Hand Writing Family Education Journals

Always on the look out for free learning activities, I have subscribed to Family Education.com. The site offers a range of projects and printables for age groups: 0-6, 7-11, 12-18.

An American site, I guess that many home school families will already be aware of it. However, on the off chance that you have not yet discovered it, I share it now as a learning source that we use.

Boy HATES writing. The Asperger’s specialist suggested that we do not wear ourselves, and him, out by insisting that he develop the skill of writing because he is already a dab hand on the laptop and his future will involve word processing documents, not hand writing them. I understand her reasoning and I do not want to create Aspergic meltdown opportunities for Boy.

However, I want Boy to experience the joy of handwriting. I want him to know the etiquette of hand written thank you notes, I want him to value a loved one’s handwriting, particularly once they are deceased as hand written notes can be such a treasure and comfort to look at, feel, and hold close to your heart after a loved one has died. So, rather than creating a scene and making an academic argument of handwriting importance, I have done what I have been doing as a child therapist for years. I provided Boy a special journal.

Family Education includes journal writing in their Social and Personal Skill building section for the 7-11 age group. I was pleased to note that instructions included making the journal sacred: no parental reading. It is so important for children to have some private space. It helps them to develop separately from their family and allows them to move along the accepted tasks of their developmental age. Despite the psychology behind keeping journals, I am just so happy that Boy chooses to lie in bed and hand write things of importance to him.

Do you have a home schooled child that hates writing? How do you get them to do it?