Journaling Tips for Your Young Child

Journaling has been a huge part of my life.  I first asked for a diary when I was seven years old.  I received my diary with a lock and key.  I felt so important.  As a mother of a seven-year-old, I wanted her to have a love for journaling or keeping a diary.  My child was very different from me.  Writing has always been a challenge for her and something that she did not enjoy. So this is how we made journaling work for her.

• Let them pick out their own journal.
  She picked out her own pretty notebook to journal in.  It is always fun to pick out something special.  Her journal happened to be a pink one with hearts.  However, it could have easily been a favorite character journal.
• Few guidelines
  As we began this journey, my only requirement was to write one sentence.  It could be any sentence.
• Correct spelling is NOT a requirement.
  I did not want her fear of getting the word wrong to stop her from writing.
• Creativity
  When I introduced the project, I told my daughter that after she wrote her one sentence, she then could draw a picture to go along with it.  She loved this idea.  It allowed her creativity to have a place to explore.
• Done at a different time than school
  This is not added to the school day.  She is tired after school is done and the last thing she wants to do is think up a journal entry.  She has decided to do this before she goes to sleep at night.  It has worked out great for us.
• I don’t read every word
  I want this to a place that she writes what she wants to write.  So if she wants to share her journal with me, she can; but if she doesn’t want to share it, that is okay, too.  I look at it from a distance when she is working on it at night but I am not judging her entries.

We are still in the beginning stages of journal writing and so far it is going great.  It has become something that she looks forward to writing in at the end of the day.  It has become her own thing.  I am excited about that.  I hope that as she grows she will come to treasure her journal as much as I have.

Author Bio

Angela is a homeschooling mom of two beautiful children. She had a change of heart about homeschooling when it was time to enroll her sweet daughter in school. She now blogs about her journey with homeschooling at Homeschooling — A Change of Heart. She is married to her best friend Jeff. Two weeks out of every month Angela holds down the home front while Jeff travels for business. Angela loves to learn about photography and see what she can capture behind the lens.