InfoGuide4Parents.com

Several times this month, Fiona Brill and her five year old son have walked to the nearby Primary School. There they play on the monkey-bars, eat a picnic lunch and try out all the drinking taps to discover which ones work - and which ones spray water everywhere. Fiona points out the classroom Nicky will be in this year and the bench she will sit on, when it is time to collect him. In just a few weeks, Nicky will go to school for the first time. Fiona is already working to make the transition as easy and as happy as possible.

‘You’re too early.’ This is probably not a phrase we use much with our kids. Wouldn’t we love it if they started studying for exams, packing for trips and planning Christmas presents early?

However, when it comes to writing, kids often start early - and it is NOT a good idea. It probably means their writing moves too slowly and is full of padding. Here are three examples:

1) Story Starts

For some reason, people seem to want to start stories at the beginning of the day, or the start of holidays or even (for autobiographies) at the moment they were born. Yet, often this is a boring time.

When is a child ready for school - or not? For the parents of Rhonda, the decision is easy. Rhonda will be 5.5 years of age at the start of the school year, she is tall and sporting with strong social skills. Similarly, Peter’s parents have no real decision to make. Peter can already read dozens of words, he is independent and confident for his age. He too will be going to school.

Here are the seven advanced techniques authors use to make a story powerful. Share this quick quiz to see which skills your kids use and to see what a difference practising writing in small ‘chunks’ can make…

TOPIC: A Boy, a Bear and a Lucky Escape

Plan for Success: Which plan is better?

a) We went to the zoo and a bear got loose and chased Jeremy.
b) We went to the zoo and a bear escaped and chased Jeremy, the naughtiest boy in the school. Our teacher whistled really loudly and threw a hamburger to distract the bear so Jeremy was saved.

If you got a dollar for every time you told your kids to plan their writing, you’d be living on a tropical island now, right? The only trouble is, it’s hard to show children HOW to plan.

We’ve all seen examples of poor planning:

* Movies that have great starts, terrific characters, fascinating plots - and an ending which is flatly disappointing.
* Books that get bogged down with 57 characters and 49 locations leaving you bewildered and bored.
* And then there’s real life. The handyman who pulls apart the lawnmower to fix it, and only when it is in 42 bits around him does he discover he needs specific wrenches (trip to neighbour), an instruction booklet (search 47 files in a cabinet), cleaning fluid (trip to hardware store) and finally - it’s all done, all fixed, but oops, forgot the oil!