Since I plan to participate in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) again this November, I thought I'd give my children the option to participate as well.
I need as much time as possible to write my own novel in November and I know that writing will be all-encompassing for my kids as well. So, I decided to give them two options for November.
1 - Do their regular lessons.
2 - Replace their Language Arts lessons with writing a book.
When presented with these choices, all of them chose option 2. Whew! That makes things MUCH EASIER for Mom!
(Language Arts here includes: Spelling Power, Explode the Code, reading, literature study, dictionary work, vocabulary study, letter writing, journal writing, and IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) writing. Maybe something else I've forgotten....)
Now, keep in mind, my kids are ages 6, 8, 11, and 13. Last year my 13-year-old (at age 12) wrote his first book. (That's him in the photo, with his book. I had it typed and spiral bound for him. He was THRILLED!)
It wasn't 50,000 words - just 7,000. I recognize that as quite an accomplishment for anyone, especially a twelve-year-old. I have a few friends who didn't write that much on their NaNoNovels. My other kids didn't complete their goals. But this year, I'll be better prepared.
NaNoWriMo has a Young Writers Program. The students get to choose their own goals. There are also some great helps available on their website.
- Workbooks as .pdf downloads - Elementary, Middle School or High School versions. (I think we'll be using these!)
- Incentive Kits (I've put in an order for a kit for our homeschool group, so if your child is part of SOF and plans to write, let me know. Maybe I'll have a Novelist button for your student.)
- Young Writers T-shirts - a little pricy, but I will likely buy them for my kids, if they meet their goals.
- Certificates
2 comments:
I'm still up in the air about writing... I want to, but I don't think I can do it!
The young writers thing is interesting, considering Riley just wrote that little book a few weeks ago. Maybe she would like to do that instead of her LA for November? I'll have to consider it some more! Maybe Reece would even like to write... not sure about Austin.
Hmm, you've given me much to think about!
Stephanie is a definite! She thinks it will be a blast!
Thanks for suggesting this for the kids :).
Penny \OooO
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