Seeing between the lines

Know your schools

I read that we discover our inner being through writing. Not the stilted "Just get the assignment done!" type of writing, but rather that in which you truly let the words and thoughts glide across the page. Younger children explain life through words, movements, and facial gestures. This transforms into a visual that others can read. Watch and listen as a little one chatters as she builds a block statue or he finger-paints doodles across construction paper. Asked to explain the design, a child will provide astounding details with amazing expression.

Older children have words, but usually not quite enough to write the imaginings held within. Most love to play with words and if everyday they hear enriching vocabulary like "magnanimous" or "vivacious" and observe hand and body movements that expand the term, these words will tumble into their written work.

Having taught kindergarten through college students, eighth graders impressed me the most with their natural ability to string words together into the most glorious descriptions of their world, their thoughts, their reflections. Each time I read an essay, poem, or critical response, I garnered a moment in the adolescent view of life. This made grading 180+ papers each weekend a delight.

High school students become more reserved in their self-expression. Exuberance and deep ponderings exist, however, self-preservation in the tough teenage stage of development kicks in. College students sometimes retrieve this magic with prose, but they also find themselves mired in a swirl of coursework that guides to rapid responses rather than introspective deliberation. With encouragement and opportunity we can each become a wonderful writer, but sitting down with keyboard at the fingertips and free-flowing tapping of letters to form words, sentences, paragraphs, and eventual tomes entails discipline and determination.

To draw out the writer in your child you must set the example. If you have struggled to describe your Auntie or Nana, try whipping out an intricate story of Thanksgiving dinner or the trip to the coast with touches of scenery, aromas, and sounds. You may be on the way to a masterpiece. Children learn by observing others so here is your chance to create a writer while uncovering some of the wonderings that you hold tucked inside. A diary might be the perfect place to set your writing bug into motion. Write and write, pause to think, write some more and then later return for a total read and perhaps some editing. Too many writers stall because they correct as they go and never allow their instincts to stream ideas because they dwell on each word.

An adventure earlier this month with friends led to a "Paint and Sip" class. No, I am not focusing on the "sip" part but instead the relaxed atmosphere with easel, canvas, and quick-drying paints at hand. Once given our supplies, the instructor steered her eager students through step-by-step instructions to replicate her design. Twenty students listened, studied, painted, sighed, and created. Some attendees carefully followed each direction given; others hesitated and worried about exact duplication. I was in the third group, the "Please just let me get to it now" group.

About three hours later we gathered for a group photo with our artful attempts and many laughs. My friends and I critiqued our work. Naturally we started with self-deprecation while receiving compliments on our designs. When we lined up our three paintings and stepped back, the artist behind the painting automatically emerged. My mathematical friend had perfect lines and an exact design. Her personality exposed itself through color choice and product analysis. My perfectionist friend had an astonishing painting with a precisely organized rendition that was not quite done, and probably never will be because perfection may block a finished result.

When it came to my canvas, well, personality clearly twinkled. Having tired of the tedious, methodical instruction and realizing that we would never finish at that plodding pace, I completed my design and then added shadows, flourishes, and scattering wisps, reflecting my jump ahead, leap beyond, and examine new ideas disposition.

Once your family writing for the day is complete and shared with zest, move to art. Watercolors, chalk, crayons, or papier mache all work. Whether you color in the outline of Mickey Mouse or create a unique design, your character and that of your child will explode across the piece of paper. Writing and art are agreeable combinations that teach us about the world and about ourselves.[[In-content Ad]]