OK Mom says:
Today's topic I actually held back for a long time, I am afraid that you look at the head, and feel very very important, that is, every child will be exposed to writing "small essays" after entering school.
The length of small essays is not long, generally when the first grade just starts, just write 1-2 sentences, and then slowly increase to five or six lines, two or three hundred words. But just this word can abuse children and parents a thousand times. The child a sentence "do not know what to write" "do not know how to write" began to pick a pick, as a parent does not help at all, but help will fall into a dead cycle, such as you think of a topic for him, he will continue to ask you how to write, you think of how to write for him, he will hate you to say a sentence he remembers a sentence, completely do not go to the brain, to the next time still no ideas, but also rely on help ... If you do this, your capabilities will never improve.
A while ago, she chatted with her friend Ah Xi, her daughter from the initial writing of the journal to the small poems written later to get high praise on Zhihu, she also experienced some thinking in the process. I agree with some of her points of view, such as children writing a journal should not look at it and guide them to write our ideas, this is a necessary stage, "writing like a child, is what children should do."
Sharing her simple experience with you today can help us take fewer detours.
Text: Ah Xi
From the time my daughter was in elementary school to the third grade, her essay was often praised in the class, as a model essay. The following is a study essay from her second grade.
"A Letter to Peach Blossom" Peach Blossom:
You know what, my friends love you! Pink flower skirts; pale yellow flower hearts; all flowers have to be thanked before they grow fruit. Let the little girl see enough!
A man comes quietly and gently shakes your slender little waist, and there will be a rain of petals in that place.
In the spring, you grow up for people to appreciate; in the summer, you give birth to sweet and delicious peaches; in the autumn, there are only a few dead leaves left around you, and you are imagining the spring of next year; in the winter, snowflakes put a protective film on your house, and people are waiting for you to bloom pink flowers next spring.
You look good everywhere you plant. Planted in the garden, it adds a touch of cuteness; planted by the small river, adding a companion to Takayanagi; planted on the side of the path, there is no girl who does not have the urge to "take a picture in the past".
I really like you – Peach Blossom!
Many friends who have seen my daughter's composition will say that I teach well, I thought about it, but I have never specifically instructed my daughter how to write a good composition, but perhaps it is my "non-specific intervention" that gives her some space for self-exploration.
Of course, to say that I have not bothered at all is certainly not, no child does not need to be supported when they first walk. My daughter has actually been observing her bits and pieces in the process of writing the whole article, but I will use some less obvious methods to secretly help her and influence her.
The daughter was also mediocre in her writing at first.
The earliest to write is the first grade of "look at the picture to speak", she always writes in a decent manner, there is no association, to say that there is something special, probably is a lot of typos ... Sometimes, because the understanding of the picture is not in place, the topic is off topic, and the deduction is serious.
However, my mentality is still relatively good, and I have always been unconcerned about the standard of "good composition". Sometimes her father was very disgusted with her small composition, and I said, "This is just the beginning, no matter how well it is written, how good it is, how good it can be." ”
I really think so. Just as all great art begins with graffiti, writing at this stage is still in the "doodle" stage, and it is good to conform to the child's heart.
The most asked question I was asked by my friends was, "What if my child always writes a journal?" ”
I once interviewed a well-known children's book author who is also an innovative educational practitioner of reading and writing. At that time, I also talked about this topic, and the words of this writer made me particularly memorable, she said:
"It doesn't matter if he writes a journal, as long as he is physically and mentally integrated, what he wants to write is exactly what he has in his heart." Six-seven-year-old, seven-eight-year-old child, the running account is his right, he is not so logical, you have to let him slowly grow into his own logic. Keeping this rhythm for 3 months to half a year, he will definitely change. ”
Now that I think about it again, combined with the flow account stage that my daughter has experienced, I really feel that it is particularly right. Free expression is a very valuable experience for children to tell the truth, not to speak pretty.
Moreover, just by telling the truth, there are many shining points.
I often see the cunning and innocence of children in my daughter's essays.
"Sunshine" stopped in front of a difficult problem as I was writing a book. I looked up and a ray of sunlight hit my head, letting me see the light. Golden sunlight envelops the entire community, turning the whole community into gold. Gold represents warmth, represents the front, represents victory... As soon as I thought about this, I looked at the puzzle again, and suddenly I had the motivation to read the topic again, and again, and again... Those ginkgo leaves smiled at me, sang at me, danced at me, danced at me..... Makes me feel warm. I finally made this question.
Sometimes children even exude some "negative emotions" in their writing, or even say things that are not so "correct". But I've always believed that truth is the most important thing. Writing like a child is what a child should do.
My college classmates have been high school Chinese teachers for nearly 20 years, and once lamented to me:
"High school essays are not well written, the root cause is that the primary school teaching is bad, the primary school does not allow the writing of the truth, the big ones are randomly made up, and there is a lack of real and touching things."
Therefore, from the very beginning of children's writing, we should put down the standard of "good composition" and encourage children to express themselves freely, which is very critical to cultivating children's writing confidence, including the "level" of future writing.
Friends often ask me how to teach children to write essays.
Every time I say:
Don't teach.
This is because many times, once it comes to specific writing, it is easy to impose the thinking of adults on children.
I once heard a dad teach his kids:
"You write that you are in a hurry, how can you say that you are anxious like a puppy, and you are anxious like an ant on a hot pot."
"Anxious like ants on a hot pot", this is expressed several generations ago, even if it is an exam, the teacher will probably feel bad when he sees it, and the score is likely not to be high.
There are also some parents who like to teach their children to add many modifiers in order to make the article "vivid", such as carefully walking to the room and running home.
This kind of "guidance" is also unnecessary in my opinion.
First, people's imagination is really limited, the expression of combination is often very solidified, and the child's imagination and aura are limited.
Second, children in the lower grades cultivate their interest in writing, write happily, write freely, and fall in love with writing, which will naturally be slowly enriched later.
If you must "know", you can guide the child to increase the details of the expression on his own, rather than the adult giving the answer.
Sometimes my daughter gets stuck writing a story, and I suggest she thinks about the books she's read recently, and if there's anything to learn from:
How to create conflicts, how to resolve conflicts, whether there are some new characters to add...
The child soon finds his own ideas.
You can also guide your child to do some writing attempts. For example, in this article, I suggested that she could use the names of many plants and animals to express "the summer of anticipation", but how to write specifically, I did not teach a word.
The final effect, she wrote a lot of things in her memory, even I don't remember those, fortunately I did not tell her what to write, and the last sentence she wrote "This is the summer I am looking forward to, of course, this is just imagination, is it really necessary to experience it yourself to know", I still like this expression, keep objective and true, I think it is more important than flowery rhetoric.
I have always instilled with my daughter that writing is like drawing and building blocks, which is a creative and interesting activity, and I usually consciously encourage her to "create" anytime and anywhere, rather than writing according to homework standards.
This kind of cognition also affects the child's relaxed mentality towards writing.
For example, when my daughter was in the second grade, I took her to Qiandao Lake to play, and when it was late afternoon, the hotel's view was wide, and I could see the whole lake, and the sunset was gentle and quiet, so I called my daughter to sit on the terrace to watch the scenery.
I said, "Such a nice view, My mother really wants to see how you will describe it." ”
I often do this kind of encouragement, sometimes even tricking:
"Mom's circle of friends has no material, I want to see your composition, write a book."
When it comes to sending a circle of friends, her daughter is happy to cooperate, she said:
"Mom, I'll write a poem, because the poem has the fewest words, lol."
In this way, the daughter spent about twenty minutes and wrote a small poem on the hotel terrace with the hotel's note paper.
"Qiandao Lake" Qiandao Lake has spent a lifetime in the water. There are mountains in the water, and there is water in the mountains, but it is so beautiful! Looking up, it was a blue sky. Looking down, it was a turquoise forest. Little golden boats sailed across the lake, bringing me warmth. Snow-white clouds, like delicious marshmallows, hung in the sky. Here, the lake is as vast as the sky. Here, the sky is as blue as the sea. Here, the woods are as dense as the stars. No one knows the end of it, and no one knows how beautiful it is.
This little poem was later posted to Zhihu by a friend, and then happened to be recommended to the home page by the system and won "high praise".
You can write anywhere, write with your heart, and naturally do not pretend. This is my first principle when "guiding" my daughter to write.
It can be associated with good food, beautiful scenery, and a relaxed and beautiful life, not just stressful homework.
Even if it's homework, we can connect it to real life.
For example, once, a child needed to complete a unit assignment, My Plant Friend.
I took my children downstairs to the community garden to observe the willow trees together. Touch it, smell it, and look at the willow branches from different angles. The child quickly sat down on a stone bench next to it and wrote it out.
Just the first sentence, I don't think I can write it. Confident and proud enough.
Many parents will let their children copy "good words and good sentences", and then memorize them and store them in the "knowledge base" of their minds.
This may be useful for some children, and if the child is willing, I think it is also possible. Especially if the child's enthusiasm has not yet started, trapped in the powerlessness of the writing essay, memorizing some good words and good sentences is good for filling their composition content, and can also directly bring confidence.
But as far as I'm concerned, I don't ask my daughter to do that. As long as the child himself has a relatively good enthusiasm for creation, he can not memorize it, and the final effect may be that the words described are not so beautiful enough.
Of course, rather than boringly memorizing "good words and good sentences", I recommend appreciating good words, which is more in line with the meaning of reading itself.
I used to read poetry with my daughter every day for a while, and my daughter prefers modern poetry to ancient poetry, and I think it is good that rhyme and expression are very suitable for children.
After reading it, they will imitate it together - because she will not be happy to write alone, but playing together becomes a game, and children are easier to accept.
Several times, I felt that I was not as good as my daughter.
The child's language itself is connected with the language of poetry: innocence, jumping out, adults learn to appreciate more is king.
Writing is essentially an expression that includes unique observational perspectives and perspectives.
If I want my child to have some deep expression, my personal most meaningful approach is to chat with my child more and read more.
Children generally have a lot after two and a half years old: why, why... Responding to her more at this time is actually paving the way for future writing.
Of course, you can also talk more diversely and try to open your mind:
And again, look quickly, there is a cloud in the sky. Did you know that clouds are also old, working in the sky when they are young, and when they are old, they will be transported to the far edge of the sky until they disappear.
So who transported them away?
Wind it.
Mom, I have a question. What do clouds eat in the sky?
Oops, I'm not sure about it, it should be draught steam.
How to eat water vapor?
They were all sucked into the clouds.
Is that raining Yunla's urine?
Oh, it can also be understood this way, but because the cloud eats water and is very clean, it doesn't matter if it is urinating.
What if I stand in the sky and pee?
Ah, where are you going to stand?
Above the clouds.
……
This kind of endless chat has more or less exercised the child's ability to think critically and stimulated the child's imagination.
If you can contact and discuss some philosophical issues, I think it is better to expand your children's thinking ability. The main thing is to help children see things with more divergent thinking.
In the winter vacation when the epidemic broke out, when the epidemic was not reported at the beginning of the holiday, my daughter wrote a "Winter is coming", the last sentence of which reads: I think, this is only today's winter, no one knows what tomorrow's winter will look like... Everything that happened later, when I saw this sentence again, I sighed inexplicably.
Having said all this, in fact, it is only a little experience and insight of my own, some may be biased, and some are limited to space and do not expand too much.
For me, if I want to summarize a core "method", it is probably to conform to the child's natural characteristics, encourage her to be herself, express herself, and follow her own preferences.
Remember that each child has different gifts and different ways of expressing themselves, and it is not up to us to subjectively define what level to achieve.
Everyone who has a good essay guidance experience is also welcome to share in the message office Oh ~