During the summer vacation Sweetheart and I encouraged our children’s writing skills by engaging them in essay writing about their fun experiences such as places visited, parties, vacation bible schools, etc. Each of them got a colorful jotter to help stimulate the appeal.

Of course, they didn’t jump at the idea, like they were expecting a great opportunity to shine. No! It took a little bit of convincing. We told them that when school resumes after summer vacation or any long break, it is not unusual for students to be asked to write about their holidays. Therefore, they’ll be prepared if they’re asked to do so. With that, they reluctantly agreed.

In the first exercise, there was no input from me prior to starting. No structure and no special instructions were given. It was a freestyle writing which was meant to help me determine their current level – a training needs assessment, if you like.

Once the idea was bought, they jumped right in and began to scribble away. Somewhere in the middle, I began to hear “what was it I wanted to add?” “Um…I know!” And so on… I figured that they were losing their line of thoughts.

At the end of the exercise I asked, and they recalled their difficulty in remembering all their initial thoughts. To their disbelief, I told them that I also struggle to remember my ideas when I write.

Then I told them about a little trick called brainstorming that I always use to help me remember all my ideas. They had never had about it.

I remember describing brainstorming as:

• Cool
• Taking a few minutes to jot down the main ideas on scrap paper before writing the essay
• Doesn’t have to be fancy
• Doesn’t have to be in order
• Written down in the order of thought
• Prevents getting stuck on the flow of ideas
• Not a waste of time as it may seem but saves times without stressing out
• “Pantry of thoughts” to pick up ideas from in the middle of writing… yeah, remember that they were tickled on that one.

Suggested ideas were:

• What – name and description of places, sights, etc.
• Who – people that went, people met
• Where – location
• When – time, period, etc.
• Why – the reason for visiting
• How – road trip
• Lesson learned – new things, etc.

Interestingly they received it well. It wasn’t meant to drive them too hard on academics while on vacation, so we repeated it a couple more times before the end of summer. Eventually, I hoped that they had picked up some ideas on how to approach essay writing.

Fast forward to fall term…

I haven’t been able to contain my excitement all day today after attending a parent-teacher conference with Mrs. Conner, Agbenu’s homeroom teacher. We went over her progress in every area and thank God she’s still excelling. However, Mrs. Conner blew my mind when she added:

“Agbenu has outstanding writing skills. She writes with so much maturity and details. Her thoughts are well articulated, and I just enjoy reading her essays.”

I was grinning uncontrollably from ear to ear at this time. 😁

She added:

“I asked how she’s able to write so beautifully well and she told me about the brainstorming activity you taught them during the summer.”

I grinned even more 😁😁😁and thanked her in return.

Mrs. Conner: “Thank you so much for doing that. Can you take my child and teach him?”

Me: “My daughter’s teacher asking me to teach her child?”

At this, we both had a good laugh😂😂😂

By the time I walked out to leave, I made a fist pump and said “Yes! God Listens!!” We don’t labor in vain.

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 22: 6.

I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.

Jeremiah 17: 10.

• 10/14/19