sealed with a kiss

It is 2020 and technology keeps the world spinning. What would we do without email or texting? What about now, in isolation, without facetime or even just the mobile phone? Not everyone has the latest gadgets or gizmos, which is fine.

What does this have to do with education?

Children nowadays don’t write for fun. They may text for fun, but with the abbreviations and slang they really aren’t learning the language correctly.
In the midst of isolation and social distancing, write a letter! I know, the inconvenience of buying stamps can be a turn off but if you buy a few to have on hand, children can write to family and friends so easily and feel so good about it!

Writing letters is so different than speaking to people on the phone. When you write a letter you often go back and reread what you wrote. You may erase something or reword it, because it sounds awkward. You might write a whole page on what your new stuffed animal looks like and what it’s name is. This is all learning to write! It is using grammar, punctuation, spelling, learning about adjectives, nouns, verbs…They may not all be 100% correct, which is okay to, it is this practice that helps to develop the ability to then go and edit your own work.

One of the beautiful things about writing letters and sending them in the old “snail-mail” is that sometimes you get a letter back! And who doesn’t love getting mail that you actually WANT to open?

Encourage kids of all ages to write to family members. Give them ideas of things to write about…..

• Things they are doing at home to keep busy
• Work they have completed for an online assignment.
• Favorite television shows or even video games.

For any topic there are so many things that can be said. They might want to tell an uncle about the video game they are playing. Have them write down what the object of the game is or what you have to do to move forward in the game. They might want to tell Grandma about the book they just read. Instead of just writing the title, write a book review. How many stars would they give the book?

Get kids interested in expanding their ideas and really making those ideas grow into new ideas. This is one of the best teaching strategies you can do at home!!