How to Incorporate Letter Writing into Your Homeschool Curriculum (Even If Your Kids Hate to Write)
Some days, trying to get your child to write ANYTHING ends in tears.
There are so many strands to writing: handwriting, spelling, grammar, communicating an idea clearly. It's easy to see why it feels overwhelming to kids.
After struggling with resistant writers for years, I finally stumbled on a way to ease into writing that was less frustrating for all of us. (Hint: the answer was in my mailbox all along!)
Incorporating letter writing into your homeschool can be a springboard for learning and practicing the fundamentals of language.
“Let your kids receive letters first, keep the writing itself simple and creative, and offer real support when they get stuck.”
Step One: Receive a Letter first. Getting Mail Makes Writing Back More Exciting
"Mom, he's here! Hurry!" my daughter yelled.
And who was this "he" generating so much excitement? Our friendly mailman, Mr. Byrd.
I had enlisted my mom to send a weekly note to my then-kindergartner with a "letter of the week" theme. An envelope with a copy of a poem about a monkey, a postcard from a museum, and an easy muffin recipe might arrive in the mail on "M" week…all from a mysterious "learning buddy"!
Once I saw what a difference mail made in our homeschool, I was hooked. And if you receive letters, chances are you'll want to send them, too. Getting mail becomes a built-in, day-brightening reward.
Another fun way to introduce letter writing is to read books written in letter format (technically called "epistolary literature"). Check out authors like Sarah Stewart and Janet and Allan Ahlberg for some picture books to get you going.
Step Two: Start Simple
When you're ready to dive in, resist the urge to make it complicated or overly academic. Start simple.
A few ways to make it fun:
Make cards with fun markers, stickers, and washi tape, then let your child write a message inside
Visit the post office and let your child choose a stamp beyond the basic flag. Animal or nature scenes are always a hit
Teach envelope addressing with light pencil lines to guide placement and spacing, erasing the marks once they're done
Keep it playful at first. Receiving that exciting piece of mail to respond to is what gets a reluctant writer to pick up a pen. The skills build once they're willing to write at all, and from there, letter writing opens the door to all kinds of academic assignments.
This isn't just a hunch. Research shows that how fluently a child writes by hand is one of the strongest single predictors of writing quality in the early grades, with a roughly 7% difference in how well kids write. Any practice that gets a pencil moving regularly pays off down the line.
The big question is: Who should your child write to?
The answer? Someone who will reliably write back.
Nothing is more discouraging than writing lots of letters and finding a consistently empty mailbox. In my experience, the best options are:
Grandparents and older friends or relatives, who tend to have experience with and appreciation for correspondence relationships
Older neighbors and church members, who are often very open to developing friendships with younger families through letters
Other homeschool moms with kids your child's age, who might be up for a pen pal experiment to see how it goes
Step Three: Offer Support
What if your child is less than enthusiastic about letter writing, even with the opportunity to be creative? In my experience, there are two reasons.
What if my child is already frustrated with writing?
If your child already struggles with writing or penmanship, they feel defeated before they even start. Choosing not to frame this as a writing assignment goes a long way in easing conflict.
Especially in the beginning, set aside the temptation to make it about mechanics and instead, offer support to get them started:
For non-writers: have your child draw pictures and help come up with captions
For students struggling with handwriting: have them dictate the letter and you write it. Have them write the greeting and sign their name, but you do the rest. Next time, have them do a bit more
For a fill-in the gaps exercise: leave blanks and let them write in the missing word, choosing words that are easy or interesting
For spelling: consider giving your child a "word bank" of words you think they might struggle with. Or, as I often did, let the letters stand as written, then incorporate any misspelled words into the next week's personal spelling list. It was effective and so much less discouraging.
Praise them for their efforts and encourage them as they improve. The more they enjoy their early experiences, the more likely they will persevere as you introduce more elements of writing for them to do themselves.
What if my child doesn't know what to write about?
Some kids naturally have a lot to say. Others struggle to think about what would make an interesting letter. This is where you can show them they have more to say than they think.
Start with the pictures on your phone. Instead of a vague "write a letter to your cousin," pick a few pictures: the ballgame they won on Saturday, the butterfly they caught at the park, the Lego creation they proudly showed you last week. With images to jog their memory, help them frame a few sentences. Once you see the magic in this, you'll start taking pictures with an eye toward the next letter they'll write.
You can also try an idea jar. You (or they, if they're an older or eager letter writer) can jot down ideas and events as they happen, good and bad, and put them in a jar that they decorate. When a new letter arrives, pick one to write about in the reply.
What's Next
Once you've eased into letter writing, the options for extending it into your child's current studies are endless. It can also be a great jumping-off point for making connections, fostering relationships, and serving and encouraging others.
Ready for the practical, ready-to-try strategies to use their new-found skills? In the next post, I'll walk through exactly how we've woven letter writing into read-alouds, history, and everyday school days.
