I would like Mackenzie to start a journal. She's going into 1st grade this coming school year and thought it would do her some good. What do you use for one? Do you give writing ideas for the day or let them right whatever they want? How many sentences do they write? Do they right every day?
I don't do journals w/my oldest two, but wish I did. I plan on doing it w/my youngest two when they get old enough. I found these journal books and plan on using them. http://activitybags.com HTH
I have a 'class' of 1st graders 4yo and 6yo. I'm going to have the 6yo keep a journal. I'm going to require two sentences minimum and let him write about anything he wants. If he cant think of something then I will tell him to write what he did that day or wants to do tomorrow or about something he saw during the day. the 4yo will be required to copy the date and his name, then draw a relevant picture or something. I imagine every couple of months I will add to the requirement until he is writing a paragraph about whatever he wants to. I'm not going to force grammar or spelling to much just yet. We'll probably get more into it in Dec-Jan.
I actually started a blog for mine. His OT said he needs to start working on typing to help with the strength and dexterity of his fingers, and that typing and/or piano would be best. He usually writes about whatever is going on in his life (a couple of lines), but on rare occasions, I'll assign him to write a story (3-4 lines). His endurance is terrible right now, which is why the OT wants him doing this. I think it's a great exercise in creativity and sentence structure as well.
