The basic question posed by The Literacy Writing Connection is how is the writing of compositions, essays, short stories et cetera connected to the various forms of literacy for a child? Is any one form of literacy enough to get the job done?

Essentially no. Since there are a number of forms of literacy, no one form can do all that is needed. However, the exciting aspect is that the written works of a child are a key indicator as to his or her literary skills. By writing a short story, a child is exercising many different skills. For my purpose, the term ‘writing’ will be associated with today’s society, thereby involving computers as well as paper and pencil.

Of the many literacy forms including, but not limited to, Media, Global, Multi-cultural, Scientific… the ones that stand out with respect to children are Functional, Information, Mathematical and Computer.

Functional is the easiest to understand. Can the child use basic reading and writing skills to get crucial ideas across or to interpret incoming ideas in order to stay safe. By crucial we can focus on the essentials of life and expand from there. Can they communicate verbally and on paper?

Information refers to the child’s ability to understand that he or she requires additional knowledge on a subject and to go and get it. Once retrieved, can the child process and evaluate that knowledge? And finally, can the child apply the new knowledge effectively to solve a problem or otherwise? Let’s call this the ability to research.

Mathematical is straightforward enough and does not involve higher math skills. This points to a child’s understanding of the most basic mathematical symbols and operations. You might say it also helps with drawing comparisons, such as ‘he has more than I do’ or ‘this is darker than that’. It can assist with spatial awareness as well, but we’ll leave that alone for now.

Finally, Computer Literacy. This is, in its simplest form, the abiity of the child to turn on the computer, run a wordprocessor, type a story, print it and save it for later. You would be surprised how many adults can’t do this. Let’s call it keyboarding.

You can read more about this at Short-Stories-Help-Children.com.

If a child can produce a short story that involves any opinions, knowledge he or she did not possess before, regard for what could be considered adequate flow, balance or word volume, and get it across in a clear way; you have achieved a great victory. The child has communicated, researched, made comparisons and keyboarded to produce a meaningful story.

Focussing your attention on keeping these four forms of literacy (or parallel terminology) in good balance will build a solid foundation for learning the many complex subjects to come in their future. Try to imagine where the child would be if any one of the four forms was way out of balance. You may actually find you can apply whimsical names to each type of child.


- Phil Girouard

a dream of a creative writing career. You may dream of writing the great American novel, or becoming the next Poe. If you are serious about becoming a writer, there are several things you should do and keep in mind.

Write everyday as much as you can.

Writing is not like riding a bike. If you stop writing and go back to it 5 years later, you probably won’t be nearly as good, let alone better. If you want to become a great writer you have to practice all the time. That means everyday. That means setting a certain amount of time to write everyday. Stop right now, check your calendar, and right in a time for everyday that you will write.

Write creatively, not like a high school essay.

You probably hated writing essays in school. They told you to have an introduction paragraph, the body, and the conclusion. Then they said to do the same with each paragraph. Don’t use I and sound really boring. Okay, they might not have said that, but generally, most essays sounded very formal. If you enjoyed writing unique, creative essays, then you are on the right track. I’m not saying to forget everything you’ve learned about writing, I’m just saying that creative writing is much less formal. You want to engage your writer and keep them interested. Don’t let boring monotony kill your story!

Edit your work over and over.

I have come across some people’s writing that was just awful. It was a good story and may have had potential, but it was very poorly written and seemed as though they wrote it once and never looked at it again. If you are writing a piece that you are serious about, especially if you want to publish it, you need to make sure that it is perfect. Print it up, if possible, and read through it a few days after you wrote it. Analyze it and make sure it’s perfect. Then have someone else that you trust go through it as well.

Don’t give up!

For me, writing has always been my dream. I write all the time and I’ve always wanted to be a successful writer. People are always telling me that I am a great writer. If you want to succeed, you can’t give up. Just keep writing and trying to accomplish what you want to accomplish. If you want to publish a novel, do whatever you can to do it.

Write your novel and edit it until you feel it’s perfect. Have a few trusted friends read it and give you some constructive criticism. Send out some query letters to agents and do everything you can to get it published. If you get some poor reactions and you feel like the novel won’t work decide if you feel like it really is good enough to publish and self-publish it, if not, move onto the next novel.

Don’t stop doing what you love. If you really want to succeed, giving up is the worst way to do it. Keep writing and editing, writing and editing, and you just may accomplish your dreams!
- Samantha Asher