Jalen and Kysen have really enjoyed doing their summer journals. This is an easy way to have your kids continue to work on their language, literacy and writing skills over the summer. Jalen is 7 so he draws the picture and writes his own sentences. Kysen is 4 so he draws his pictures and then an adult writes the words. When kids journal you can easily make adjustments on how much they write or don’t write according to where they are developmentally.
Materials:
3 ring binder
FREE PRINTABLE journal paper
3 hole puncher
Jalen is 7 so he draws the picture and writes his own sentences. He is currently working on his spelling, hand writing and sentence structure. I remind him that a punctuation mark should come at the end of every thought. He tends to write really long run on sentences using and after every thought. I also tell him if the reader can’t read his writing then it’s not a word. This helps to encourage him to write more legibly.
Kysen is 4 so he draws his pictures and then I write the words. He loves to dictate his stories. Kysen is working on beginning and ending sounds, concept of word, and learning simple site words such as A, I and The. As I write his words I stop and ask him what sound he hears at the beginning/ending of certain words. I don’t do this for every word I write because it would get boring. I will also ask him how I spell the words I and A as I write. Sometimes he likes to write the words I and A himself. He loves when I stop to ask him questions. He is proud of his journals! When we are done writing Kysen’s story we read the story back together as he points to the words. This helps with his reading confidence. He can remember most of the story since it was his own words.
