Your Child’s Writing Life by Pam Allyn
Review by Chris Singer
About the author:
Pam Allyn is a renowned educator and the Director of LitLife, a national organization dedicated to school improvement in the area of literacy education, and LitWorld, a global organization dedicated to ensuring that all children will learn to read and write. Her first book for parents and caregivers, What to Read When: The Books and Stories to Read With Your Child and All the Best Times to Read Them won the 2010 Parents Choice Award as well as the National Parenting Publications Gold Award in 2009. Her reading initiative ‘Books for Boys’ won recognition from the Points of Light Foundation and a Disney Award. Pam has received the James Patterson PageTurner Award twice. She lives in Hastings on Hudson with her husband Jim and two daughters, Katie and Charlotte.
About the book:
New educational research reveals that writing is as fundamental to a child’s development as reading. But though there are books that promote literacy, no book guides parents in helping their child cultivate a love of writing. In this book, Pam Allyn, a nationally recognized educator and literacy expert, reminds us that writing is not only a key skill but also an essential part of self-discovery and critical to success later in life. Allyn offers the “the five keys” to help kids WRITE-Word Power, Ritual, Independence, Time, and Environment-along with fun, imaginative prompts to inspire and empower children to put their thoughts on the page.
My take on the book:
I really didn’t think about it until I was reading this book, but there really aren’t a lot of books out there for helping your child develop a love of writing. Leave it to Pam Allyn though to provide one with an amazing amount of resources to help parents and teachers alike to empower kids to painlessly learn the skills to develop this love.
As with the other two books written by Allyn I have reviewed (What To Read When and Pam Allyn’s Best Books For Boys), her passion for helping children develop literacy skills comes shining through. She starts this book off by explaining why it is so important to help foster a love and enjoyment of writing in our children. Again, as in her other books, Allyn provides a great number of suggestions and resources to help young writers of all ages while providing real-life examples of experiences with her own daughters and students.
I loved the section about setting up a writing environment for your child complete with all the supplies necessary to write. I have to admit, my enjoyment here was mainly because although not specifically geared towards writing, I have done something similar for my daughter just to give her a place to do playdoh or coloring. When my daughter is learning to write, she’ll have this environment set up for