Admire their hard work!
Find something to marvel at. Even the neediest writing has something to appreciate. It might be a wonderful idea for a story. It might make you laugh or touch your heart. You might rave about the beginning, a beautifully written sentence, paragraph, ending. Maybe you want to share the amazing picture their words created in your mind, or memory it touched. Be enthusiastic!
It is your child’s work!
Your child should have total control over their work. If you tell them what they should say or how something should be written, what you are telling your child they are not capable of doing it themselves. Ultimately, any changes done to work should be their choice. You can gently ask them to clarify, or tell them you are a bit confused about a part. Ask them to explain it to you, and then praise how they explained it, wonder with them if they could go back and change it, using the fantastic language they used when they were explaining. What are important facts for your reader? Can you sparkle it up with your exiting words?
Help them assess and edit their work tenderly!
Ask your child if they would like you to put a tiny check in front of the sentence with a misspelled word? Do you want to check each sentence for punctuation mistakes? What was the hardest part of writing your story? What was the easiest part? Is this one of your favorite stories you have ever written? If so why? What part was your favorite to write?
And once again celebrate your child’s writing!
Share and display your child’s work
Your children thrive on heartfelt praise and recognition from you.
Let them know you value and enjoy their writing.
You see their writing as creative, ingenious and inspired.
Their words are worth hanging on your walls.
R.R.Cratty
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