of complaint about a broken videogame, an invitation to a get together, or a request for information about a sporting event.  Make writing real—and not just an exercise.

All writers need encouragement.  Be a cheerleader for your middle school writers by listening to or reading their writing, asking heartfelt questions, and celebrating their work.  The more positive feedback young writers get, the more likely they’ll be to keep on writing.

High School

Everyone is a writer!  Most adults write all the time:  for work, for pleasure, for household management.  Talk to your teen about how you use writing in your life or even about a specific piece that you are writing.  And answer your teen’s questions about your writing:  what challenges you, what you like, how it feels to be a writer.

Good writing starts with good ideas and builds from there.  Issues of grammar and punctuation only make sense when the ideas come first.  Help your teen focus on ideas by asking them about what they’re thinking, what they’re doing, and what they’re writing.  Focus on ideas and content first -- before you talk about grammar and punctuation. 

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