Summer Journals: Up Your Kid’s Writing Game

Summer vacation is in full swing, and in many homes, the video game consoles and cell phones are charged and working overtime as kids relax and unwind from the busy school year. Don’t let your child’s pencils and notebooks get dusty over the summer months. According to Scholastic, It takes teachers up to six weeks to reteach skills forgotten during the summer, and some kids never catch back up.

One great way to keep young minds active and elevate your child’s academic skills is to have them keep a summer journal. Writing a summer journal gets creative juices flowing, sharpens grammar skills, and can even serve as a special keepsake in years to come. Not sure how to get started? Follow these tips:

Choose a Special Notebook -Let your child select a special notebook or small binder they will be writing in. The paper should be lined in a style they are accustomed to using or prefer, i.e. grammar school or college lined.

Add Decorations– Buy stickers, or cut out photos, pictures, and/or drawings that the young writer will use to jazz up the outside of their journal with and then laminate it to preserve (Clear contact paper works well).

Decide Journal Entry Length and Writing Frequency– Journal entries should be a paragraph or two for early elementary school and younger writers, or a page or two long for older kids. Ideally, have your child write each day, but if this is not possible, choose several times a week, or at least once a week. Writing sessions can be 30 minutes to an hour.

Select Writing Prompts – The Internet is rich with writing prompt exercises that can give your child topics to write about. It’s a good idea to have twenty or so prompts ready when you begin this project so writing session time won’t be spent finding topics. A few examples to get you started include:

1. The third Sunday in July is “National Ice Cream Day.” What is your favorite ice cream and what is it about this flavor that you like so much? What are some of your favorite memories about eating this particular flavor?
2. Name your favorite sport and describe step by step how to play it.
3. If you could have a superpower what would it be and why?
4. What is your favorite summer activity and why?
5. If you could travel to anyplace for summer vacation where would it be and what would you do there?
6. Describe your favorite movie character.
7. Draw your own comic strip and add character dialogue.
8. Write about a current event (Help your child select a news story to write on).
9. What are your ten favorite things to do and why do you like them?

Have fun – Not all children, or even adults, enjoy writing; many times because they aren’t quite sure what to say. Keeping summer journals is a great way for kids to stay in the habit of expressing themselves, and maybe even improve in these skills during the summer months, so they can hit the ground running when the school doors open again.

Tonya Duncan Ellis is author of the Readers’ Favorite “Five Star” rated Sophie Washington children’s book series, geared toward readers ages 8-12 and is a member of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI).
www.tonyaduncanellis.com
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