Keeping a journal is much more than just recording one’s innermost thoughts. It allows the writer to reflect, set down goals, and imagine ways to achieve them—and it improves certain academic skills along the way.
One of the cross-curricular competencies in the Québec Education Program is to use different technologies and apply them to benefit learning. Journaling lends itself to many forms of media. Here are just a few your child can try:
A journal isn’t meant to be shared; keeping one is an activity your child should do for themself. To protect their privacy, make sure they understand the risks that come with sharing personal information online, and check that the privacy settings on the devices they use have been enabled.
Imagination is often a springboard to success. It fuels dreams, but it’s also an important skill for solving everyday problems, big or small. Activities such as journaling give children the opportunity to develop this skill. For example, kids who keep a journal can give themselves different challenges:
Life at school is punctuated with existential questions and conflicts with peers (e.g., “Who should I invite to my party?” “Should I let my friend borrow my sweater?”). To help your child develop their argumentative and critical thinking skills and learn to resolve minor personal conflicts, you can suggest they use their journal to record the following:
If your child is already a budding poet, artist, journalist, or playwright, keeping a journal can help foster their potential. Conversely, if your youngster thinks they have no talent for writing, journaling could spark a new passion. At the very least, it will help them improve certain skills:
Writing is a valuable learning exercise, even when it’s just for fun. Whether your child is writing narrative or descriptive texts, songs or poems, journaling will allow them to do the following:
Journaling will also help your child learn to find the right words to describe their thoughts and feelings. That’s an incredible advantage in life.
Writing : The Alloprof Parents' team