Critterfixer Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Over the last week both my sons have taken to writing their stories down in their notebooks. At least one has asked and received permission to get into the loose paper stash for extra paper to write on. If you have children who want to write creatively, do you work in a creative writing session time for them during school hours? I don't really wish to direct the effort. The stories are all imaginative re-telling of adventures their stuffed animals have had, although Ping-Pong made a stab at a poem the other day. Of course I am happy to help with spelling when they ask or if they want me to look over their sentences. But I want to make sure that I don't turn anything they do on their own into "school." On the other hand, last night they decided to bring their notebooks to write in during the evening read-aloud. That didn't work very well. They got nothing out of it, and drove each other (and me!) crazy with requests for spelling. So some time during the day seems to be a good idea. I was considering allowing them a period to write during the audio-book time when they would usually play while listening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JenC3 Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 No. As a creative writing major, I think formal training in creative writing is unproductive until the student has a foundation in good literature and everything else. The best training for a writer is to be an excellent reader. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 No. As a creative writing major, I think formal training in creative writing is unproductive until the student has a foundation in good literature and everything else. The best training for a writer is to be an excellent reader. In principle I agree with you. I don't intend to try to direct their creative writing in any way beyond basic correction of spelling and punctuation, as they come to me for that help. The story and plotting are their own. But they will do it! As of today I've had to more or less force them to take some exercise out of doors as they would rather sit at the bar and work on the books they are writing! While I don't want to conduct any formal work on creative skills (informal we already do with reading poetry, copying descriptive sentences, creating sentences in spelling and grammar, etc.) I think I'm going to need to give them certain times where they are free to work on their writing and ask me spelling questions without interfering with anything else. This is a new and strange experience for me. I like to write, but I didn't expect to have to deal with young creative writers, not this early! In the space of about three weeks they went from whining about anything over three sentences for copywork to happily writing pages and pages. (I guess it's time to step up writing their own narrations!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carol in Cal. Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 Please encourage this and make the space for it! This is one of the great blessings of homeschooling--being able to run with your children's own interests. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.... Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I would let them write if they like it. My daughter is going to start The Creative Writer this spring. My son also asks to do creative writing, so I give him assignments like "write me a recipe for mealworm stew", etc. :tongue_smilie: SWB talks about that in one of her writing lectures. Just smile, nod and say, "Good job, dude." :D There's stuff out there like Wordsmith Apprentice...I keep looking at it everytime we go to the homeschool store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoo Keeper Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 One of my guys is very, very, inclined to creative writing; he does it for fun outside of school time. If he chooses to show me, I praise it, and don't offer corrections (although sometimes he has asked if there is anything to fix). About once a month, I will give all the boys the chance to do some creative writing during school IF they choose--I will cut back on their other writing assignments (narrations, dictations, summaries) in other subjects and give that time to let them just write whatever they want. One boy loves this, and will take three or four days to work on a series of stories he has going. Another boy will do his own story for only one or two days. He enjoys illustrating the stories more. Different boys. I also use this "creative" time to encourage them to read books of poetry; we will take turns reading poems to each other, or listen with a book/CD combo. It usually ends up being about a week of something different, and then we get back to our regularly scheduled program. ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 When my son was younger, I counted creative writing towards his school hours. Now, in 7th grade, it does not count for school hours, but he still has plenty of time in his schedule to write. I do not require him to show me his writing. From the samples I have seen his writing has improved tremendously over the past years - merely from reading. I would never limit the time he spends on writing, except that he has to get his school time in. ETA: I do not think one can write while listening to spoken word. So, I would not permit writing during read-alouds OR audio books. I can see writing while listening to music. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Critterfixer Posted January 17, 2012 Author Share Posted January 17, 2012 (edited) ETA: I do not think one can write while listening to spoken word. So, I would not permit writing during read-alouds OR audio books. I can see writing while listening to music. You are right. I've been wanting to incorporate more music into our day, so I can see this as a good way to get music and creative writing time into the day. And I can work on my own writing at the same time. I do really want to encourage this, especially for the Engineer. He has always disliked reading and words, and in doing this he is discovering that the words can tell the pictures that he draws to go along with his stories. Not to mention the fact that he sequences so much better when he is making up the story himself. I think I'll set out about 30 minutes a day for Free Writing to music, to follow lunch. It will be a good way to get them in the frame of mind for the rest of the school day after they play outside. And of course they are welcome to write at recess or after school. Just not during reading! About once a month, I will give all the boys the chance to do some creative writing during school IF they choose--I will cut back on their other writing assignments (narrations, dictations, summaries) in other subjects and give that time to let them just write whatever they want. One boy loves this, and will take three or four days to work on a series of stories he has going. This sounds good, too. I think I'll wait and see if this is just a passing thing or a symptom of a true creative spirit before cut back on any other writing. Besides, you should see the spelling and punctuation! They really need to keep up with their basic writing work. But I'm going to start having them write their own narrations now. The grammar isn't half bad.I'm also thinking about having them do a lot more picture narration, especially for Ping-Pong who seems to really want to branch off into poetry. That may help him to start seeing the details in terms of language. Oh, and he will need to read and listen to a lot more poetry! He likes heroic things, so I will have to start looking into some good, strong adventurous poems for him. He really loved the adaptation of Beowulf that we read, although it was in narrative and not poetry. And he seems to cherish a secret love of writing about nature as well. He's quite hung up on the word beautiful right now! Edited January 17, 2012 by Critterfixer Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mytwomonkeys Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 yes. i would absolutely allow time for my kids to explore creative writing, especially since they want it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
missmoe Posted January 17, 2012 Share Posted January 17, 2012 I give time for it. I don't direct it, but I make time for it. I've found through the years that the desire to create waxes and wanes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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