Although reading, as it is so widely promoted, is vital to a child's literacy, I feel that creative writing is the loftier goal.
We want kids to learn and become more informed, for that they require reading skills; however, all that a child reads is typically prepared by someone else. The greater achievement is to have the child write.
Through writing, a child feels a sense of accomplishment, researches material, interviews subjects, draughts a story-line, and the like. In the process, he or she will encounter and absorb proper grammar and spelling via peer review and constructive criticism.
From my perspective, this active (writing) versus passive (reading) activity encourages the use of a plan and better prepares the child for the real world. It doesn't dispense with reading... that would be ridiculous. It merely treats it as a necessary means to an end.
If our education system is going to meet the needs of our children in the decades to come, it will have to adjust some practices before it's too late, and pro-actively build skills for the difficult future ahead.
If you feel, as I do, that a focus on creative writing for children is but one type of realignment our educators might adopt to help our future office workers, then please add your comments or visit the link.
