Is your child beginning to grasp the concept of creative writing but needs some inspiration to get started? What makes an excellent piece of creative writing? The fascinating world of creative writing allows kids to use their imaginations to explore fictional landscapes and provides them with the necessary skills to read and write effectively. As parents, you can instruct your child to practice creative writing skills at home right from an early age.
Creative writing is a type of writing with an emphasis on narratives and character development using literary and poetic languages, distinguished from the academic, factual, and journalistic forms of writing. More understandably, a creative writing piece is a story that can be both fiction (stories, novels and poems in romance, crime, horror, and adventure) and nonfiction (biographies, stories based on real-life events). For children, writing fictional short pieces is encouraged as these are the closest forms to their favorite bedtime stories.
It takes a lot more than just crafting a story as a creative writer. Your child can benefit from creative writing in the following ways:
Before your child becomes immersed in their tale worlds, plots, and characters, they should be taught to plan their writing effectively. Here are a few things to consider:
The most common mistake parents make while helping their children with creative writing is that they keep correcting and perfecting the writing at the beginning. After your child has formed the big idea, it is time for them first to dive in and write freely. Let them go with the flow of imagination without bothering about word choices, grammatical errors, and sentence structure. The first draft should not be assessed based on perfection, but on how your child manages to follow the plan they have created beforehand. If you interrupt their writing with correction, their thoughts might not be as organized, or they can lose their original inspiration.
The writing process requires multiple revision levels to work out a finished product. At this step, you can have a look into details about the sentence structure your child has made. You could ask them to read every paragraph out loud and have them proofread themselves first. Afterward, you can use highlighter pens to point out significant mistakes in grammar, punctuation, and word choices. Try not to correct them right away. Instead, question them to figure out themselves and find alternatives, for example: Is there a better word you can use here? Do you think there is a problem with this sentence? Is the exclamation mark being appropriately used here?
Applying Freytag’s Pyramid or Story Mountain is an effective way to assess your child’s creative writing. This is a model which indicates that a good piece of creative writing should contain the following elements:
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Teaching creative writing at home is not an easy job, which explains why following the above structure would help you direct your child’s writing effectively as they start. Having clear instruction will also aid your child’s development of interests in a specific genre and certain style of writing. The flair for creative writing established at a young age will benefit your child’s writing ability when they reach a more advanced level.
Last but not least, if your child needs extra help improving her writing skills, we can help. Our English Language Art program helps develop writing and comprehension skills for young learners, from word recognition to creative writing. Learn more about our ELA classes here.
Explore English Writing Skill Booster Class at E2 this Summer
Focus on creative writing and academic writing through journaling, writing essays, and composition.
E2 and Twinkl collaborated on articles in the E2xTwinkl series to give families a range of valuable information, activities, and ideas for following your children on their learning journey. The articles cover a variety of themes, like how kids learn STEAM and English efficiently at home. We believe you will start coming up with many wonderful ideas to help your children study well every day.
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