Posted in Homeschool

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Mom, I’m Bored!

Encourage the Artist and Author in YOUR Kids

One of the most rewarding projects that our littletons enjoy is writing and illustrating their own books. Before you get anxious about the amount of work involved for mom, hang on. This is an idea that combines notebooking, lapbooking, and old fashioned productive free time! Productive Free Time is that time of the day when your children are working on an activity that they can orchestrate on their own and provides learning opportunities at the same time.

You don’t need much to get this started. I would guess you probably have all the supplies you will need in your home RIGHT NOW! Each day ask your kids to “write” a piece of a story. For example, you could have them write a book about Creation. It can be as simple as seven pages, or it can be more complex. Be sure to gear this towards your children’s ability levels. You could have them draw a picture for each day of creation and then let them write their own words. If your children are pre-writers, you will need to take 2 minutes or so to transcribe their words. At the end of the project, have the children design a cover. They can even design and About the Author page! Once all the pages are completed, have the children place their papers in a report cover or in page protectors and a thin binder.

You can use a variety of topics or let the children develop their own topic for stories and information. If you notice that your child leans towards writing fiction, occasionally have him/her write a work of non-fiction; and vice versa. All types of materials can be sued to make these pages: scrap paper, ribbons, fabric, markers, stickers, colored pencils, paint, glitter, etc. Let your child determine what mediums he/she would like to use. It is important that the author & illustrator have creative control over their project. Remember this is your child’s project.

Start with small projects. Once your children begin to complete books, they will be so encouraged at their accomplishments; they will be inspired to continue. Hearing your children say, “I am an author and & illustrator,” will be moms’ reward.

These are my thoughts.