Monday, May 23, 2011

Young Aspiring Writers



I love it when I find out about young aspiring writers and read their stories. They are such an inspiration at such a young age. To learn to write creatively at an old age is a very difficult task. To capture readers’ interest and attention and offer them a different world where they can travel to and escape their real world for a short time is a tough task. One needs to know which powerful descriptive words to use to have such an effect on a reader.

I believe that this skill needs to be planted at an early stage of a young child’s life so that it would grow and develop within …. Sometimes I feel that schools hamper that sense of creativity… I know it depends on a teacher and the way teachers run their classes but it is more often than not the teacher’s or curriculum’s fault when a student’s creative spirit is controlled and hindered. And this is where I truly believe that it is the parents’ responsibility to make sure that their children’s creative minds never cease to imagine, invent, dream and create. Parents have a huge role in building or nurturing that spark.

AND as a teacher and a parent, I believe that the whole community is responsible for nurturing such an essential skill in life. If a child thought about any problem differently, wrote stories that are different than the other kids, we should celebrate that uniqueness.

I remember one of my favorite students back in Jordan. He was an American handsome blond, with blue eyes, student of mine who visited my office often. I realized early on that he had a wide imagination and I sought to take advantage of that. I was teaching him English, providing him with skills, ways to overcome his spelling difficulties and tackling his lack of interest in writing at the time.  I thought of a way to get him to enjoy writing and it was through topics he was interested in. At first we started writing research essays on interesting creatures but then I thought we needed to move on to topics that he could keep with him for the rest of his life. He started writing his own short stories and drawing pictures that went with each paragraph. We decided together to write stories that had a moral kick to them and he was captivated. He was so motivated and did such an amazing job to the extent that he wrote around 3 amazing short Picture story books. I was so proud of him.

Now back to why I chose to write this entry:

I chose to dedicate this entry to a special young boy whose parents have nurtured his talent for words since he was a little boy and who now has a blog of his own where he can enter his short stories. I have read Jacob's short stories and am inspired by this young man. If he writes so eloquently at such a young age, can you imagine what he would write when he is older? He is an aspiring writer… and I believe that he will publish his own books soon.

Please help nurture his talent by reading his blog and if you had time, I am sure he would appreciate your encouraging warm comments too.

Well done Jacob… I am so proud of you! And I bet your parents are thrilled with your achievement! Keep writing …. Keep creating… Keep me entertained with your wonderful short stories!


Note: Let us nurture our kids’ imagination… It would help transport them to different places… Help open up a whole new world to them… Help them become creative… Listen to their made up stories… Listen to their dreams… Nurture them… Encourage them…

3 comments:

Hilary said...

Good for you for supporting the creativity in your students. They say to "write what you know." Clearly this approach worked with your young student. I'll stop by Jacob's blog. :)

Tabouleh said...

Thank you so much for your support Hilary!

Jacob said...

Thank you Lana!!!