The Write Start (9 page)

My father built my first desk. I remember it clearly—it was blue with a pegboard back. And although it was kid-sized, it wasn’t flimsy in the least. It was built like a battleship, which made me feel very important, as if he expected I would spend many hours there and that my work would be something to be reckoned with, a force of nature.

Carving out a little spot in your home for your young writers is more than just a way of saying, “Put your pencils here.” It also communicates that you value their ideas. It’s a promise to our kids that we are confident that the day will come when they will need to sit down and plot their course, draft their dreams, write their own story. Hey, childhood is the time to make big plans, you know? Creating a thoughtful corner for them to write it all down encourages them to find their own voices and to begin to carve out their own little niches in the world.

Desk and Chair

Remember Goldilocks? After eating up all that porridge, she felt a little tired and decided it would be a good idea to sit down. She passed up the first chair she tried (too hard), and turned her nose up at the second (too soft), but was pleased as punch with the third (just right). A girl after my own heart.

As parents, our most important job is to set our children up for success. And when it comes to writing, it is essential that we
seat
them for success as well. Like Goldilocks, our kids need the just-right chair in which to write. Not merely for comfort, the “just write” chair provides the best possible base of support.

The “just write” chair should help your child achieve the optimal posture for doing seated work at a table. How do you judge your child’s posture? Look for three ninety-degree angles: a ninety-degree angle at the ankles with their feet flat on the floor, a ninety-degree angle at the knees; and a ninety-degree angle at the hips when your child’s back is flat against the back of the chair.

What’s the big deal? Well, think about writing in a moving vehicle. Have you ever tried it? First of all, it’s quite challenging. Second of all, even if you do manage to accomplish the task, the end product is, let’s just say, less than stellar. Without a stable base of support, it’s nearly impossible to adequately control the movement of your hands. In other words, as I tell kids: when your body is wiggly, your writing will be wiggly too.

Everybody feels more stable and comfortable with their feet on the floor. It is terribly unsettling, not to mention uncomfortable, to sit in a too-big chair with your feet dangling in the air.

If children sit in oversized chairs, their instinct is to gain stability by sliding their hips forward and stretching out their legs so their feet touch the floor. This leads to a slouched posture. It also “locks” up their shoulders since they tend to push their upper bodies into the back of the chair in order to stay in the seat.

On the other hand, chairs that are too small for a child create their own problems. Children sitting in undersized chairs will find their knees up too high, making it difficult to get close enough to the table.

Once you find a chair that fits your child, take a look at the desk height. The rule of thumb is that a table should be approximately two inches higher than a child’s bent elbow (when seated).

If a table is too low, children will have to slouch over to get their elbows near the table for support. When a table is too high, children raise their elbows and put them onto the table for support. (Hence the age-old “get your elbows off the table” complaint. Too bad generations of parents didn’t realize their elbow-propping kids were just compensating for their small size in relation to a big table!)

Shelves, Drawers, and Cubbies

Writing is a process of self-discovery. It is the act of taking the thoughts stored in the recesses of your mind, sorting them out, and putting them on the page. Through writing, children find themselves. But before they can even get started, they first have to be able to find their stuff!

Believe it or not, there is a direct link between being able to access the ideas tucked away in your mind and being able to access your writing tools and materials. Since writing’s inception, I wonder how many brilliant ideas have been lost forever whilst someone was rifling around for a stylus and a piece of papyrus (pencil and paper to you and me).

No matter how inspired an idea, it’s not real until you write it down. Making sure young writers have the raw materials of their craft within reach is a surefire way to help them reach their learning potential. In other words, when the right writing tools are at a child’s fingertips, learning will be well within their grasp.

That’s where accessible storage comes in. Now we’re not talking about storing anything major here. Say a jar of pencils, a tray of paper, a notepad, and a pencil sharpener for starters. These items should be kept at the ready beside your child’s favorite writing spot. Other accoutrements can be stowed away in drawers, in cubbies, or on a nearby shelf—to be doled out as needed.

Want to make sure that an “all set to write and not a pencil in sight” situation doesn’t happen in your home? Consider turning a spare cabinet into a writer’s pantry, and you’ll be sure to have all the essential ingredients for whatever writing project your kid cooks up.

Putting It All Together

Children’s writing areas will need to develop along with them. Not only will they need chairs and desks that accommodate their growing bodies, they will also need the right tools and supplies to go along with their ever-improving skills. Like clothes that get worn out, outgrown, or phased out, a writing spot needs to be revamped periodically to make sure it still fits.

One Desk, Four Ways

Although hard to find, a height-adjustable desk and chair is a very sensible investment for a young writer (see the resources section at the end of the book). We fashioned my son’s first desk from a piece of wood over two basic crates. The size was right, and it was pretty functional too. Then we organized his writing tools in the cubbies of an old chicken coop that was just his height. That’s just one example of how creating a writing space is a good opportunity to be resourceful with what you have around the house. Think about size first. If you find a good fit, you can make it work.

After you fit, you must equip. For all ages there are some bare necessities: paper (white, lined, and maybe colored), pencils, crayons and markers, and a couple of notebooks. A chalkboard and chalk, a clipboard, scissors, tape, glue, and a stapler will also come in handy. With these basics kids are certainly off to a good start. Add a little something here or there as skills improve and interests change. The novelty will certainly pique their interest and may even inspire a brand new batch of ideas.

As far as setting it up, some suggestions according to the developmental stages follow.

For Scribblers

Scribblers, of course, can have the simplest desk space of all. Less is definitely more with our littlest ones.

First of all, too much stuff can be distracting. Young children may get sidetracked with dumping, sorting, or spreading everything all over the house. Secondly, things that pose a safety hazard—such as scissors, staplers, and a tape dispenser with a sharp cutting edge—should only be used with adult supervision and should not be left out. Lastly, if your children are so passionate about scribbling that they would love to redecorate the whole house, including walls and furniture, in the style of Early American Scribble, then stash crayons and markers out of reach until you’re ready to keep a close eye on your avid young writers.

In fact, it’s a good idea to store most of their gear in “eye’s reach” but out of arm’s reach (such as on a high shelf nearby). That way, little kids can see their tools and be inspired, and grown-ups can dole them out judiciously as needed. Think of it as encouraging them to choose from an appetite-whetting menu, as opposed to grabbing everything all at once from an irresistible self-serve buffet.

So what should be within reach? A short stack of plain white paper, definitely. White will offer the best contrast for those colorful scribbles, even if they are somewhat tentative. A compact tabletop easel (preferably with a chalkboard surface on one side) also makes a great addition to a Scribbler’s desk. Consider adding a basket of alphabet stamps and a stamp pad—a great way for pre-writers to try their hand at adding letters to their work. And don’t forget to make a clipboard available as well, for Scribblers on the go.

On the wall above the desk, how about hanging a poster of your child’s name? You can print it simply, use numbered arrows, make textured letters, or coordinate it with your decor. Whatever suits. (Hint: always write your child’s name with the first letter capitalized, and all the rest of the letters in lowercase.) This is hands-down the most important first word that Scribblers will learn to write; making an artful display of it will certainly inspire them (in signature style).

For Spellers

What do children who are working hard to learn how to write letters for the first time need on their desk? Plenty of paper, both white and colored. Plus a stack of three-by-five-inch index cards and a small three-by-five-inch chalkboard, the perfect size for practicing writing one letter at a time. And be sure to stock up on small, flip-top memo pads, a favorite among young Spellers everywhere.

Unlike Scribblers, Spellers can handle having all of their tools out and at the ready. A tool caddy is a great way to organize crayons, pencils, colored pencils, markers, glue, tape, and scissors. Try arranging tools in recycled jars on a lazy Susan, a repurposed silverware carryall, or a condiment holder. Anything that keeps them tidy and on-hand will work well.

As a parent of a Speller, there are times you might think to yourself, “If I had a dime for every time I heard ‘How do I spell . . .’ I’d be able to pay for their college education!” Yes, Spellers accumulate new words at a staggering rate. And all those words could use a tidy caddy of their own. Try using a basic rotating card file, such as a Rolodex, to organize your Speller’s “word bank.” As they learn or inquire about new words, write each one down on a card, file it alphabetically, and teach them how to flip and find to their hearts’ content.

For over the desk, you can’t beat hanging a print featuring the ABCs. The just-right combination of inspiration and information, an alphabet chart is the perfect visual to motivate your budding young writer.

For Storytellers

Welcome to the world of prolific printing. A Storyteller’s desk must be set up accordingly. With paper galore. All shapes, sizes, and colors. Lined and unlined. Notebooks too. And don’t forget lots and lots of drawing paper (see “
Drawing Paper
” in the templates section). Reams of it.

Book-making supplies are also a must. Store them all together in an available desk drawer. Include card stock for covers. Staplers, hole punchers, and string for binding. Labels for titles. And stickers, stamps, and stencils for embellishing.

Storytellers also make great letter writers. Designate another drawer for some social stationery (see “
DIY: Letterhead
”), greeting cards, envelopes, stamps, and an address book. Don’t forget to add a small box for organizing incoming correspondence as well.

The perfect above-the-desk accompaniment to all of this storytelling is an inspiration board. Storytellers are chock full of ideas. In fact, they generate ideas even faster than they can generate stories. To organize all your Storyteller’s ideas until their time comes, pin words, notes, pictures, and inspiring objects to a bulletin board over their desk. That way, when they sit down to write, they have to look no further than right in front of them for an idea to spark a story.

For Scholars

Scholars get down to serious business at their desks. Therefore, they require some serious tools. It’s time for a dictionary and a thesaurus. An encyclopedia too. References worthy of promising wordsmiths. (Hint: we put a little red dot next to every word we look up in a reference book; I envision thousands of those dots covering the pages by the time my kids are college-bound.)

As for other materials, think outside the box. Keep your eye out for interesting items that will make scholarly writers feel like the real deal. Bound journals. Diaries. Logbooks. Legal pads. Graph paper. Ledger paper. Maybe even a fountain pen. The more grown-up it makes them feel, the better. Since we expect Scholars to respect the rules of writing, we can show them respect as well by trusting them with serious supplies.

The perfect solution for above a Scholar’s desk is a great, big chalkboard or dry-erase board. It will act as mission control for them to organize and itemize all of their scholarly pursuits. If they think it, they can write it, right away. The ever-changing nature of the erasable board encourages them to make writing a daily habit. And when good writing habits are established from the get-go, they tend to last a lifetime. Write on!

A Writer’s Pantry

I’m including a great big list of all the tools and supplies a budding writer could ever need. Rest assured, you really don’t need
all
of these things, and you
certainly
don’t need them all at once. You may pick stuff up here and there over time, repurpose some office supplies you already own, or grab a couple of things when you see them on sale. (Basic writing supplies make good little gifts too; a cute memo pad and decorative pencil is a no-brainer for stocking stuffers, goody bags, restaurant trips, or trick or treats.)

So here it is: a shopping list of the essential ingredients for a childhood’s worth of writing fun.