Meaningful Writing

 

 

Writing is an important form of communication.  We are able to tell people about our thoughts, feelings, intentions, wants, and needs.  But mostly writing is an expression.  In the Reggio Emilia Approach, there are many ways in which a child expresses themselves.  They refer to the many forms of expression as The Hundred Languages of Children.  Children could demonstrate their knowledge and expertise by drawing, painting, singing, dancing, talking, and the list goes on.  It is important to provide children with many opportunities to show their knowledge, practice their skills, and communicate with others.  Sometimes we as educators only allow children to communicate via one method or style.  As children are developing and acquiring skills, experiences have to be meaningful to them.  It is boring and useless to have children copying and practicing writing their names 5 times on a sheet of paper.  What if your boss told you to write your weekly report 5 times?  What's the point of doing that?  Like in the video, there were many opportunities for the children to practice writing their names such as making cards, lists, and labeling work. 

 

We want children to experience learning with a purpose.  There is a little girl in my class whose mother wanted her to learn her address.  The girl was very capable of doing so, but just wasn't interested.  She kept trying to invite us over for another home visit.  When we asked her where she lived, she was like on Mendota.  We told her we need to know the address, the numbers on her house.  And that's the only way we can find her house because there are many houses on Mendota.  She went home and wrote down numbers off the front of the house.  She came back to school excited to share her address with us.  Well, we kept losing the address.  Before long she had learned it, and was able to write it down by herself.  Children are no different from adults in the fact that we all want the things we do to mean something.  When children learn things with a purpose, they are able to make those skills apart of what they know.

 

What ways do you like to express yourself? What are some of the ways the children you know choose to express themselves?