Writing Diary at the Early Age

My dad worked overseas when I was little. There was no email back then. International calls were very experience. Mom asked me to write a letter to dad every week or so. I started with drawing, then a few words, later couple lines, and finally paragraphs.

Writing wasn't hard. But finding something to write about was difficult for me. Schools in where I was raised did not emphasize on creative writing. Hong Kong education was known to be "duck-stuffing" – one way only. Students only needed to memorize all the information. They were not encouraged to express themselves.

The training my Princesses receive is the opposite. They are asked to write (or draw on) journal in the class every school day. Their journals are Mom's best treasures, I think. Unfortunately, I could only read them at the end of each semester. It is no fair.

Last Friday, I found some beautiful discounted journal books at the Metropolitan Museum of Art store. I bought two for my Princesses. I asked YY who is in kindergarten to write down what she did every day. It has to be two sentences and should include at least four of the W elements – who, what, where, when, why, how. Second grader LL could write long stories already. So, I told her to limit entries to three sentences only. I wanted her to learn to summarize and eliminate zero words.

I don't have the patience to read to children. Prince Charming does it much better than me. But I love to read their writing and see how they improve each day. It is better than any gifts.