Family Time: Fostering Creativity In Kids With Weekend Writing Journals
Back in the day when I was in school, handwriting was an actual class subject. It was an integral part of the core curriculum, and carried just as much weight academically as the subjects of math, science, and history.
It was also one of my favorite subjects.
I looked forward to writing every day. I enjoyed practicing and perfecting my handwriting. I wrote both in and outside of school: during week-long breaks and summer vacations, I would write postcards and letters to my family and friends.
My love for handwriting carried into my adult years, and has fortunately passed along to my children. But unfortunately, handwriting as an actual subject in school has become a thing of the past. The evolution of technology has found tablets, smartphones, and laptops as the primary and preferred instruments of choice in class grades as early as kindergarten. Also obsolete are the days of handwritten letters. Social media is now the go-to source for communicating with friends and family. With all of this plus texting, it is no surprise the art of handwriting has become an anomaly.
Such a shame.
It’s time to bring handwriting back. For good.
.
.
Kids can benefit greatly from writing regularly. There is a great joy that can be found in handwriting. What also lies within handwriting is great creativity, confidence, and empowerment.
.
.
Many wonderful things can be birthed out of handwriting versus typing on an electronic device. Descriptive and engaging stories. Essays and that go beyond the facts and inject passion. Beautiful letters of love. Homework papers with heart. And while handwriting may no longer be a priority in classrooms, it is still very important to me to help my children discover both the joy and the power of handwriting to carry with them throughout their lifetime.
.
.
“[Oprah said] if you write things down, it’s cathartic. So I started writing. And it changed my life.”
~Tyler Perry
.
My kids and I all have journals. I set time in our schedule every weekend for journaling. During our special time together, we use the exciting colors and styles of BIC Mechanical Pencils to make handwriting more fun and to inspire our thoughts and take them from pondering to paper. I also encourage them to write in their journals at the end of each day.
.
.
.
.
When my kids write in their weekend writing journals, their imaginations soar! I see them grow and gain strength mentally and emotionally, both at school and at home. Their reading skills improve, too: all of them read several grades above the standard reading level for their age. The evident transition is nothing short of amazing!
Handwriting has made such a positive impact in my children’s lives. By keeping plenty of BIC Mechanical Pencils on hand to keep the weekend writing journals a mainstay in our family’s schedule, I know that I am giving my kids a helping them fight for their ‘write’ to reach their full potential by encouraging their creativity and imagination well into their adulthood.
Visit BICFightForYourWrite.com and sign the #BICFightForYourWrite pledge to save handwriting in your family. You can also win a $1,200 BIC® Prize Pack to help your family write more at home. No Purchase Necessary, U.S. only, 18+. Ends 9/14/2015. For details and full rules visit www.bicfightforyourwrite.com.
.
weekend writing journals
Disclaimer: Compensation was provided by BIC via MomTrends Media. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are not indicative of the opinions of BIC or MomTrends Media.
Weekend Writing Journals
What a great idea. Writing is becoming such a dying art.
Love this! My 1st grader has a writing journal and I have her write about her day after dinner. You have to keep up with the writing skills with all this technology taking over!
These are all great ideas. My son has a journal that he is keeping and it is about the only this he writes. He wants to type everything else .
My son is just learning to write his letters. It’s so fun to watch him and when he draws he creates “stories.” I can’t wait until he’s able to write real words and express himself that way.
Journals are a fantastic way to promote creativity and to give kids an outlet for things they might not feel comfortable talking about. I love this!
My oldest is turning 12 and his school never taught him. I knew how to handwrite when I was about 10. I loved it and I encourage my kids to do it often!
It’s definitely important to get them writing. The skills they learn at home will help out in school too!
It really is a shame that they don’t encourage handwriting that often in school anymore. My kids have the worst handwriting ever! I like the idea of them writing in a journal to help with technique!
I love your ideas for getting kids to write more, and since I am always typing online, I actually miss writing the old fashioned way myself. The journal suggestion is especially great for all ages.
This is a good idea. Great to have kids write and also read.
Those are great tips for getting kids writing. I keep buying notebooks and journals for my kids, but they tend to ditch them after a few pages. With a little direction, I know they’d keep it up.
I started my kids writing in a journal when they were little. We have kept all of their journals so they can read them later. They are now in College and still write a few times a week in one.
What great ideas! I love Bic and always used Bic during my school years and even today.
I love this. I have been journaling regularly since I was 6 and I still have all of my journals. Kiddo is 10 and even though she is not regular, she does journal and we have been doing it for a few years now.
My 7 yr old and teen both have journals. They both love them a lot too.
I remember learning handwriting in school. I still use handwriting on a regular basis, even though I work in social media.
Isa has a writing journal. She has been writing for about 2 years.
Journal writing is good for many things – for me it is therapy but I encourage it with my kids for practice in handwriting as well as a means to look back on things they may not remember later in life. I threw away my journal from my kid years, wish I had not done that.
I love the idea of keeping a journal. I have my kids write letters, stories and poems. Handwriting is becoming one of the lost arts.