Free Write

My daughter Miranda will be 12 in the Fall and starting with the pre-scholar classes. I called a good friend of mine to pick her brain on how I could better prepare Miranda for the challenges of these classes. Her ideas have worked and been successful...and so I have to share!

Over the last month I have over heard Miranda make the comment that she only has a few more months to play, before she is a scholar an needs to buckle down. I asked Miranda what abilities she sees scholar age kids doing (we use the lingo of the different phases in our home all the time, so the kids are fully aware of what phase (core, love of learner or scholar) they are in and what it looks like). I brought up names of some of the kids we know that portray a great example of a scholar. She said she knows that they read and write a lot more. Writing was the specific thing I was hoping she would bring up because I had a plan to help her in this area. We talked about writing and how it could greatly improve her work and studies as a scholar. I linked it directly to the things she loves like learning and studying animals so it was easy for her to see the value of writing.

I chose a quiet moment in the afternoon to do all this. After we talked a bit I brought her to the table and told her we were going to do something fun. For 5 minutes both her and I were going to do our own free write. I with my own paper and pen and Miranda with her own. For 5 minutes we could write about anything. I treated it like a game. We could make up a story or write a letter or poem. Then when 5 minutes were up we would each read each others stories out loud. It has been so much fun to do this with Miranda. It has been powerful for her to see me value writing. And for me it is a good time for me to improve my writing skills and handwriting. We have loved this time together and seeing what each of us has in our minds to write about. And for Miranda it will help her become very comfortable with and love to write. She has already increased the time to 10 minutes or longer if she really wants to finish. I am fine with that because if she wants to finish a great idea in her mind she should be able to (one reason I home school).