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Miss Foley's letter Commandment 5 |
Commandment 5 What to do: HELP FIND OPPORTUNITIES FOR EVERYDAY USE OF WRITING. Why: The ability to express one’s self with clearness and economy is necessary in practical life. The ability to go beyond the minimum and write with imagination and charm is a satisfying personal experience and one which develops personality. How: Supply your household with plenty of inexpensive writing materials; stationeries, writing pads of various sizes, notebooks and fillers, lined and unlined composition paper, pens, magic markers, pencils, etc. They invite use. Encourage your children to enter contests, use mail order catalogs, write to pen pals (2), keep in touch with out-of-town relatives, write for free materials and information. Leave frequent notes to your children so that they will respond is kind to you. Make it a family practice to take all telephone messages down in writing on a convenient phone pad. Ask for written directions wherever it isn’t too obvious you’re trying to educate. (Never make it seem like more school unless your kids like school or you too much to fight it.) Give recognition to the good things your children write. Quote them when they’re witty, wise, or observant. Read their work aloud to the others. Post good lines on the family bulletin board. Get them interested in crossword puzzles, Scrabble, games that build vocabulary. Encourage them to keep notebooks, diaries in which they include stories, poems, and bits they’ve written. Don’t expect to see everything they write. Did you show all to your momma and poppa? Don’t worry too much about technicalities and misspelling. (Some-times we over-stress spelling because it gives us something easy and clear cut to land on. We mustn’t overlook what is being said.) The school has primary responsibility here. Grammar can always be repaired if sincerity and interest are present. On the other hand no amount of “correctness” can cover up the empty world of a child who hasn’t been helped to get interested and excited about something, preferably many things. |
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Discover Writing Press PO Box 264 Shoreham, VT 05770 USA Phone: 800-613-8055 or 802-897-7022 Fax: 802-897-2084 Email: register@discoverwriting.com |