This is a neat idea that two of my boys are participating in this school year.  A lady in our area had taught her children writing and had held Writers’ Clubs for them during their schooling years, and she enjoyed them so much and saw such growth and improvement in the students’ writing, that she has decided to continue to run Writers’ Clubs during the school year for homeschool students.

We meet once a month every month of the school year except December, and the students have an assignment for each month.  When we meet, they each take a turn reading their assignment aloud to the group.  It’s a great way for these young writers to hear what other writers are writing, how they are writing it and what voice they are writing it in.  The clubs are made up of children in all grade levels and some have been attending the writers’ club for several years and some are brand new this year (like my boys).  It helps those who struggle with writing to improve and to get ideas as they listen to other students share, and it’s fun for the ones who are good at writing to share as they continue to learn more about writing and continue to improve.

This is very much like the Writers’ Groups that are available to adults, except that in the Writers’ Groups, the other group members usually offer input on each person’s writing, hopefully in a kind, constructive criticism way.  The group I recently visited uses the “Oreo Cookie” method of input, which means the first thing is to say something positive about the piece, then offer your ideas of weak areas with suggestions for improvement, and wrap it up with another positive statement about the piece.  That’s a great way to help and encourage any writer.  After all, aren’t all of the rejection letters a writer receives, when trying to find a place to publish, hard enough blows to his/her confidence?