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.
The question is not really what is writing, but what is good writing.
Literacy specialists want parents to prepare their children for school by sharing a love for writing, the attitude that writing is important, and the expectation that all children can become successful writers. How to do this?
61% of low-income families have no children’s books at home.
