Teaching children to write a journal

This is a subject near and dear to my heart just because I am a father who is hopelessly crazy about his children. Yes, I admit it, I admit it, I am a loving father! I can’t help it. I have four kids, each with different personalities (surprise, surprise) and only one of them doesn’t really care much for writing. It seems that every time I was writing in my journal, one or all of my children were spinning. My eldest daughter, Sandra, used to come to my studio and watch me do research or write something. She was in graduate school studying for my doctorate and my children would often come over and ask me about what she was reading or writing. Sandra always seemed to be fascinated with things academic, but particularly with reading and writing. She currently attends Central Michigan University with the hope of one day earning her Ph.D. in literature. She loves to write, and I am overwhelmed that I was able to contribute to her love of the written word. She wrote me a letter from college a couple of weeks ago and she had this to say. “I just wanted to drop you a note to say thank you for all you have done for me over the years. You have taught me so much for which I am very grateful. I credit your influence for my love of the written word and to God. I you have helped instill a rare quality of true passion for the value of the intellect. I will pray for you and think of you, Love, Sandra Joy.” This comes after more than two years with virtually no communication with her. We had a fight two years ago, which has since been redeemed and healed. How grateful I am.

This all comes down to teaching by example, doesn’t it? Children often imitate their parents, and this is the most important thing to remember when it comes to passing things on. I have always believed that writing (particularly journaling) clarifies our hearts and souls. It is a way of bringing to light those internal thoughts and feelings that help us to be who we are. What better way to sharpen the mind and purify the soul than to dialogue with yourself about your life and where it is going, what you have learned and the wisdom you have gained? All this to say, what better gift to pass on to our children (or any child in your life) than gifts that will help them develop great inner qualities of mind and spirit? All the money in the world could never buy the gift we can give children in the form of a love of the written word.

I had the opportunity to pass out journals to my son Weston’s class on the last day of school this year. The children were delighted and asked me many good questions about journaling. One child asked me what I should write, while another wanted to know how I got started. I enjoyed talking to them about the importance of cultivating their thoughts even in simple things that children think about. One girl thought she would write about how she felt about the death of her cat and she wanted to know how to start. So I gave her a few lines to consider starting the process of reflecting on how she felt about herself. All it took was one line, “My cat died and I feel so bad about it. I miss her so much.” She sat at her desk and when she finished class, she had more than a page full. It’s like priming a bomb. Once primed, the water flows. I wanted children to understand that they don’t have to wait until they are perfect articulators and writers to get started. Mastering the language and learning to be articulate come with time. I couldn’t, for obvious reasons, address spiritual issues in the journal, but the discussion was fun, and I know of at least three kids who have stuck to their journals all summer. In an age of video games, cable TV, and computers, it’s wonderful to see children develop a love of writing and reading. That means it is possible to win the battle against the media age in which we live. I have noticed that if I sit and waste time with TV or computers, my two youngest children will want to do the same. On the other hand, when I’m writing or reading, they keep going. I was writing a letter the other day when my youngest daughter, Vonnie, came over and sat on my lap and asked, “Who are you writing to?” I told her, and in a minute or two I noticed that she went over to her little art table and began to write a little storybook with pictures that she had made. I enjoyed watching her work on it.

I don’t want it to sound easy, and believe me it’s not always like that with my children. Sometimes I stop and wonder where I have dropped the ball with them. The only redemption is to be consistent with the exercise of our love for journaling in the presence of our children. In general, they will love what we love, value what we value, and imitate us when we are not looking. Now that is a sobering thought don’t you think? I get a lot of inspiration and wisdom from the Bible (maybe some of you do too) and have always believed the following verse from Proverbs to be true. “Instruct a child in his way, and even when he is old, he will not turn away from him.” (Proverbs 22:6). Many people refer to this only from a spiritual or theological point of view, but I think it applies to any type of values ​​that we hope to pass on to our children. We have a wonderful opportunity to model children who are productive, thinking, and value-driven individuals. We need to encourage each other to stay the course and in the end we can participate in a more redemptive world. It all starts with us.