Budding Writers

It is not always the case, but, oftentimes, once a child strengthens his/her reading skills, his/her writing skills will blossom as well.  Immersion in literature and exposure to an array of literature is so pivotal in a child's growth as a learner.  In Household Schmidt, we start the reading in the womb....not necessarily during a designated "story time for the one in the womb" on the school day schedule, but I can assure you that Baby Schmidt #4 has heard an abundance of stories read to him/her as I have read to Brynn, Clare, and Elle.

Recently, our little Clare even made the local newspaper while exploring books at the grand opening of our community's library.

I love the caption...."Young patron Clare Schmidt peruses the stacks in the children's area..."  And, do you see Elle's little blonde-haired head barely clearing the book shelf in the background?  Already she, too, is exploring book after book.  Clare and Elle might not be able to "read" yet, but they sure do enjoy pretending that they are reading, and they love picking books off of the library shelf.  It's all part of the developmental process.  

I've mentioned before that Clare enjoys playing doctor.  The other day at her doctor office, I noticed that she was taking notes about her "patients" (you know, Buzz, Woody, Jessie, Baby 'Sippi, randomly selected stuffed animals).  

Already, without even having an ability to interpret the meaning of print, she grasps that print does, indeed, have meaning, and she is transferring that understanding into writing of her own.  Believe me, Clare could tell you verbally what this whole doctoral dissertation says.  In fact, it might even be written more legibly than the average doctor's notes.

Now, let's shift to five-year-old Brynn.  Brynn has taken off as a reader.  She yearns to read to me almost more than she wants to be read to these days.  (This has been a tough one for the momma, but I am encouraging her even if it does mean that she is growing up.)  One day, during playtime, Brynn approached me and told me that the next day, she was going to write a book.  She had been thinking all about it.  She was sure to remind me first thing the next morning that it was her designated "Book Writing Day," and when there was a break from "school time," she began frantically capturing all of her ideas on construction paper, illustrating the ideas, and insisting that staples be placed on the side for the binding.  She had published a book in a matter of minutes having never been explicitly taught the writing process, and, she was, AN AUTHOR!  Not just a reader anymore...AN AUTHOR!  She was SO proud.  Her momma marveled at how this learning happened all on its own, in its own time, when SHE was developmentally ready (not when some district-mandated curriculum map said she should be ready).  Here is her first written masterpiece:

The Tooth Book by Brynn

Once upon a time,

there was a little girl,

and she was Brynn.

So, she was 5, and she lost a tooth.

And, she was SO happy!

And then she had a GREAT idea.  She was going to give it

to the Tooth Fairy!

Oooohhh...the Tooth Fairy has my tooth!

And so the tooth fell out and Brynn

put the tooth in the tooth bag, and the Tooth Fairy

came.

She is writing about what she has experienced recently all on her own, conveying her ideas on paper, and sharing the story over and over again with her two little sisters.  She's an author!  

Then, one day when Clare wasn't feeling too well, Brynn made her little sister a "get well" card.  

I must admit that my favorite part of this is the picture that Brynn drew of Clare.  See Clare with her twirl atop her head?  Clare is a hair twirler, and it is not uncommon to find her with a twisted chunk of hair atop her head just like Brynn depicted in her drawing.

Through much loving, Clare has even styled her favorite doll, Baby 'Sippi's, hair in this fashion.

Brynn drew herself and Clare holding hands!  See Clare's hair again standing straight up?!?!  TOO CUTE!

Knowing that Brynn was ready to roll with writing, one week after having read to her How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World, by Marjorie Priceman, I began teaching the writing process to Brynn as we wrote "How to Make an Apple Pie in Iowa."  She was using a professional author as a model for her writing along with her own personal experiences of baking an apple pie.  

First, we began with the writing trait of "Ideas," and we brainstormed the various steps in making an apple pie by creating a brainstorming web.

Then, the next day, utilizing a color-coded four-square system, Brynn drew pictures of four main events that happen while making an apple pie.

On day three, we discussed transition words.  As Brynn told me the story orally using her pictures that she had drawn the day prior, I paused her when she naturally put transition words in her speech and jotted them down for her in the appropriated squares.

Then, we began actually writing her piece on the fourth day beginning with the main idea.  On day four, she only wrote the main idea.  Handwriting is exhausting work for little people, so each day, Brynn added only one more sentence to her story.  As we worked through the each of the four squares, we reviewed the writing process, the meaning of transition words, the meaning of a main idea, and punctuation.  You will notice that she is still writing in all capital letters.  This is because we are currently working on only capital letters.

  

I thought that it was cute how she added her own "voice" at the end of the story by writing, "MMM!"  The writing process took over a week, but helping Brynn to break the process down into little steps prevented writing from getting overwhelming and kept writing FUN!  

From growing readers to budding writers, the girls are developing an understanding of the beauty of language!