Writing Practice

My son hates to write.

Let me qualify that statement a bit. My son loves to create stories, enjoys research, and likes using the computer. However, my son hates to write - by hand.

He has always struggled with his handwriting. His printing was nearly illegible (but has improved a bit in the past year). His cursive leaves MUCH to be desired. And he is frustrated by his lack of progress and how difficult this task is for him. He will often snap the lead in his pencil just writing the smallest homework assignment. And writing a whole story? Well, let's just say he prints it first. (Because if he wrote in cursive first, the story would be a WHOLE lot shorter!)

So, I'm always trying to think of ways to encourage him to write -- for fun. I think the dying art of letter writing is helpful, but I need something that he can do for INSTANT feedback. Maybe journaling exercises? Maybe the whole family can journal together.

I got this idea after seeing a blog post about a book called "Un-Journaling". I checked it out on amazon.com and it looks neat. I also looked at some other journaling workbooks.

I just don't want it to feel like homework! I need it to be FUN! (big sigh) I need some inspiration. Hmm, I wonder how he would respond to the idea of scrapbooking? My scrapbooks always involve lots of journaling. Well, we'll see.