Believe it or not, the more a person writes, the better they become at the act of writing.  But wait, you might be thinking, how do I even get my child started when they never know what to write about?  Well, you are asking yourself the same question that many of our young elementary school writers ask themselves.  If you haven’t already, reading Ralph Tells a Story by Abby Hanlon illustrates for us adults just how difficult it can be for young writers to even get started.  Many times they don’t think that anything exciting ever happens to them.  Writing can be intimidating when there are pencils (or keys) moving rapidly all around you during writers’ workshop.

But have no fear!  Tell them – just start!  Write about anything.  Describe something in the room.  Make a list of your favorite things.  Flip through books and copy down words that stand out to you.  Just start.  And once they get going – with some gentle nudges to maintain momentum – they will be writing more than they even thought they could!