Break The Stigma: Journaling in Childhood: The Benefits of Teaching Your Children to Journal

by Brian Warriner

When I was a child, I attended Russell Elementary School in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. In my first-grade class, we would have a few minutes at the beginning of the day, and we would write in our journals. There was a girl in my class who would write two full pages. I could barely get a couple of sentences. Then we would share our journals. This was something that stuck with me. I did not start journaling until later in life. In middle school, I tried to journal, but I made the stupid mistake of leaving it in class, and people read it. I learned the hard way and stopped until I was in my twenties. However, when I was working in a Pre-K classroom, I had to compile the kids' journals. It was this blank grey paper that I had to count out the pages and then hole punch. Then put it in a folder with the prongs. We would put it out on the floor. We would direct the students to their journals. The students would draw a picture and then tell us what the picture represented. We would write it out in a sentence. That was how we journaled.

From these moments, journaling stayed with me. I found it interesting that Queen Victoria, as a young girl, kept a diary. She wrote in her diary daily until she could not write anymore. Towards the end of her life, her daughter Princess Beatrice wrote her diary for her while her mom dictated to her. It was after Queen Victoria’s death that Beatrice edited her mother’s diaries and destroyed some of them due to the content of her mother's writings. In the aftermath of Prince Albert’s death, she spent the majority of her time in the Scottish Highlands and Balmoral. Her diaries of that time were published, thanks to her companion John Brown. This was a great disgrace to her family, who hated John Brown for not treating her like the queen, but rather like a person. At her death, Queen Victoria had written over 60 million words in her diaries, stretching over 141 volumes (Queen Victoria’s Diary, n.d).

When I started to journal, I created close to 100 different journals for all different themes for any journal lover. It felt like a natural progression in my passion for journaling. As part of my mental health career, my advocacy is to encourage people to start journaling. I believe it is a great tool for children to employ. They can write about how they are feeling in their own language, and then share it with their parents, who can explain to them what feelings like sadness, happiness, depression, or anger mean. If possible, help them express those feelings in healthy ways. Unfortunately, not many parents themselves have healthy habits when it comes to expressing their feelings. I would like to see this become a way to help children gain more empathy and stronger, well-developed emotional intelligence. Honestly, I have thought about this for decades. When my beloved grandmom passed away in 1995, I did not understand the feelings I was having—the grief, the tears, and the emptiness that came with the loss of a loved one. My mom and the adults around me at the time tried their best to explain it to me while they were going through their own grief. So, I understood as best as I could at the time. It was something that I had to grow into learning. When I was growing up, there were no lessons on identifying and understanding my feelings and emotions.

I worked with children in pre-K, kindergarten, and first grade. I appreciate that some teachers incorporate journaling into their lessons. The benefits and the lessons are a great tool for all students.

How To Start a Journaling Practice

There are so many reasons to get children into journaling. I want to preface this by saying journaling is not for everyone. However, those who start a journaling practice feel the benefits and clarity that come with journaling. First and foremost, you want to tailor your journaling practice for your child. If your child has not learned to write, then you can do the writing for them. Begin with one or two sentences when they are in the first grade and have developed their handwriting skills. They can write on their own. I have never been fond of new digital journals. I am old school, pen to paper, for the organic feeling and how everything flows from my brain to the page.

Whether you send your child to school or homeschool them, set aside some time to allow them to start journaling. If you do not know how to start, then use a prompt. This is an idea to spark their inspiration. Maintain the routine with consistency by doing it at the same time every day. Use a tool called habit stacking, where they grab their journal, pick their prompt, and use it for handwriting practice. I find that if you miss one or two days, that is fine, but you have to keep going (Bence, 2023). The key to developing and maintaining your routine is consistency. Stay with it, it will pay off.

For children, as I stated, it is a great way to build emotional intelligence. With the world in such a hateful state that it is, giving our children the tools to identify, express emotions, and develop empathy can help change the world. While we are helping our children enhance their self-regulation, boost, and build resilience. As cruel children can be to each other, it can make the cruelty that adults show to each other look like child’s play. Getting children to journal and using these tools will help make processing the emotions of their lives easier (Queen, 2024).

Journaling for children can improve literacy, enhance vocabulary, encourage creative writing, personal expression, and enhance emotional intelligence (Queen, 2024). As children grow up, these skills will help them throughout their lives. By encouraging your children to write, you may inspire them to become the next Stephen King, James Patterson, or Stephanie Myers. I love creative writing and just creating storylines and plots. It is something amazing.

Benefits

The benefits of journaling for children are teaching them a set of life skills that they can employ. Especially when they are going through tough times, it can help reduce stress and anxiety, it can encourage emotional expression, and improve self-regulation and behavioral health. As such, they will develop a sense of self-esteem, self-awareness, and confidence in themselves. Journaling supports mental health recovery, improves focus, and academic performance (Kidsville Pediatrics, 2024).

You got your child journaling, and after a few weeks or months, you noticed something happening. Your child’s academic performance in school has gotten better. Their memory has improved, and they are becoming more effective at achieving their goals (Bence, 2023). The more important thing is that they are enhancing their critical thinking skills. As they get older and enter higher education, they will use this skill. They will also learn to think outside the box more.

Encouraging your children to start a journaling routine and staying with it would do a world of good for them. Especially when you are helping them and explaining what they are feeling, it is natural, and this is how you can express it. Moreover, it might open a dialogue between you and your child. When you speak about their entries, it can help improve their communication skills. Furthermore, how they can articulate ideas and know that your child is hurting, happy, upset, or going through things can help you help them. I believe that what parents want more than anything is to know how their kid is doing.

This does not have to be a serious activity. Make it fun, have your child pick their journal, or you can create one. Have them decorate it. You can use a sketchbook and give them space to make a collage, doodle, and create a story. Give them space to be quiet and let them write or draw. As the parent or teacher, be supportive and respectful to encourage a share. It will help them open up.

Do’s and Don’ts

There are not a lot of dos and don’ts when it comes to encouraging children to start journaling. It is not a serious activity. What you want to do is start them as early as they can write. You will want to explain to them what journaling is and how fun it is. Give them space to write and set an environment that nurtures their interest in journaling (Gibbs, 2023).

You do not want to force them into it. If they do not want to write a journal entry, they do not have to. In a classroom setting, if they do not want to write in their journal. Please encourage them to draw a picture or sit quietly so as not to disturb their neighbors. When it comes to sharing their entries, it is entirely up to the child (Gibbs, 2023).

Prompts for Journaling for Children

· Draw something fun

· Write about something that makes you sad

· What is something that brings you joy?

· What is your favorite animal?

· Draw three patterns using shapes.

· What is on your mind today?

· Do you have a pet? If so, write about your pet.

· When you see a falling star in the sky, what feelings do you feel?

· Draw a picture of your family

· Draw yourself as a superhero

· Write about a day that you were happy

· You blinked and are back in the time of the dinosaurs, write about what dinosaurs you see.

· What is your favorite food?

· Write about your favorite holiday and why it is your favorite.

· Write about your favorite book. Why do you like it?

These are the journals I designed for children. They are 8in x 11in, 60 pages. If you wish to purchase one of these journals for your children or classroom, please use the link below.

https://www.lulu.com/search?page=1&sortBy=RELEVANCE&q=Brian+Warriner&pageSize=10&adult_audience_rating=00&language=eng&category=Children%27s