No, this is not another post about NaNoWriMo…though I’m finding it an incredible way to practice my craft. As I mentioned over at fellow Test Driver Tami’s blog when she asked what people expected to get out of it:
I am a fly by the seat of my pants kind of writer – and this story is taking me in all kinds of places I wasn’t expecting. It’s exciting – and only happening because I am making an effort to write every day.
SO that’s it really – I want to teach myself some discipline – to get into the habit – to make it a priority – to have it be a part of my life like I know it should. And the freedom of NaNo – the wild crazy literary abandon that seems to come with this project, is incredibly inspiring and just plain good for the soul.
If I end up getting a book ready to submit at the end of this, it will be icing on my cake.
But, as I said this isn’t a post about Nano (or wasn’t supposed to be at least).
Over at my idol’s website (you know the one…PW herself) a longtime homeschool contributor OMSH (Oh My Stinking Heck) ran a wonderful post about the writing activities she has her first grader do. As soon as I saw it, I knew I had to try tbis with Miss A. I say “try” because Miss A can be extremely difficult when I ask her to just try something and see how it goes. She likes structure and order and a clear list of expectations (personally, I think so she can know exactly what to complain about). So I was worried how she would react when I handed her a blank page and told her to just go for it.
The activity is to draw a picture of anything your little heart desires, then write a few lines talking about the picture. I told Aishtyn I would not be checking her spelling, to just write the words as best she could and it could be like a mystery for me to solve if they weren’t “just right.”
I have to say, she did awesome! She was thrilled when I could actually read 99% of what she had written. I’d love to show you her first effort, but my scanner is still in limbo until the husband re-intalls everything (remember my terrible horrible no good very bad day?) As soon as it’s up and running, I’ll add it in. Or maybe I’ll just take a picture of it and add it that way.
The activity sheets are available for FREE at this very cool little site (where a variety of other cool writing pages are also available). I am adding this to my weekly homeschool repertoire: along with Fractions Friday, we will now have FreeWrite Friday. I look forward to all the wonderful glimpses into Miss A’s mind…and the improvement in her reading and writing too of course!
Thanks again to OMSH for such a great idea!
ETA: Here it is, Miss A’s first Friday FreeWrite
“This is me on the viper. My first time. What is it like? said me.”
(On the last day our local theme park was open, she was finally tall enough to ride some of the bigger rollercoasters, it was a great way to end the season!)
Melonie Johnson 