Preschool Journaling
While sorting through old books one day, I came across the journal my daughter had kept when she was four and a first-time big sister. "My baby is my favorite toy," she wrote. I laughed, remembering that I had been pleased at the progression. Originally, the baby had been categorized as a pet.
Although we know that as adults, we are supposed to keep journals, we often forget to teach this commandment to our children. From the moment a child can talk, he ought to have a journal. If he has always kept one, there is a good possibility that he always will. He will never have the self-consciousness we often have when we first keep a journal.
As soon as your child can make sentences, buy him a journal. Invite him to dictate entries to you. At first, you may have to ask questions or coax, but he will soon be bringing you the journal as it becomes symbolic of time alone and time when he is so important that his words must be written down. You might write every Sunday afternoon. “What shall we write about today?” If he isn’t sure, remind him of things he has done throughout the week. He can also write about memories, feelings, imaginary stories and his life. Suggest he tell about his Primary class, his friends, or his favorite games.
If he is not used to this type of narration, you might ask questions and then turn them into sentences:
“What is your favorite toy.”
“My bear.”
“Why is it your favorite toy?
”I sleep with it.”
“Okay, how about if I write, ‘My bear is my favorite toy and I sleep with it.’ Is that okay? Should we write what your bear’s name is?”
Keep asking questions until you have at least ten sentences. Then read the story to your child and praise him for writing such a good journal entry. Now give him the book and let him illustrate the page.
Don’t worry too much if half the book is fiction. You might have a budding novelist in your home! When he grows up, he will enjoy reading his fictional life as much as he will enjoy the real thing. If he wants to claim that he flew the plane to Washington himself, let him. If you are worried about lying-which is not the same as imagining in a small child-you can smile and say, “It’s fun to pretend about things like that, isn’t it? Did you know that writers often make up stories and call them fiction? Would you like to write a fiction story about your trip before we write about the real one?” If you are not worried, leave the imaginary part in, since we can presume you will remember that this never happened when you read it again someday. You can, if you prefer, add a parental note.
Every now and then, take time to read old journal entries with your child. Curl up in a cozy chair and read. Admire the pictures and remember. Your child is learning more skills than you can imagine from his journal. He is learning that he is important and so are his words and memories. He is so important that you want to save this time in his life forever. He is important to you! When he learns that Heavenly Father wants him to keep this journal, he learns that he is also important to God.
Your child will also learn academic skills. He is learning to be a writer and a storyteller. He is improving his verbal skills and someday he will write his own journal and then his writing skills will grow more quickly than most, because writing will be meaningful to him.
But most importantly, you are preserving his childhood in a way no camera and no parental journal can do. You are preserving the world as it was seen through the eyes of a little child.