“Vicky – the words just won’t come out.”

Unhappy Male Student Working At Desk In Chinese School ClassroomThis sad statement came from an 8 year old. At this age children should be bubbling with creativity and ideas. If they know HOW to write words, the words and ideas should flow eKia Hui 2asily from the brain to the page. Asa 1

And yet, like Andrew, so many children find the reverse is happening.

They are constrained from a fairly young age to write in various genres such as persuasive text, reports and so on and cannot JUST LET THE WORDS FLOW!

it is the same with any creative pursuit- put too many rules in too early and the ability to get into flow just goes!

I am happy to report that ALL children who attend our courses for more than 3 months CAN let the words go- in fact they love the process!

We write in short spurts (8 minutes) with no talking aloud and Scarlett 2nobody is allowed to not write (even teachers as well.) The kids double, triple and often quadruple the number of words they write.

We have developed many methods to restore children’s ability to write creatively and MIND JOURNEYS is a very powerful strategy.

We have used this method for many years and we are continually adding more visualisations (mind-journeys) for children to listen to with eyes closed in a darkened room. A teacher reads them calmly and slowly with the children cross legged in front of them.

A child rings the writing gong to commence writing and one to finish at the end of 8 minutes.

Lights are deliberately kept low to aid concentration and focus.

The kids start to switch on their imaginations and imagine they are IN the stories!

Once the writing gong has sounded the children have no choice- they are told to put pencil paper to paper and write about whatever came into heir minds.

Most just ge491506[1]t writing quickly but occasionally I might have a child just sitting, not sure what to write (usually a new child) and I just tell the, “wiggle your pencil around on the page and something will come out!” And it does!

Of course we also teach editing and the basic genres but we give priority to the creative aspects of writing so children, even the most reluctant ones, can re-discover their writing voices.

Our new MIND JOURNEYS book is now available in Singapore and will be available from the beginning of October in Australia.

Please contact us to get a copy so you have 50 Mind-Journeys to help the children in your class to LOVE writing.

Teachers who sign up for our next ALL KIDS CAN WRITE course (Thursday 25th October) will receive a free copy, learn more about this approach and be given a practical introduction to the other methods we have evolved to get our students to LOVE WRITING!

 

 

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