Following is the Teaching Tip written by Matt Daneker that was included in the last issue of MY Access!® Newsletter sent to all Home Edition users. As it has generated so much interest, and is applicable to all students, I thought it made sense to post here to make it available to a larger audience.

As I thought about this question, I had to reflect on an experience I shared with my daughter on our recent summer vacation. I am lucky to have a daughter who likes to read for fun. She is by no means a “bookworm,” but I sure don’t have to coax her to read once she has found a book or series that she enjoys.

During the first leg of our long ride, my daughter announced from the back seat, “We need to find a bookstore. I just finished the book I was reading.” At the time, I was preoccupied with finding the hotel, but I did remark, “Did you finish writing your book report?”

My question was followed by an unrehearsed protest in which my daughter made it clear that she would not allow her reading to be interrupted by writing, of all things. I eventually found a bookstore (not to mention the hotel) that provided her with another book to keep her young mind occupied during the rest of our trip.

What I did not find, at least not right away, was a way to inspire her to write with the same interest with which she reads. I toyed with the idea of asking her to keep a journal of her experiences and thoughts during our vacation, but she felt that was too much work; she has never been one to regularly journal in any case. Undeterred, I continued to consider the challenges of encouraging children to write during the summer, especially when it may be the furthest thing from their vacationing minds.

** Tip — Since I know I am not the only parent in this situation, I would like to share two of the “sneakier” ideas that came to me during our vacation.

Vacation Planning — Each summer, as we plan our family vacation, I always provide my daughter with an opportunity to express what she would like to do and where she would like to go. It occurred to me that there is a writing opportunity lurking in this simple tradition.

As you plan your summer vacation or outing, ask your child to do some research into a destination that appeals to him or her. Or, if you have already determined where you are going, have your child use the Internet to research activities that may be available near this destination. Say, for example, you plan to visit a state park. Have your child research the park on the Internet and find hiking trails, fishing charters, or a nearby museum that he or she would like to visit.

Now, here is where the writing opportunity lies. Ask your child to write a short essay in which he or she describes three activities (who, what, when, where) and provides persuasive reasons why the family should try them. If you have more than one child participating, ask each child to present his or her “position paper” to the family for consideration.

Extended Postcard — Postcards are timeless reminders of the summer vacations we have enjoyed. There is an obvious writing connection here, but I think it can be spiced up a bit.

When we send postcards, the picture on the front is usually more important than the short message we quickly scrawl on the back. Make arrangements for your child to purchase a couple of postcards early in your vacation. Periodically during your vacation, ask your child to write a paragraph or a few short sentences on each postcard and mail it home. Your child should write a few details that pertain to the picture on the front of the postcard or describe an activity in which the family participated. There is no essay here, at least not yet — your child is just sending short postcards home, which is fun, right?

When you get home, it will be exciting for your child to rummage through the waiting mail to find the postcards. Once you have found them all, ask your child to copy the sentences from the postcards and stitch them together into a brief narrative about the trip. If your child is feeling especially creative, the postcards and essay could be combined into a scrapbook of the vacation. But I’m realistic. Let’s start by trying to get him or her writing.

Have you found an interesting way to encourage your child to write before, during, or after your family vacation? Please share it with us in the Vantage Online Forum!

This entry was posted on Monday, August 11th, 2008 at 1:59 pm and is filed under Because Writing Matters... At Home. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.