How To Turn Reluctant Writers Into Enthusiastic Story Tellers

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I hated writing assignments in school. It just never came easy to me. I didn’t have a vivid imagination like Anne of Green Gables. If you would have told me in high school I would be a blogger, I would have laughed and laughed, and then fainted from pure shock! 

But when I was in my mid 20’s and began writing my own Christmas programs, I realized that I really do love writing!! Did I have a mid life crisis? Or was it something else?

Truth be told, I enjoy writing things that interest me and that have an end goal of benefiting someone else. What if my teachers had been able to tap into my love of writing about my interests 10 years prior?

What I have learned is that, just because you aren’t Shakespeare, doesn’t mean you can’t become a good writer! Many curriculums are tailored towards the gifted writers that can write about ANYTHING with great ease at the drop of a hat. But what about the other 75% of us?

Many potential writers never realize they have an ounce of potential because they aren’t taught to write while using their own interests as motivation to focus. Eventually, a person can become somewhat of an off the cuff writer; but some things just don’t come naturally to everyone at first

This thought definitely applies to our children. How can we bring the writer out of our kiddos?

1.) Assess your curriculum: is the curriculum you are considering geared toward auditory (hearing) or visual (sight) learners, but you happen to have a kinetic (hands-on) learner?

Note: check back soon for access to valuable: – Learning style assessment tools -Curriculum Reviews

 2.) Adjust your homeschool lesson: If your son abhors writing, and the writing assignment is asking him to write about a trip to the doll shop, describing in detail how it looks, smells, or the feelings that people experience, etc., you may have a fight on your hands. 

And tears .

And frustration. 

Instead, you could choose to modify the assignment to give him the option to write about one of his interests. Maybe he loves the woods and would like to live there in a cozy log cabin and hunt deer pioneer style or maybe there is a sport that he loves to play. Sit down and make a list TOGETHER of things he’d see, hear, and smell. Make a list of adjectives to go along with his story (in the case of the cabin story you could use adjectives such as: crunchy, cozy, quiet, fierce etc.) then watch him write away! He may even want to draw a picture!! On www.amazon.com, you can buy blank books for children to draw and write their own stories!

3.) Write down his/her stories for them

Whoa?! Did she just say to do her child’s school work for her? NO Way! 🙂 But a K-3rd grader really needs to learn the process of how to tell a story, before they can write the story. If you can get your child to TELL creative stories to you while YOU write the story as they tell it, you have distracted them from the drudgery of the assignment. They can now focus on developing brain patterns to think in creative ways while not having to focus on two things at once. Good story tellers become good writers.

Note: there are options to apply this concept middle school and high schoolers. Feel free to e-mail me for more ideas!

4.) Read Read Read! Read to your child. Have your child Read to you. Good writers are first good readers. Find books that are suited to his/her interests. (My two year old is heavily interested in construction vehicles right now) Does your child love history? Does she love adventure? A few good websites to find good reading material for your child are

1.) www.thegoodandthebeautiful.com this website sells the curriculum we use to homeschool! They have beautiful books that are fun and age appropriate. They also give you a list of books that they recommend and don’t recommend, and why. This list was very eye opening because there are a lot of popular books that have bad messages (that topic will be in another post eventually).

2.) www.abeka.com abeka is the curriculum I use for preschool- 1st grade. It is a very advanced curriculum compared to most, but has very good reading material.They have one of the best phonics programs in my opinion. They are a little pricy, but the rich literature may be worth your investment.

3.) www.libraryandeducationalresources.com they have a ton of good books on a variety of subjects, and tend to run very good sales! They offer significant discounts for homeschool families on quality books with library bindings.

Good writers rarely come along by chance. The love for learning, reading, and telling stories has to be fostered in their little hearts and minds. But with the right nurturing, patience, and consistancy, In time, you may be surprised to find your little one asking when they can create their next story!