WHAT ABOUT JOURNALING?
 (Or, My child hates his journal)
 Susan Wise Bauer

    I've been a writer all my life, a professional writer for eight years, and a teacher of writing for six years.  Every child should learn to form sentences properly, to construct paragraphs logically, and to build a convincing written argument (no matter how much he complains while learning).  Writing, like mental spinach, strengthens the mind -- even if you don't happen to like the taste.
    But no child should be forced to do creative writing.  Creativity CANNOT BE TAUGHT.  It can be released, encouraged, and nurtured.  It cannot be instilled in someone who is gifted in entirely different ways.  Requiring a reluctant student to do creative writing is a sure way to instill a loathing for the whole writing process.
     Journal entries are creative writing.
     I know that many, many writing and language arts programs require a daily or weekly journal entry.  I also know, from hearing the laments of dozens (hundreds?) of parents, that, for many children, this journal entry requirement falls somewhere on a spectrum between frustrating and impossible (and boys seem disproportionately intimidated).
     If journal entries are a problem, CUT THEM OUT OF YOUR PROGRAM.
     My mother tells me that my brother -- a gifted computer scientist with a master's degree, who holds a prestigious programming job with a cutting-edge software engineering company in Colorado Springs -- failed freshman writing in college because he was required to complete a daily writing assignment along the lines of, "Describe how you feel when you get up in the morning."  "But I don't feel anything when I get up in the morning," he protested.  "I get up and take a shower and do my stuff and go to school.  I don't 'feel' anything about it."  This is a National Merit scholar who continues to be at the top of his profession; he just didn't feel "creative" about writing, and no assignment was going to force him into that mold.
     Journaling became widespread in the 1970s, when feelings and emotions were prioritized in education, and reason and fact were downgraded.  Although we've emerged (somewhat) from that cultural moment, journal entries persist.  Don't feel any guilt about removing them from your curriculum if they don't suit your child's style.
     One reason we suggest the writing program Writing Strands is because the program gives very concrete assignments.  Many very bright children need this fact-based, non-fanciful focus for their writing.  I just met an experienced home-school mom from Boston who told me that her intelligent son (a voracious reader) simply could not do his weekly journal assignment.  (Her daughter loved them.)  Instead of requiring him to slog through the entry every week, she picked a quote from a different great book each week, and told him to put the quote in his own words.  Given this concrete subject, he wrote well and fluently.  This is an excellent replacement for journal entries.  You can also substitute a "What I did today" assignment (a listing assignment) or a "What I will do tomorrow" assignment (a planning assignment) for journaling.

 

Go

to the October 1999 issue page, or go

to the Well-Trained Mind Newsletter page

from Peace Hill Farm

18101 The Glebe Lane

Charles City, VA 23030