Peter stopped into Dawn and Ashley’s room this morning. “We made it,” he said, nodding towards Dawn and me. He was referring to the Slice of Life Story Challenge. We had all successfully written for thirty-one days straight…again. As we debriefed the highs and lows of the month, I said, “And now all of my girls are doing the classroom challenge! Onto the next challenge…”

This year, I decided I wouldn’t push the girls to write. I’ve never forced them, but I almost didn’t mention it this year. I didn’t know if I could handle the challenge of them being part of the challenge. I imagined the reminders for them to write on top of all the other reminders I already have to give, like, “Unpack your lunchbox,” or “Did you do your homework?” “Please pick up your toys,” and “Your dirty clothes go in the hamper.”

But somewhere towards the end of March, Adi began inquiring about when it was her turn to slice. She began brainstorming story ideas and talking about ideas as we drove from one place to another. Finally, last week, I told her, “You’ll have to start writing on Sunday.” She couldn’t wait.

On Sunday, Adi begged to start writing. She grabbed my laptop and set up at the kitchen island. She had decided that her first slice would be about basketball. She talked out loud as she brainstormed and began to type. She asked about spelling and I offered a question to push her to add more detail, “What were you thinking then?” As I worked in the kitchen, I began to get the sense that her basketball story was going to be a rehash of the game. So I asked, “Why are you telling this story?”

“Because we won,” Adi replied quickly.

We went on to discuss themes and lessons learned in the books she’s reading. “You’re ready to try that in your writing, too,” I said. We discussed a few possible focuses for her basketball story before she got back to working independently, and I left her be-not wanting to totally “teacher mom” her on day one.

Later,after Adi announced she was done and bounced away from the computer, I took a moment to skim over her story. It was actually pretty good. She had taken my tip and focused on the team aspect of winning the game. I was impressed.

Later that night, Adi begged to write another Slice of Life. Knowing the days ahead would be busy, I let her write again. Today, after school, Adi checked the number of views her first post had (she ended up publishing a piece about Easter. She is holding onto the basketball story for another day). Her post had been read by four people. She was so excited!

Right now, Adi’s energy is encouraging Rose and Wren has committed to writing on Wednesdays. I’m not sure how long this enthusiasm will last. But for now, I’m happy to pass the writing baton to my daughters.

Here are links to all three girls’ blogs in case you want to check them out!

Wren’s Tweets

A Slice of Adi

Rose Writes