April is National Poetry Month and we’re kicking it off by celebrating the talented young poets who bravely submitted their work to our Kids’ Poetry Contest. We were so impressed with the dozens of submissions we received and are proud to share these students’ work (with their permission)*. Winners and runners up were selected in … Continued
Writing / Book Club for Grown-ups
Friday, April 23rd, at 7:00 p.m. EST Sign up here. Since the fall, we’ve been offering a Book Club for Grown-ups with New Hampshire and Vermont authors who write for kids and adults. It’s a chance for grown-ups to connect with local authors and discuss a good book. We’ve talked to Sarah Stewart Taylor, Rajnii … Continued
National Poetry Month is coming up in April, but you don’t have to wait until then to get your poetic juices flowing! Poetry has lots of benefits for readers and writers of all ages, including building vocabulary, language, and imagination. It’s also fun! The Children’s Literacy Foundation (CLiF) is hosting a Kids’ Poetry Contest. Children … Continued
Research shows that literacy skills are one of the strongest indicators of a child’s future success. But literacy isn’t just reading; writing effectively is an essential skill for success in school and in life, and has a lot of social and emotional benefits, too. Writing can help kids (and adults!) process their feelings, destress, and … Continued
Whether you’re an aspiring author or a prolific journal-er, you can always improve your writing. The most important thing, I tell my students at New Degree Press/Creator Institute, is developing good habits and a regular practice. Schedule writing time into your routine. Not everyone can find time to write every day, though that’s a great … Continued
Writing can be a miraculous activity that thrills both authors and readers from all over the world. Almost everyone starts writing at one point in life because somehow it just feels natural to express your thoughts and feelings in the textual form. But not everyone is capable of writing uniquely. It takes a genuine master … Continued
We asked kids 12 & under in New Hampshire and Vermont to reimagine their favorite fairy tales in keeping with the Collaborative Summer Learning Program’s 2020 theme: “Imagine Your Story.” We were impressed by all of the creative “fractured fairy tales” we received! Stories included “Humpty Mumpty,” who puts the king’s men together again, the … Continued
What if the witch’s house in Hansel and Gretel was made of vegetables instead of candy? What if the Big Bad Wolf wasn’t so bad? What if your favorite fairy tales were different? Reimagine classic stories for CLiF’s “Fractured Fairy Tales” writing contest for kids! This summer’s Collaborative Summer Library Program’s theme is Imagine Your … Continued
April is #NationalPoetryMonth, and while poetry slams, readings, and school-wide events may be cancelled, you can still celebrate poetry at home! Watch poets/CLiF presenters Rajnii Eddins and Ted Scheu (“That Poetry Guy”) perform their original work. Poetry Out Loud’s national competition has, of course, been cancelled this year, but they still have a fantastic selection … Continued
What better time to practice writing? In addition to being an important skill for self-expression and communication, and essential to success in school and life, writing can be a good way to process what’s happening, record your ideas, reduce stress, and have fun! Make writing a part of your child’s daily routine. You can even … Continued
I have a Friday morning routine. I get up, pour a cup of coffee that my husband has left for me, and sit down at my computer. I open the Google doc to see my student’s (let’s call them “E.”) most recent progress on their novel (they usually make changes by Thursday, so I can … Continued
When you want your child to learn something new, the most important thing is to show him that the learning process will be interesting and engaging. Forcing your child to write and driving him into a rigid framework can result in a lack of interest/engagement in writing. For a preschool child, these are all abstractions … Continued
The process of writing begins before you actually put pen to paper (or words on a screen). Many people find “pre-writing” helpful, notes or an outline to help guide their writing. Some prefer to just jump in and start writing and see what happens. There’s no “right” way to go about writing. Some kids are … Continued
As a writer, I fail. A lot. Since January, I’ve submitted 116 times and gotten 69 rejections. But I’ve also gotten five acceptances, including winning Noir Nation’s Golden Fedora fiction prize, told extremely personal and difficult stories in HuffPost and OC87 Recovery Diaries, and got an Honorable Mention from Glimmer Train. In short, I’m doing … Continued
Writing is an essential mode of communication, which plays a vital role not only in academics but also in children’s futures.
Here, we’ll go over the most common mistakes made when teaching kids to write, so that you can avoid them and be more helpful instead.
When they’re given the freedom to create, children are some of the most imaginatively creative and free thinkers. Nurturing that creativity is important in order keep it active and to encourage them to continue being creative. And, creative story writing is a great way for them to exercise their imaginations and explore the reaches of … Continued
Whenever I’ve dealt with something difficult in my life, I’ve turned to writing. Writing helps me process, work through challenges, and make sense of my emotions. It also helps me express myself to others. Sometimes the writing turns into something I share with the public; sometimes it never sees the light of day outside of … Continued
61% of low-income families have no children’s books at home.