“Can I draw pictures in my journal?” he asks. I tell him he can put whatever he wants in his journal — it’s his. Soon I see him sketching characters and scenes from one of his favorite books (to the left is his drawing of the “Turbo Toilet 2000” from the children’s comic book, Captain Underpants and the Attack of the Talking Toilets.) While not classic literature, the Captain Underpants books should be applauded for getting active little boys everywhere interested in reading.
Journal entries can be as diverse as your kids — a place where they can describe impressions of people they encounter, funny antics of a pet, an unforgettable trip or a safe harbor to pour out their feelings of joy or sorrow. In her Suite 101 post on encouraging children to journal, home-schooling mom Chris Oldenburg writes, “They learn to record thoughts, ideas and events on paper and feel a part of the activity while doing so.”
If you have school-age kids, I urge you to get them a summer journal and see what happens!
REALLY NICE..saw this on blogathon. please check mine. lets subscribe to each others blogs if you dont mind
Aron
http://www.aron-creativity.blogspot.com
Happy to, Aron – it’s fun to read other people’s blogs during this challenge. Good luck!
Thanks for leaving your comment on my blog too. maybe you can give me ideas about the health issues stuff. i think they will really educate people. my fans on http://www.facebook.com/aroncreativity page have really liked it. maybe you can share your posts and i will let them read. or you just give me links to your articles which are already on your blog and i will let people know about them.
Aron
Thanks, Aron. I just sent you a message on your Facebook page with links to publicly available articles. Here’s a book review I did a while ago on The Writing Well (the book, The Deadly Menace of MRSA, was written by a former CDC and health writer for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution): http://thewritingwellus.blogspot.com/2010/04/deadly-menace-of-mrsa.html
Thanks for this post! My older son loves keeping his journal at school and keeping a book of drawings at home. We’ll be adding your idea into our summertime routine. Happy Blogathoning!
Anne,
Journaling is a great idea for reluctant writers, too.
Thanks.
Anne ~ kudos! Hopefully they’ll keep it up! My journal goes with me everywhere, and has everything in it. When writer’s block strikes, I can always start writing in my journal and the force of just writing blasts the block away!