Learning takes place when teachers help students to link their background knowledge with the new ideas and skills that they are learning. This process takes place during the school day, but can also occur at home. Home is where good writing begins. We have children walk through the doors of our school with many of the skills they will need to become good writers. By integrating what they already know with their experiences in school, they will gain the skill they need to write well.
Writing is an area of the curriculum which greatly benefits from a close home-school connection.
Children can keep journals about family trips and visits with friends and extended family members. These experiences can become a rich source of ideas for a child's piece of writing. Parents can also help children with their writing by asking thoughtful questions about their experiences and the feelings surrounding those activities and events. These questions help the child to think a little more deeply and in more detail. Writing is the highest form of language, more complex than our everyday spoken language, involving many skills and processes in the brain.