Journaling in your homeschool

Having your kids keep a journal everyday is a great way to inventory their writing skills and note improvements. It’s also a great outlet for them to express themselves via paper and pen. Even if your children are not yet writing, you can have them narrate or dictate to you what to write and you can do it for them.

I recently started implementing journal writing with my homeschoolers and it is so much fun to see what they will write/narrate to me. It is way neat to see the different ways they each communicate and to also see the improvements in writing from one age to the next. It’s a great way to evaluate for sentence structure, grammar usage, thought patterns, etc.

I thought I would share with you, my dear readers, excerpts from each of my children’s journals. And, in so doing, I would encourage you to have your children to journal. I don’t give them a topic, it’s just free writing. I suppose you could give them a topic occasionally and teach them to stick to that topic (I’m sure I’ll do this some this year and most definitely next year).

Here’s an excerpt from my 3 year olds journal:

Alligator. A Donkey. Belly of the Whale. Jonah is in the belly of the whale. I like to ride a cow. I mean, I like to ride a little cow. I want to ride a donkey. I want to ride a hee-haw. I like soccer ball. I want a cow.

Isn’t that so much fun?? :) What a silly boy. :)

5 year olds:

I wish I had a kitten. I would sleep with her every night. I won’t let the dogs eat her within and without the light.

I love to ride my bike. If I could, I would ride it in the dark.

I’m gonna get a horse for Christmas and I want it to be a quarter horse.

I used to like pigs, but now I like horses better than that.

I often like to fish, but sometimes play with the kittens at Nana’s. They are so cute. I have one of my own there.

I wish I had a room of my own. I have to sleep with my brothers every night and I don’t like that.

Halloween days are fun and I like candy all the time. I like to paint pumpkins.

Okay, so she’s a little conversational…lol. Free Christmas horses, anyone? Do you think we have a veterinarian in the making??

7 year olds:

The Kittens

I like the little kittens, there cuddly and soft as mittens and there allways very, very good. and there allways in a good mood, and its a very good reason too…Beacause……its the end. (for the kittens?? :oP)

Typed exactly as written. :) I do believe he was trying to rhyme. There are so many differences between the age groups and it is so neat to see the writing/conversation improvements, isn’t it? The 5 year old was more articulate, it seemed, in conversation, but the 7 year old titles his writings, sticks with a topic, and even tries to rhyme.

If you already do journaling with your homeschoolers, I’d love to hear from you.

And now, my Journal writing must come to an end for the day is beginning around me. So far, the birds are the only ones I hear stirring, but it won’t be long and our household will be going full force. What a blessing to be able to keep my children with me and teach them in the ways of the Lord. Isn’t He wonderful?