Journaling for Kids

[barbszy]

My kindergartener has been journaling all during the school year. Each day the children in his class would draw a picture and write a few words in their journal.

I decided to make him a "summer journal" so he could keep up his handwriting practice, even that little bit, each day.

I got an old binder and filled it with alternating sheets of lined paper (I have some of the "primary school" kind with the dashed and solid lines) and blank paper so that he can draw and write.

He is busy right now decorating the cover for his "summer journal."

Any other tips for keeping journals with children?

[Joy]

Barb, what a great idea and a fun way to sneak a little learning into the summer.
We have done a few things at the library over the years that have involved journaling for kids. Our most recent project was a couple of summers ago when our summer program was about pets. We had people donate clean and in good shape Beanie Babies. We tagged each one with a special Library tag and put them in a bag along with a small blank journal. The kids could check the animals out for a week at a time and were suppose to journal by either drawing pictures (for the younger ones) or writing a short description of what their pet had done during their time together.
We had included a note on the front of the journal with some questions they might answer to help them get started on what to write. Some kids really got into the whole thing and were checking new pets out every week.
I think the important thing to keep in mind for a summer journal is keep it fun!

[DeBora4BobbyL]

Barb, is the purpose of journaling to practice his handwriting? I think you have an excellent idea to allow him to decorate it.

[barbszy]

DeBora, yes, it's basically a handwriting thing so he at least writes a few words, a few times a week. His handwriting has come a long way this year!

[DeBora4BobbyL]

You have such a terrific idea! What about putting various stickers, one on each page, and have him practice writing that word? For example, a sticker of an apple would be on one page. He could write the word apple, over and over and over. Or he could write sentences with the word apple and he could be creative about his sentences. He could even write silly sentences such as, "The happy apple, added an orange to his party." He could figure out how many other words that begin with the letter A. I used to give my kids a newspaper and have them find words that began with certain letters and copy them onto a sheet of paper. I hope these ideas inspire you. I like your idea.

[phyllis60]

My daughter who is a teacher has always had her students to journal. She goes to Dollar Tree and gets the journals for a dollar and gives them out at the beginning of the year. They can write about anything they want and she checks them weekly and either gives advice or asks questions about what they've written. She says not only does it help with their writing but also their ability to write essays. You could also write a subject line at the top of each page and get them to write about it or put what was your favorite vacation and why, what do you know about your grandparents lives. You can go in many directions with a journal.

[barbszy]

Phyllis, those are great suggestions! My son is only going into first grade, but I have a 12-year-old daughter who would enjoy doing some of those things you mention. Thanks!

[phyllis60]

Actually one year for Christmas I got these plastic jars and decorated them. I then took one of the full label pages and wrote different questions on them about their memories, likes, dislikes, pets, etc and put a page of instructions on front of the journal for them to pick one of the questions out of the jar every day and pull the back off and stick it to the top of the journal page and then write in their answer. You can do so many things as far as gifts go with journals and questions for them to answer.