Diane Hopkins'
homeschool questions and answers
are now available in a bound book just for you
Homeschooling Questions and Answers

This is one of the many Questions & Answers you can read in the volume written by Diane Hopkins (see it on the left).

Question:

I want to start my child off in journal writing, but it seems like a huge job. Where do I start?

Answer:

I love using journal writing as a way to learn to write, and to improve writing as the child grows up. I think that journal writing can provide much of the writing skills a child needs to learn. Besides, the project is meaningful and worthwhile! I tell my children to do their best work, because someday their own children will read their journals.

I like to use the chubby pencils that are easier for young hands to hold. I also start off with widely spaced paper, about 5/8" spacing is good. I use paper that has a blank top that allows the child illustrating space. I teach them to write the date on the top line.

I begin with journal writing when my children are just about 4 to 5 years old, just when we begin phonics. Of course, they cannot write a journal entry on their own, but I start by just asking them to tell me one sentence about something that happened that day, or something they would like to express. I write it in yellow marker. Then I have my child trace over the letters with a thick pencil. Finally, I let them draw a picture of the sentence they wrote. If you do your journal writing daily, it won't be long at all before you can leave spaces for the small, common words that are easy to sound out using phonics, and write the remaining words of the sentence in yellow to be traced. (I am assuming you are simultaneously teaching your student to read). Gradually, day after day, your student will progress to the point that he can compose and write a simple sentence all by himself!

As you progress, you will find your child beginning to misspell words. I have found that it can be overwhelming to a beginning writer if every misspelling becomes a spelling word that has to be studied. I use this method: I sit next to my child and show him which letters need correcting. If it is an overwhelming task, then I just choose the 6-8 most common words, words that your little writer will use over and over again. I am anxious for this to be a fun, enjoyable experience, not a daunting one for my child. There will be time to learn to perfect spelling. Right now, we are trying to get the "journal habit" going, and encourage his writing and drawing, his record keeping of his own life, every school day.

I take each year's completed daily journal pages (January 1 to December 31) to a copy shop and have them bound in date order with a comb or spiral binding. I have them put on cardstock covers that the child has designed, plus a clear plastic sheet over the front cover to protect it. It only costs a few dollars for the job and yet what a treasure these books have become to my children!

—Diane Hopkins

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Love to Learn!
Homeschool Handbook

Your Guide to Setting Up a Homeschool, Selecting Resources, and Joyfully Educating Your Children

Need homeschool help?

Diane Hopkins has been reviewing and testing homeschool products for over 20 years and you can benefit from her experience. In this comprehensive guidebook, each grade of school is detailed with the best-on-the-market in curriculum for your homeschool and notes added on how to use these resources! Set up your school schedule, learn how to get your kids to take charge of getting their schoolwork done, and how to make your homeschool fun and meaningful. Reproducible forms are included.

Large, spiral-bound book introduces you to the 7 Hopkins children, and shows you how she taught and raised them homeschooling: the mistakes she made along with the successes. Full of family photos, personal stories, and wisdom—this volume will give you the help you need to get enthused, get organized and get going! More details and sample pages, click here!

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