Smart Strategies to Teach Homeschool Writing to the Reluctant Writer

Smart Strategies to Teach Homeschool Writing: 5 Tips for Teaching the Reluctant Writer

Have you noticed that your child doesn’t have much interest in writing? You’re not alone. I’ve been there before but would love to share some helpful tips that worked for my family that help teach homeschool writing.

Not all children will naturally feel comfortable writing when first getting started, but taking the right steps and providing lots of encouragement and resources are the best things you can do for your child.

You’ll see the difference it makes when you follow through with some of these helpful ideas that can transform any reluctant writer into a skilled and confident writer with ease.

I received a trial of Night Zookeeper free and was compensated for my time for giving you my review. All thoughts are my own. Read my full disclosure.

5 Tips for Teaching the Reluctant Writer

#1. Let Your Child Choose the Topic

Sure, there are times when your child will need to write about topics they have no interest in, but you can encourage your child to become a better writer by allowing them to choose topics they are interested in.

If your child likes video games, you can have them write a description of the game in a paragraph or two. When children get to write about the things they like and enjoy, it makes them want to pull out that pencil and paper to get started.

#2. Start Writing Snail Mail Letters to Relatives

Motivate your child to start writing more by getting cute stationery and writing snail mail letters to relatives. No matter the distance between you and your loved ones, even if they live in the same city, it’s a fun way to get your child to write more while showing thoughtfulness to family and friends.

They may look forward to becoming penpals with a grandparent, cousin, aunt, uncle, or any other relative. The more your child writes to relatives, the more they can become confident in their writing skills. If children are confident when they write, they will not have such a difficult time completing writing assignments during school writing sessions.

#3. Encourage Your Child to Write a Story

Ask your child to write a story. Explain that all of their favorite shows or movies began from someone’s imagination. Let your child know that they can get as creative as possible when coming up with ideas for the story. You might even want to work on it together, creating something funny and enjoyable to read for years to come. When you make writing fun, it becomes much less frustrating for the child, even if they are reluctant about getting started at first.

#4. Lead by Example With a Journal of Your Own

Show your child that you enjoy writing by keeping a journal of your own. You might want to write a few sentences about the things you did during the day. You can let your child read the journal to keep you motivated and to get you to stick with writing in it each day. If your child notices that you are taking the time to write, they may feel more encouraged to do the same thing.

Alternatively, you can start a mommy and me journal. Taking turns writing in the journal to each other. This will not only encourage your reluctant writer or reluctant reader, but will become a treasured keepsake between you and your child.

#5. Use Night Zookeeper as a Fantastic Writing Resource

Using the right resources will help you provide the encouragement your child needs to become a better writer. I’m Night Zookeeper’s newest fan for several reasons. The site’s design encourages children to get creative while teaching them how to become better writers. It teaches children new words via fun, interactive games. My daughter actually said, “Mom, you know this isn’t really school, right?”

That made me chuckle, because I secretly know that THIS is a powerful tool and she is learning so much! 

Now when someone asks in a homeschool group about writing programs that actually work I can recommend Night Zookeeper! It really is easy to use, has a kid-friendly interface, encourages creative writing and the very best part – kids love it!

What is Night Zookeeper?

Night Zookeeper is a virtual world where children are in charge of the animals and backgrounds they invent and pieces of writing they create.

Night Zookeeper is a great online learning tool, which helps to inspire creative writing, reading and drawing skills in children. Within the online world of the night zoo, at home or at school, children are encouraged to create magical creatures as well as read and write their own stories.

Writing Can be Fun with Night Zookeeper

Jordan loves the different prompts, puzzles, and lessons on story creating. If I allowed her to be on the iPad for an unlimited time, this could keep her entertained for hours. She used to audibly sigh when it came time for writing, but not with Night Zookeeper. I actually use it as a reward for completing her (ahem) less desirable school work.

A Few Things I love about Night Zookeeper…

• A safe creative writing community for kids.
• It’s perfect for homeschooling.
• Can be accessed on the go.
• Night Zookeeper is an award winning, creative writing platform that helps improve the writing skills of 5-12+ year olds.
• Has over 1,000 different fun, engaging games that increase vocabulary and improve spelling.
• Features puzzles and challenges that develop grammar and structure skills.
• It has Inspiring prompts and story creation lessons that spark imaginations.
• It is very intuitive, easy to navigate and has clear pictures and text.
• There’s a parent dashboard where you can see all your child’s work and even pause certain features.
• My daughter doesn’t think it’s school (enough said).

Why should you Consider Night Zookeeper to Teach Homeschool Writing?

Kids are Inspired by their Own Creations

My daughter’s favorite part is drawing her own magical characters that go with her through the Night Zoo, encouraging her to develop and grow her creative writing skills.

Enrichment of Vocabulary Skills

The foundation of all great writers is their broad and rich vocabulary. Night Zookeeper helps children learn thousands of new words through exciting, personalized activities and games.

Encourages Development of Grammar Skills

As kids progress, they’ll encounter sentence building games, short writing challenges and many more exciting activities that help them to use these new words in longer, more complex sentences.

Kids Learn to Write Fun and Creative Stories

Then they are challenged to put their learning into action, producing stories, reports, poems and other styles of writing. Their work will live in a personal portfolio that can be shared with family, friends and even a global audience!

Awesome, Fast and Effective Feedback 

As soon as my daughter creates she gets instant feedback on everything she just wrote. Encouragement, Spelling, Grammar and they even suggest synonyms to use instead to add new words to her vocabulary. (example of the feedback my daughter received) Kids are encouraged to improve their writing as they receive comments from Night Zookeeper characters, as well as personalized feedback from the team of educators.

Benefits of Night Zookeeper

• Improved Core Writing Skills. 
• Personalized Feedback from a dedicated team of tutors. 
• Weekly Lessons that incorporate interactive video elements and games to teach your children key skills. 
• Publishing Opportunities and weekly competitions with real life prizes! 
• FREE Monthly Educational Printables. 

Awesome Deal on Night Zookeeper Just for You!

Exclusive 50% Off Discount

Right now, using this special link, you can receive a 7-day free trial and the option to purchase an annual subscription at 50% off. 

Encourage Your Reluctant Writer

So when the going gets tough remember to use smart strategies to teach homeschool writing.  Not all children are naturally excited to write, but that doesn’t mean they won’t be good at it. With the right amount of encouragement and use of available resources, you can succeed in transforming your reluctant writer into someone who loves writing.

Note: If You have Teens I Recommend Writeshop I & II

You can view samples of Writeshop I & II HERE

Forest Rose

Forest Rose is a God Loving, Blessed Wife, &  Mama to 3 girls. She’s passionate about lifting moms out of the trenches that are discouraged, overwhelmed, or feeling alone or isolated. Her hope is to point them to Christ and equip them to rise up with a newfound hope and joy within, that He alone can provide. Besides blogging, she also loves to create printables!