A Place To Write

Organized….We all work better when we know where things are and can find them when we need them.

The same is true with children. And definitely when they are learning.

Whether you have a room or corner in your home designated for “school” or you learn at your dining room table or couch, your children should know where their learning and creating materials are located.  

My children need organization.  I need organization. That is why I want them to have everything they need to learn available to them at any time they choose to use them.  The same is true with writing. Writing doesn’t just happen in the 30 minutes a day we, as their teachers, designate as “Writing” time. Writing happens at night when they want to write a letter to their grandma telling her about their day. Writing happens when you ask your children to help you write a list for the store. Writing happens when something amazing happened on a trip or just in an ordinary day, and they want to tell it! Writing can happen at any time and we, as their teacher, should encourage them to write, to tell their thoughts and memories, to share their stories!

Our first year of homeschooling, we had a “classroom” - a room where we went each morning to learn and create and play.

 
For the past two years, our “classroom” has been our dining room table. Yes, we eat all of our meals there, but we also learn there every day! It isn’t ideal, but it’s working!

 

We have a designated Writing Center in our “classroom” where all of the materials my children may need to write are located. 



This could be as simple as placing pencils, crayons, notebook paper, and a dictionary in a caddy somewhere in your home. Your writing center can be as simple or complex as you would like. Do what works for your family and your homeschool. Some items included in our writing center are pencils, crayons, colored pencils, paper, specialty papers, notecards and envelopes, stickers, children's dictionary and thesaurus, glue, tape, hole punch, stamps and ink pads, word cards, and a writer's idea box.

 

A writing binder is also a daily part of our homeschool writing time. A writing binder is a place where my children keep their writing and writing resources in an organized manner. The writing binders that my children use are divided up into the stages of the writing process. Each stage of the writing process {Pre-Writing, Drafting, Revising, Editing, and Publishing} has a divider that also serves as a reminder of what they are to do during that stage. These are available in my Let's Write curriculum here. Behind each divider is a colored folder where they will keep their writing as it "moves" through the writing process. I will be posting more about the writing process next week. There is also a folder at the back of their binder for resources such as a rhyming dictionary, address book for writing letters, and a personal dictionary. We will add more to this folder as the year goes along. These resources are also available in my curriculum.

Materials Needed for Writing Binder:

2 inch or wider binder
5 colored folders {make sure they have holes or you can punch holes so they can be kept in the binder}
writing process dividers {found here}
one-subject spiral-bound notebook {for rough drafts}
pencil pouch {for red, blue, and 4-color click pens, mini-clothespins {for pencil clip chart}, and pencils

How to Set Up a Writing Binder:

We use a spiral bound notebook in the front of the binder for rough drafts. In the pencil pouch, I included a red pen {for editing}, a blue pen {for publishing}, a 4-color click pen {green for revising}, and mini-clothespins {for pencil clip chart}.



 

The pencil clip chart helps remind my children of the stages of the writing process and the order in which they come. It also will be used to help keep track of where their writing is in the writing process. They will clip a mini-clothespin beside the stage and move it up as their writing "moves" along the writing process.

Each stage of the writing process has a divider in their writing binders. On the back of each divider, I have included "What It Should Look Like" as a reference for the children to use as they write. These dividers are included in my Let's Write curriculum.

 

A colored folder is included at the back for additional resources.

 

 

All of the resources for this writing binder as well as many more are included in Let's Write: A Year-Long Writing Curriculum for Young Authors which can be purchased here.

I encourage you to plan a space for your children today! Create a learning environment that can only set them up for success.

Let's Write!