Letter Writing for Elementary Students

Teaching Your Child How to Write Letters

The use of letters may have faded with the use of modern technology, however mail hasn't gone anywhere just yet. Different kinds of letters have specific formats that need to be understood when your child becomes an adult. The following are a few tips on how you can help your child learn to write letters at home.

Making It Fun

When teaching your elementary student how to write a letter, it's important to ensure that the experience is both fun and task-oriented. Written communication is often a formal process that can become boring if the project lacks an exciting goal. Sometimes, your child's teacher will set such a goal at school. However, that doesn't mean that you can't create goals at home as well. Remember, the point of writing letters is that a chosen recipient reads them, so encourage your son or daughter to write about something they care about or to someone they care about.

Different Kinds of Letters and Formats

Many different kinds of letters are written every day. Introduce your child to the possibilities and ask what kind of letter he or she wishes to write. Perhaps your child wants to thank someone, complain about a product, offer advice or make a request for something. Make it personal and relevant to your child. For example, you might suggest that your child write a thank you letter to a grandparent who recently gave him or her a gift.

Show your child a variety of different letter formats. Point out the major and subtle differences between writing a formal, business-oriented letter and writing a casual letter to a pen pal. Your computer will likely be useful for this thanks to tools such as Letter Wizard in Microsoft Word. Of course, the Internet can also be a helpful resource when it comes to finding letter templates.

Writing and Sending Actual Letters

A good way to drive home the importance of letters is to help your child write real ones to real people. Allow your child to choose from a variety of recipients, including business owners, other kids living abroad or government agencies. Guide your child through the entire writing process with the goal of receiving a response from any letter recipient. Bear in mind that your child will need to write a variety of letters in order to ensure a response from someone. When a letter comes back with you child's name on the envelope, the result can be worth it.