How do unschoolers learn to write? This was one of the questions we were asked when we spoke at the recent Canberra unschooling talk.
First, I think kids need something to say before they want to write. Lots of different things inspire us to write. Here are just a few: books, movies, games, events, and lively discussions that lead to thoughts and opinions.
When my kids were little, they acted out what they wanted to say while they played. They also drew their stories. A day arrived when my children wanted to write them down. Of course, learning to form letters and getting them in the right order didn’t happen overnight. But with encouragement (rather than pointing out mistakes), it didn’t take very long for my kids to become proficient writers.
There’s so much more I could say about unschool writing but, for today, I just want to answer the specific question: “But what about grammar and punctuation?”
We can learn a lot from looking at our own experiences, can’t we? Like most of us, I went through the school system. I did the usual punctuation and grammar exercises. Lots of them. I did everything that the school thought I needed. And I did it well. Then years later, I wrote my first book and when I got to the editing stage, I realised I didn’t know much about punctuation at all. My grammar wasn’t up to scratch either. I had a lot to learn before I could publish my book.
Because I forgot most of what I learnt in school, I concluded that workbooks and exercises and punctuation lessons aren’t an effective way to learn. We learn best when we have a need (or an interest). Kids will learn grammar and punctuation while they’re actually writing. Mothers might learn the more complicated skills while they’re writing books!
I’m always googling such things as ‘which or that’ and ‘capitalisation after a colon?’ and ‘when to add comma with so or but’. Punctuation and grammar rules are rather complicated. But they are also very interesting. I never used to think so. When I was a child, they were just things found in workbooks that had to be learnt about. And then could be forgotten. Unless, of course, I used them which wasn’t often.
So my kids learnt the grammar and punctuation skills they needed while they were actually writing. The skills weren’t learnt in isolation. I didn’t insist they learn them just in case. And I extended my knowledge of grammar and punctuation while I was editing my books because I wanted my writing to be as professional as possible.
My daughter Imogen also knows a lot more about punctuation and grammar than she used to. Writing, editing and publishing her fantasy novel, The Crystal Tree, gave her the perfect opportunity to hone her skills. Soon we’ll all be checking the manuscript of Imogen’s sequel novel, The Shattering Song. Our beady eyes will be looking out, not only for spelling mistakes but grammatical and punctuation errors as well!
Kids will learn to write out of need. Some will go further and learn more about writing because they find it interesting. They’ll be writers like my kids. Passionate writers and less enthusiastic writers: either is okay. Along the way, both types of writers will learn the grammar and punctuation skills they need!
Some Extra Things
If you’d like to find out what happened when I tried to teach my eldest daughter Felicity grammar by using the workbook approach, you could read my post, sprinkling Capitals into blog Titles in A Random fashion.
The post Learning About Punctuation the Lewis Carroll Way tells the story of how I learnt more about punctuation by observing a master punctuator (and enjoying his stories at the same time!).
Imogen and I recorded two podcasts about learning to write:
Our Writing Unrules for Unschoolers
More Unschool Writing Ideas and Resources
There are also lots of unschool writing stories and practical tips in my book Curious Unschoolers.
Photos
After speaking about unschooling, Imogen, Sophie and I stayed overnight in Canberra. We had a comfortable (but cold!) night in a cabin surrounded by the bush which was surprisingly close to the city centre!
The Big Question
Did I punctuate my blog title correctly? Yes! How do I know? I checked it using the tool at Capitalize My Title!
Some More Questions
Do you have writers in your family?
Perhaps your kids’ interests lie in other directions?
And how are your punctuation skills? Do you ever google a punctuation problem? Or perhaps you have something like Grammarly? I do!
“First, I think kids need something to say before they want to write.” Yes!
On another note, I’m excited to hear that Imogen is working on a sequel to “The Crystal Tree.” We have just finished reading it (fantastic) and I have been wondering about a sequel! Good to hear.
Erin,
Imogen will smile when I tell her you liked The Crystal Tree! I have the finished manuscript of The Shattering Song. I’m supposed to be proofreading it. I shall have to hurry along so we can publish the book!
Im a mom of 8. 6 of them are unschool, the other two are already preparing for the things they need to follow their career of choice. Being an unschool mom takes confident sometimes I feel the pressure of: Am I doing enough? Specially when they are teenagers, I’d be like: what about those complicated math skills everybody tell they need and so on. It took some time for to trust in the interested led learning thing I’m getting there more and more. I have one of them that love to write[like mother like daughter] I’m educating myself too since she asked me what does it take to write and publish a book, I didn’t know, so we are learning together for the future. I’m addicted to reading. I love the title of Imogens book and the front view is gorgeous. I want to read it. Mines are into art as me, In an independent artist. They love singing, one is a drummer, the big girl is guitarist and on her way learning piano…. I love when I here stories 9f success about others unschool families.
Janice,
It’s so lovely to hear about your family. It sounds like your kids are involved with some very interesting things.
We learnt a lot as we wrote and published our own books. It was a wonderful learning experience. I’m sure you and your daughter will also work out how to do this, but if we can answer any questions for you, please ask!
I’ll let Imogen know you like her book’s cover. That will make her smile!
Thank you so much for stopping by!