If you know parents of primary aged children, or have children yourself, this blog is especially for them, and you.
Typically, over 80%, of children hate writing, are scared of writing or will do anything to get out of it by the time they reach year 2.
At the start of year 1, nearly all of them loved writing.
Children create seemingly impossible breakthroughs for themselves, stabilising and growing their self confidence and resilience them earliest age possible. They get to love using their imaginations too!
We present our imagination Creation Show in primary and high schools around the world. For 12 years we have presented hundreds of shows and workshops to tens of thousands of children, teens, parents and teachers in five countries.
Daydreamer is an ebook for parents to help their children to write and use their unlimited imaginations, has just been released. It's a book with a difference, because each time we update it, the reader's copy of the book is updated instantly as well - at no extra cost.
We are sharing everything we have learned working with young people, in order to help build self confidence, self belief, self esteem and resilience - all building blocks for a happy life and strong tools to combat what is now the biggest killer of young people in the world - youth suicide.
Before school we make up stories all day and dream about them all night. In everything we play and learn we have to be creative, imaginative, and we never give up. When we learn to sit, stand, walk, talk, walk, run, eat, drink, catch ... everything is learned during play, having fun, through laughter and never giving up, no matter how hard it seems.
At school we discover that there are other children who can do things better than we can, and in some instances are so far ahead of where we are,we make it mean we are not as good as they are.
We start judging ourselves, because others start judging us. Until now we could do little wrong, praised for everything we do at home, but at school it's clear we're not as clever as we've been told we are.
Writing stories we find is difficult, and we judge our work next to others. We become afraid of looking silly and making mistakes; the possibility of 'getting it wrong' gives us sleepless nights and each lesson we are asked to write a story diminishes our confidence further.
Children who suffer from anxiety, depression and panic attacks are common in schools now. With that 80% of the children we meet by year 2 telling us they hate writing, are literally scared of doing it, these figures are not surprising.
To help prevent and combat this we perform and present our shows and workshops to schools, communities, hospitals, everywhere and anywhere we can. The book and a follow up group to interact with us and share ideas is there to make the 'no child left behind' slogan feasible, and not just a political stunt.
Using just one of the techniques that even the most reluctant young writers love, I have started the 1000 Stories in 1000 Days - Writing Is Magic challenge. Please share this link wherever you think it will help.
This is simply taking one random picture, and writing a children's story from it every day for 1000 days.
Children are reading less, writing less, creating less. They are using their imaginations less because their world is diminished and being created for them in the from of online games. Their ability to problem solve is greatly diminished, as are their critical thinking skills and patience because the concept of instant gratification is now an expectation.
Getting children to read hard copy books, starting with picture books, is the goal, but we know that's a fight we can't win. So, we take the stories and we put them online for free where they can be accessed, to be picked up and read by who knows, by parents who will read the stories to their children as well. Perhaps they will see value in their children gaining entry to this creative world by buying a simple book, that will help their children regain that sense of wonder and discovery they had as a young child.
It's not just cute and fun, imagination creation is their future. Nothing ever happens without imagining it first.
1000 Stories In 1000 Days - Writing Is Magic challenge.
Buy the Daydreamer book for $47.90 now. One payment, PAYPAL if you like, no up-sells, no extra payments and your copy will be updated instantly each time we update it. You don't have to do anything.
Pictures I use to write these stories come from different illustrators, cartoonists, photographers and their links are included in the copyright under each picture. My great friend and collaborator Dave McCleery's work is used as an inspiration in many of these stories.
After you have bought Imagination Creation come interact with us directly HERE. We can help you help your children love writing, using their imagination and build their self confidence - live.
Danny and Paula
