Writing feature for The School Run

A selection taken from my feature for www.theschoolrun.com

Shopping lists

Brilliantly adaptable for different ages and stages. A three-year-old can draw what you need, a five-year-old can write down the initial sounds of each item and a nine-year-old can write it out fairly accurately. You could start by writing the list together, with your child simply being responsible for adding one or two items. Children love to follow this up with the trip to the shops, ticking the items off as they go around. There’s a real purpose, and it’s writing in action. And pretty handy too!

Book reviews

Introduce children to the idea by finding book reviews of some of their favourite and most familiar books (online will be easiest) and reading them together. Then encourage them to write their own versions, or review some new books with you. Questions to answer include: Who were the main characters? What did they do? Did you enjoy the book? Why?

Role play

Adults write for many purposes, at work as well as home. Encourage children to pretend to work at a bank, the post office or a travel agency. They will need to be jotting down facts and figures as they work!

‘To do’ lists

Your child may like to ‘help’ by writing a ‘to do’ list for you for the day ahead. It might include: breakfast, school run, play group, baking biscuits, work, play, etc. Thinking they are being helpful is a great incentive for most children who are striving to be one of the grown-ups! Alternatively, they can write their own list for the tasks they have to complete.