Thoughts and Notes on Teaching Writing to Little Kids

A few months ago, I started teaching writing at Purple Pen in Pleasanton, CA. It's a writing tutoring center that's for kids, primarily grades 4 to 12.

I have a student who's an exception to our usual grade level range. She's a young one: she will be going into the third grade next year. She might just be the youngest student at Purple Pen.

I've been realizing how much I enjoy teaching writing to kids, you could even almost say that I love it, well, almost. 

She is a kind, sweet, young lady. She's reading Stuart Little for her novel that we are reading and for her response to literature writings. She can be somewhat chatty, and sassy. And I think she feels rather comfortable with me. 

We had our lesson yesterday night, and it went well, well, for the most part. She seemed energetic at first, but then her energy waned near the end of the lesson, and she even let out, "you know, I don't like writing."

You could imagine my shock. I gasped a little, let the air out of my chest, and felt some slight panic. For a writing teacher, one of your main hopes is that the student enjoys the lessons, and hopefully writing and the writing process.

But this young lady was just simply exasperated. She let out a sigh and a guffaw, and said, "Aw, do I have to write a whole paragraph?" I felt worried, and a little disappointed in myself. Had I really made writing and our writing time together dull, boring, tedious, and maybe a little too rigorous?

Perhaps the homework I had assigned last week was a little too rough around the edges, leaving her mind frustrated, her writing hand sore, and her eyes strained. 

I felt guilty, shocked, and dismayed at myself altogether.