• Home
  • About
    • About Me
    • My Homeschool Journey
      • My Story
      • Should I Homeschool?
      • Finding My Homeschool Style
    • Day in the Life
  • Contact
  • Shop

Homeschool Notes

Cultivate a Love of Writing

  • How to Homeschool
    • Getting Started
    • Following State Laws
    • Finding Your Style
    • Making Goals
    • Choosing Curriculum
    • Organizing Space
      • Homeschool Organization
    • Keeping Records
  • Teaching Reading
    • Read Aloud
    • Book Lists
    • Early Literacy
    • Alphabet
    • Sight Words
    • Book Activities
    • Vocabulary
  • Teaching Writing
    • Preschool Writing
    • Kindergarten Writing
    • Writers’ Workshop
    • Spelling
    • Writing Prompts
    • Poetry
    • Persuasive Writing
    • Pen Pals
  • Curriculum
    • By Grade Level
      • Kindergarten
      • 1st Grade
      • 2nd Grade
      • 4th Grade
      • 5th Grade
      • 6th Grade
      • 7th Grade
      • 8th Grade
      • 9th Grade
    • Reviews
      • Language Arts
      • Math
      • History & Geography
      • Fine Arts
    • Family

Starting a Writers’ Workshop is Easier Than You Think

February 11, 2020 by Lisa

This post contains Amazon affiliate links. If you click through one of my links and make a purchase, I will receive a commission.

Writers’ workshop is an enjoyable, practical way to teach writing skills and cultivate a love of writing. If you’re new to this workshop concept you’re probably wondering what you need to do first. In this post we’ll show you how starting a writers’ workshop is easier than you think. Follow these steps and you’ll be on your way to creating a writing routine and atmosphere that helps your kids learn best.

Prepare Your Writers’ Workshop Space

Decide where your kids will write and how you will store writing materials. Keep in mind that this may change. But for now, make a plan and try it.

You may gather at the kitchen table or on the floor in the living room with clipboards. Place your materials in a basket or on a shelf. Or maybe you’ve got a whole room in your house dedicated to homeschooling. Your kids may write at individual desks and have their own drawers for materials.

I’ve tried different methods, but the one working best for us now is a small table and a rolling cart. When it’s time for writers’ workshop, we roll the cart over to the table. It has everything we need in one place.

Materials:

  • bookshelf or rolling cart (comes in a variety of colors) (affiliate link)
  • White copy paper
  • Stapler
  • Pencils
  • Markers
  • Crayons
  • Colored pencils (these are excellent quality and last years) (affiliate link)
  • Ruler
  • Clipboards
  • Writing folders
  • Writing notebooks (composition books)
  • Alphabet chart (for beginners)
  • Reference books
  • Rubber date stamp (optional, but your child will love it) (affiliate link)
  • Timer (optional)

Share Your Enthusiasm

The first step to launch a writers’ workshop is to express your enthusiasm. Help your kids see that writing every day is a privilege. If you approach writers’ workshop as something to look forward to, so will your kids. Here’s an example:

You know how we read books every day? Well, this year we’re going to write every day too! We’re going to be authors. We can write about anything we want, things that matters to us most. By the end of the year we’re going to have a pile of stories to share that we’ve written, just like published authors do.

Decorate Writing Folders

The next step is to decorate writing folders or writing notebooks. This gives kids a sense of ownership. It shows that their writing is valuable and needs protection.

We’re going to need a special place to keep all of the wonderful books we write. Writing folders are the perfect thing. Let’s decorate our folders with pictures and words that are important to each of us.

Writers’ notebooks are a good tool for keeping track of writing ideas and practicing different writing strategies. Kids can even write first drafts in them. A writer’s notebook takes away any problem of losing important papers too.

If you use a notebook, you can have your children choose a story that they want to work on in more detail at any point during the year. They can draft on white paper and add pages as needed.

In the photo below you’ll see how my daughter and I decorated our notebooks with photographs and magazine clippings of things we liked or represented us.

Write Your First Book

You may think you need some kind of mini-lesson to introduce how to write your first book, but you don’t. Just let your kids know that it’s time to start writing!

For kindergarteners, hand them a blank book of 5 pages of copy paper stapled in landscape orientation. Lisa Cleaveland, coauthor of “A Teacher’s Guide to Getting Started with Beginning Writers Grades K-2,” recommends blank books for beginners because they’re more invitational. You don’t want kids to shut down because lined paper is intimidating. For more experienced writers you can offer some different paper styles, like ones that have boxes for illustrations and lines for writing.

If you or your kids are staring at blank paper and not sure what to do, think about an event from your week. If you went to a basketball game, write a book about that. Maybe your child had a play date or went to a museum. These make great writing topics.

Another quick way to find a writing idea is to think about something you love. Do you love swimming? Write about a day at the beach or the pool.

Don’t spend too much time trying to come up with the perfect topic. The goal is to start writing. The more you and your kids write, the better you’ll get at choosing topics quickly.

When You Have an Only Child

When several children are writing at the same time, it’s easier to create a writing atmosphere. Everyone is quietly writing at the same time.

In my homeschooling experience, I’ve only had one child to work with at a time. It creates a unique dynamic. Since my son doesn’t have his older sister in the room doing writers’ workshop, it’s hard for him to stay focused and motivated to write. This is where my actions can make a world of difference.

Your only child will take cues from you. Participate in writing alongside her. When she sees you writing, it helps create a positive writing atmosphere.

If you expect your child to write while you’re folding laundry or on your phone, you’re not showing that writing is important. If your actions demonstrate that writing is not worth your time, you can’t expect your child to value it either.

Next Steps

I recommend keeping writers’ workshop low-key for at least a week. These first days are important in establishing a routine for writing. You and your kids will use this time to figure out the logistics of getting out materials, finding a good place to write, and how to store your writing afterwards. Once you have a good rhythm, you can start thinking about writing goals and introducing mini-lessons to meet them.

Conclusion

Starting a writers’ workshop is easier than you think. Get your materials organized and choose a place to work. Decorate writing folders to personalize them and write your first book. Once your children have established a routine, it will be time to take writers’ workshop to the next level with mini-lessons.

Have you started a homeschool writers’ workshop yet? How do you like to introduce writers’ workshop and kick-off your first day of writing?

Resource:

Ray, Katie Wood and Lisa Cleaveland. 2018. A Teacher’s Guide to Getting Started with Beginning Writers Grades K-2. Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Kindergarten Writing, Teaching Writing, Writers' Workshop Tagged With: elementary writing, kindergarten curriculum, kindergarten writing, writers' workshop

Welcome! I'm Lisa, a teacher turned homeschool mom. Reading aloud and cultivating a love of writing in kids excite me most. Here you'll find help for teaching these subjects and more! Learn more…

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • YouTube

Looking for something?

Let’s Go Geography

PRIDE Reading

PRIDE Reading Program

Page a Day Math

Schoolhouse Teachers

  • About Me
  • Privacy Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Blog

Top Posts

How to Write an Acrostic Poem
Easy Animal Report Writing for Kids
Writing Couplets with Kids
10 Classic Chapter Books for Kindergarten

Copyright © 2025 · Lifestyle Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. If you continue to use our site, we'll assume you're ok with this. Read MoreGot It
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT