This is a collaborative post: If your child is notoriously forgetting things, such as doing their homework, journaling could be an excellent solution. In addition to helping with organisation, it’s a way that you can get them to routinely practise their writing and self-reflection skills. In this post we share some lesser-known benefits of journaling that were shared with us by a prep school in London.
Strengthens Memory
First of all, journaling is a great mental activity to recall the events of your day and take note of the things you must do. This can therefore help children strengthen their memory and stay organised.
Mental Health Benefits
Also, it acts as an outlet that children can use to deal with their emotions and understand situations better. It’s not always easy for children to talk about their emotions, so this is a great step towards openly communicating how they feel. The mere act of writing something down can be relieving and help lessen the pressure children feel. They can look at their feelings and experiences from the point of view of an outsider reading and gain perspective. For this to work, reassure your child that what they write about will not be read by anyone else and respect their privacy.
Hand Eye Coordination
Writing on a more frequent basis can help improve your child’s hand eye coordination as it requires fine motor skills. The smaller muscle tissues of the hands are needed to grip and make pen strokes.
Record Memories
Through keeping a journal, children have memories to look back on when they get older.
Gratitude and Self-Reflection
As highlighted earlier, journals promote self-reflection as children recall and make a note of their feelings and the events of their day. This can help children to acknowledge the things they have to be grateful for and feel more content with their lives.
Strengthens English Skills
Of course, with continued writing, your child’s English skills will improve. They will learn to express themselves through words and improve on skills such as their spelling, punctuation, and grammar.
Improves School Performance
Notebooks / journals give children the space to make notes and practise their school work, such as maths equations.
Increased Likelihood of Reaching Goals
It is a fact that goals that are written down are more likely to be achieved than those that aren’t. Additionally, children can keep a log of how far they are in relation to achieving them and work towards them.
Complete Freedom
The best thing about journaling is that children have complete control over what they write. Entries don’t need to be structured and in full sentences. Some days they might just create doodles that represent how they are feeling and sketches of ideas they have.
There are clear benefits to journaling for both a child’s mental health and academic performance. Encourage your child to give it a go by letting them pick out a journal and stationery to make colourful notes and doodles. Also give journaling ago for yourself, seeing your commitment may motivate your child to do the same.