Foreword by Robin Sampson

As an author, publisher, homeschool mother, and educator, I am thrilled to see the completion of this book. I was excited as soon as I saw the words “A Family Writing Lifestyle.” Mary Ann shares valuable insights not only about writing itself, but about passing on the gift of written expression as a family tradition . What a gift to pass on to your children —the ability to capture insights, record memories, and relate perceptions and feelings.

We have eleven children ages 5 to 34. I have always encouraged my children to write. Almost twenty years ago, when we began our homeschool journey teaching my children to write well was one of my main goals. The years of writing encouragement have paid off. All my grown children write regularly. Even my very busy 32-year old daughter (a mother of five) finds time to relate touching thoughts and memories through her family scrapbook journaling. Now I take pleasure in priceless annotated scrapbook pages of my grandchildren. I continue to encourage my youngest children to write daily. My five-year old loves to dictate his fascinating stories as I record them. My seven-year old son enjoys copywork and writing and illustrating letters to servicemen. He has written or dictated stories about horses, baseball, and knights (the same type of writing his 28-year old brother wrote when he was seven).

The importance of teaching your children to write cannot be overstated. Skillful writers influence society. Christian writers have the privilege of encouraging, teaching, and strengthening others to have a closer relationship with God. The late Dr. Paul Bubna, former President of the Christian and Missionary Alliance, wrote,

“It may be true that a picture is worth a thousand words, but we must not miss the fact that writing words has a unique power all its own. Something powerful happens to the person who writes the words. It is one thing to think the thought, it is quite another to put it into words and see it on paper, or even a computer screen. That process opens a door of intimacy with one’s self that may be unmatched any other way.”

Our spiritual lives, our success in the work world, and our social networks all require the skill of writing. Writing skills are vital in today’s changing culture. Written communication declined during the age of the telephone but with the development of the computer people are writing again in the form of emails and blogging (on line journaling).

In my book, The Heart of Wisdom Teaching Approach, I encourage parents to teach their children to write to learn, also known as writing across the curriculum. Mary Ann embraces the same concept because she understands how writing helps to generate thoughts and to organize them logically and concisely. Writing can bring experiences, thoughts and opinions together. We write to express ideas, share stories, document history, imagine the future, express love, and dispense humor. When students tackle a subject, they can experiment with different techniques and strategies for writing. They discover new ideas, new ways of thinking and new methods of expressing themselves. When you teach your children to document their thoughts, feelings, and ideas on paper, you are equipping them with a gift they will use for a lifetime. Mary Ann demonstrates the practical steps to develop this type of writing into a family lifestyle.

This book will be a useful guide for any teacher and especially beneficial to homeschoolers. Most homeschoolers are fond of Charlotte Mason’s educational philosophies which emphasize real-life activities over academic exercises. Mary Ann agrees with Mason explaining how writing assignments that are viewed as academic exercises cause the child to lose the adventure of writing. Mason’s admirers will appreciate how Mary Ann’s unique approach is in agreement with Mason’s philosophy “… we believe that children’s’ minds are capable of digesting real knowledge, so we provide a rich, generous curriculum that exposes children to many interesting, living ideas and concept.” Mary Ann will show you how families working on individual and joint writing projects can motivate children to catch the excitement of relevant writing and come to understand that the art of writing is a powerful life tool.

I became eager to try out Mary Ann’s methods when I read how she taught her children to write using a real-life approach following the rules of an adult writing group. She posed as a mock publisher to lead her children through the writing process from query letters to contracts and finished publications, complete with book signings, and marketing techniques. What a great idea! About a dozen years ago when my grown children were young and learning to write they each created a book using Creating Books with Children by Valerie Bendt as a guide. Through the creation of their books they learned the writing, illustrating, editing processes but they never learned the query and submission processes . Here we are over a decade later writing again, with my youngest children, using Mary Ann’s ideas. I look forward to adding more finished writing products to my somewhat yellowed and faded but treasured papers of childhood thoughts, stories, inspiration, opinions, and beliefs to our
family files.

Although Mary Ann emphasizes forming a writing group, this is only one segment of her collection of ideas. This book contains much more. You will also learn how writing activities and rituals can be woven through the day, year, and even throughout life. Activities include ideas for family journaling, letter writing, Bible journaling, goal journaling, celebration journaling, apology letters, thank-you notes, and even writing to deal with loss and grief. This book is not about the educational nuts and bolts of writing, but is intended to celebrate and inspire writing in the home. Nurturing a Write Relationship will help you develop a family writing lifestyle and tradition.

• Section I teaches you the importance of creating a safe place to write, allowing children to experiment with language. Children will become confident writers when they receive support and encouragement as they move through the writing process.

• Section II details writing education principles. Mary Ann explains how to learn from great writers and how to be a writing mentor to your children. She also dispels several writing myths.

• Section III explains the publishing process for a writing group from vision to revision to the completed process.

• Section IV encourages you to develop a family writing lifestyle with family rituals, traditions, and celebrations and investigates a Biblical view of writing.

• Section V includes many ideas for integrating writing into daily life and closes with the twelve writing principles of a family writing lifestyle.

Mary Ann’s book is full of several first-rate unique ideas to teach children to write that make writing a fun family experience. She provides an attractive combination of solid advice and clever insights on how to motivate and cultivate your children’s writing. I’m giving this book to each of my grown children to support them in their efforts to teach their children to write. I hope your family will spend time developing a family writing lifestyle. I promise it will be time well spent and the benefits are many.