Journal writing can be a wonderful vehicle for self-expression as well as self-discovery. This book supplies kids with idea starters for journals, as well as suggested activities and readings for each day of the year.
This book was inspired by reactions to the author's first book, Writing Down the Days, a resource of journal ideas appropriate for kids ages 11 and up. Doing the Days targets a younger audience (from age 8), and is expanded to include a variety of ideas for further thought, experimentation, and challenge on the featured day's themes.
Children are given facts about each day of the calendar year, in addition to ideas for journal entries and activities that spring from these points of interest. For example, the entry for July 16th discusses the legend behind Children's Reckoning Day in which children were said to have spared a town from invading soldiers. Children are challenged to write about something they could do that adults think they are incapable of doing. Other facts about the day in history are offered (the first atomic bomb explosion and the launch of Apollo 11) along with suggested reading, research, and points of debate or discussion.
Doing the Days supplies kids with starting points for imaginative thinking and expression. The learning is cross-curricular, as kids learn a variety of diverse facts about the days of the year, including historical events and holidays. The suggested activities have a pleasing balance of structure and open-endedness. Journal idea starters go well beyond the standard "What did you do on your summer holidays?" to include flights of fancy (like pretending to be an on-the-scene reporter for school), more serious topics (such as writing about how kids feel they can contribute to saving the Earth), and quirky brainteasers (writing about the uses of a safety pin). These starters are specific enough to be useful, and broad enough to be inspiring. Children are always encouraged to think innovatively and creatively.
Although designed for teachers and homeschoolers, this book is equally appropriate for busy children in a home environment.
