I mean, kids are in school all day as it is, learning, and using their brains. Then they have to return home, a place of relaxation, and do more.
Purleese we, as adults, rarely do that, and even if we did we wish we didn’t have to. A professional cook may not want to spend the evening cooking and I wouldn’t blame them at all.
It feels like we are telling and showing them that life is all work, work, work. And whilst that may be the case for some adults I don’t think it’s a message we should put on kids. Working hard is very different from life consumed with work only.
What I would propose, should I ever be in charge, is that kids are encouraged to journal and reflect on their day. It would serve several benefits depending on what questions they look to answer:
- A review of the good things in the day
- A review of what classes they enjoyed and vice versa
- Empties their brains of the flood of info
- Promotes better sleep
- Promotes a reflective practice that they will need later on in life
- Encourages critical thinking
These are just a few of the benefits – but you get where I am going.
Here are some tips to encourage your kid to journal:
Set the journaling scene
- Together pick a time each evening.
- Give them a favorite snack or/and drink
- Encourage them to make their environment peaceful – music, lighting, or a diffuser maybe
- Let them choose a journal and pen
- Prepare some questions together
Some reflective journal questions:
- What classes did you enjoy, and why?
- What classes didn’t you enjoy – why?
- What was a cool thing that happened today?
- Who did you hang out with and what did you do during the break?
- What changes would make your day better?
- On a scale of 1-10, how would you rate your day?
- What contributed to that score?
- What would your perfect school day look like?
Some general prompts
- Challenges I Overcame: Describe a challenge you faced at school. How did you overcome it, and what did you learn from the experience?
- My Best Friend at School: Who is your best friend at school, and what do you like most about them?
- A Fun Memory: Share a fun or funny memory from a school day that made you smile or laugh.
- Something New I Learned: What is something new that you learned recently? How did you learn it, and why is it interesting to you?
- If I Were the Teacher: If you were the teacher for a day, what would you teach the class, and how would you do it?
- Field Trip Adventure: Describe your favorite school field trip. What did you see, learn, or experience?
- Something I Wish I Knew More About: Is there a topic or subject you wish you knew more about? What is it, and why does it interest you?
- A Teacher I Admire: Talk about a teacher who you admire and why they are special to you.
- Favorite School Event: What is your favorite school event or activity? Why do you look forward to it?
You can have the same questions each day or let them chose which question they want to answer.
Now, by doing this there is a further question to be asked, why didn’t they want to answer that question? Depending on whether you set this up so that you review what they have written with them to encourage a conversation or not you may not have the chance to ask this.
There are many more questions you can add – this is simply a launch pad to get you started
Encourage:
- Ask them if they need support or would like help at the start
- Let them journal on their own
- Ensure they know that no one will look inside their journal without their permission
- Make sure they know there are no right or wrong answers but that there may be clues in their writing to any struggles they have
- Maybe you journal with them
I am a big supporter of allowing kids to:
- Explore what they like and what they don’t – get them to ask that all-time favourite question “Why……”
- Build the resilience and emotional coping skills we all wish we were taught
- Experience the delight when they go back and see how much they have grown
- Be creative rather than productive 24/7
- Get away from the screen and connect with themselves
I Would love to hear how you encourage these things in kids today
I do not (yet) have a children’s journal range but you can check out what I have to offer below and also you can sign up for purple musings.
Ready to begin?