Moor House Path to Writing

In 2002, when we launched our school, we developed a basic writing program for the children. We wanted writing to be a tool that children would use. We also realized that attitude and individual development play a large role in writing proficiency.

In the early years, before school age, we suggest parents keep journals, share family history stories with their children, write letters, post messages to family, keep lists, and take inventories of possessions.

The following is the process we use to develop writing. Sure, all of these can be done on line. This writing process helps children grasp the constructing or the encoding of communication. Hand writing also develops more brain connections than typing and builds better memory capacity.


Writing is something that takes not only being able to reproduce letters, it takes finger strength to form multiple letters, making words and sentences. Playing with dough, helping mom bake breads and pies, strengthens fingers. Helping clean, set the table, fold laundry, work in the garden all strengthen little fingers. Building with building toys that connect together helps strengthen fingers. Experimenting with the piano keys or violin can strengthen fine motor finger strength. Drawing strengthens fingers. I am not a fan of coloring books as "art." I see them as a pre- writing activity for finger strength and finger control.

Composition writing is impacted by personal expression. Charlotte Mason style narration or telling about events, books, movies, places, etc. are important pre-composition. New Hampshire educator Louis Benezet called this oral composition:

"The children in these rooms were encouraged to do a great deal of oral composition. They reported on books that they had read, on incidents which they had seen, on visits that they had made. They told the stories of movies that they had attended and they made up romances on the spur of the moment. It was refreshing to go into one of these rooms."

http://www.inference.phy.cam.ac.uk/sanjoy/benezet/1.pdf

His students did oral composition in the elementary years; they were taught grammatical conventions in junior high in one school year. The results were superior to the conventional parsing out of grammar and writing exercises throughout elementary school. The article above is one article in a series of three.  I recommend reading all three articles. They are mainly about how he taught math, however he also wrote about how he taught Language Arts.

Fluid, quality writing also involves attitude. Pushing writing before muscles are developed, interest is cultivated, and ability to express one’s self is developed, can result restricted minimalist, non-expressive writing. Sadly, some are turned off to writing from being graded harshly when learning the rudiments of writing. Some hate writing because they were expected to write before they were able to express themselves. Some adults avoid writing due to feeling self-consciousness, not wanting others to judge them.

We would like children to be able to express themselves clearly, learn to write, feel comfortable with writing, use writing as a tool, and like writing.

When children are of primary age (three and up) we encourage several family home evenings on journaling, personal history, and family history. Children can be given a journal and if they are not yet writing, they can tell a parent or older sibling what they want written in their journals.

Children should be encouraged to describe what they have read, seen, and experienced. Encourage communication through discussion. Let them have time at Family Home Evening or in a family recital to share about something that interests them. Give them opportunity to narrate about a book they have read, describe a painting, or experience to dad.

Once children are able to reproduce letters and are beginning reading, we have created a phased writing plan. Each phase is added onto the phase before, but does not replace the previous phase.
While children are moving through these phases, we also encourage the building of a Book of Centuries, a Book of Nations, and keeping of a written Scholar Portfolio. At first these are done with the with the parent. This helps children gain the joy of creating these resources, before actually being able to do it on their own. As the child progresses in their writing ability they begin to keep their own.

Note

If there are younger non-writers, a parent or older sibling can help them by taking dictation. As children begin to write on their own, they can transcribe what they have dictated. This way their spelling and punctuation will be set in pattern. This process also helps their ability to express themselves while they are developing their writing skills, without overwhelming the beginning writer and without a parent child struggle.

Phase One: 

During this phase we encourage transcription (copy work), writing lists, helping with inventory, keeping a journal, and writing letters. We suggest you do this phase when studying Ancient Times. In ancient times they made lists, kept inventories, wrote journals, and corresponded on parchment.

Phase Two: 

During this phase we encourage writing down remembrances and creating a personal history. Begin writing your personal history with this Ensign article: One-Hour Life History by Carol Huber. Then add a memory a week or a write up of something memorable that happened that week. We suggest you do this when studying The Birth of Christianity through Medieval Times. Once children are writing on their own, personal life experiences are rich material for writing.

Phase Three: 

By this time children have been moving through the writing phases for at least two years. This year they begin doing Family History Research. In the process of learning how to research they will learn to use online searches and library catalogs. They will also learn which resources are prime and to evaluate the reliability of records, take notes, and document research. They will also use this information to write short biographies on people researched.this is the year they would be studying the Age of Discovery and the Foundations of Liberty.

Phase Four: 

This year they build an online blog (even if it will be restricted in viewing) and learn how to use electronic media to their advantage. During this year is a good time to visit and tour a newspaper publisher or book publisher and learn about rough drafts and the importance of editing. This is the year they will be studying the Modern Times, Restoration and Fulness of Time.

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By the time children have experienced the foundation and all four phases and their own record keeping, they will have a solid foundation in writing and better attitude towards writing than most children using the current public school curriculum to learn to write. By this time most children are moving into puberty and their brain is changing. Abstract leaning such as grammar are easier to study. this is the time to begin refining their writing.