Want to get your child excited about writing? Let them write! It's that simple.

As a New York City public educator, I can honestly say that writing has become a favorite subject among most inner city children. It's interesting because prior to our adoptation of a new writing program, students hated math and really only wanted to do math because they were able to use manipulatives. However, now that we have this Ivy League program withing our school, my kids can't wait to open their writing notebooks and become "writers".

What makes this writing program so special? Well, we've taken away the standard conventions of unimportant things such as grammar and spelling, of course. Once we've done that, our children have no problem with writing.

So what you can't understand half of what's on the page? That is irrelevant! The key is to get those kids writing and to feel comfortable putting down their ideas on paper in a safe, supportive environment.

So if you want your child to learn how to write - oh, let me rephrase that - if you want your child to be excited about writing, allow them to write. Don't correct their grammar! Don't demand indentation or capitals or anything that you were taught as a child. No! By all means, give them a genre, have them immerse themselves in that genre through reading and studying mentor texts and you will have a very enthusiastic, unskilled writer.

Now if you're looking for a writer who is both enthusiastic and skilled, that's a different conversation. By all means, I am all for immersing children in literature and having discussions around literature. Once children are able to verbalize their thoughts, get them writing as soon as possible. Of course, you don't want to force writing on a preschooler. However, your preschooler should most certainly see you putting words down on the paper, whether it's a journal or a check. It doesn't matter what you're writing, as long as you're doing it.

Watching you write, your child will be more likely to shows signs of emergent writing skills, such as trying to emulate you with their crayons. Once that happens harp on it and get your child to do simple things like tracing straight lines and different directions and his or her name. One thing to note, learning should be fun at this age. So once your child shows that he or she is tired and cannot handle sitting down any longer, walk away from writing and come back to it a little later. Not only will this show your

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