[Tea] Tricks and Tips for Enticing Your Kids to Write

Welcome to "Tea with Julie," a weekly missive by me, Julie Bogart. My wish is to give you food for thought over a cup of tea to enhance your life as an educator, parent, and awesome adult. Glad you're here. Pinkies up!
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Cincinnati, October 30, 2021

Hi Friend,

You can change how your kids feel about writing right now!

Try these.

Put Sticky Notes all over the bedroom door of your child.
Fill them with jokes, silly word pairs, or aphorisms. Jot down comments about your child's strengths, brief memories of their exploits, hints about the fun you will have during winter break, questions of the universe (“Who am I and why am I here?”, “What is the sound of one hand clapping?”)… You decide. This is a stealth operation to be performed after your child is asleep. In the morning, your child will discover the door of notes! Leave a stack of sticky notes and a pen nearby. See if the child reciprocates. Some will.
Use lipstick to leave love notes on the bathroom mirror for your kids.
Create a treasure hunt—that rhymes!
Send your kids hunting for some treat with clues you design. Then later, ask them to make one for you (on your birthday!).
Tape words to items in the house—any words.
See who notices first. Try putting the wrong word on an item. See if a child moves it to the right item. Put adjectives on items and see how those resonate. Put a basket of sticky notes and pens on the kitchen table and see if your kids take up the cause adding their own labels.
Play with refrigerator magnets.
Mail letters to your kids.
Truly: this is one of the most exciting acts you can take for children. Text your teens. Facebook chat with your high schoolers. (Psst: this is fun even when you are all sitting in the same room—hilarity will ensue!).
Write margin notes in the books they are about to read.
Like: “This was my favorite part” and “I can’t believe she did that, can you?” and “When you get to this section, come to me. We must discuss!”

USE writing in natural, life-affirming ways. See how it changes the feel of writing in your home.

Go for it! Now—today!

It’s far more likely you will grow writers if you entice writing than if you tirelessly work on paragraphs. Paragraphs will come, once your kids are on friendly terms with writing.

Warmly,

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