A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about setting up a pen pal for your child. Some of you worry about doing this because your children may be too small or are only just now learning to read and write.
This project is still viable (and valuable) for younger children who can draw. All parents of young children should keep an endless supply of paper, crayons, pencils, and markers to allow children to draw until their corazoncitos are content. Abuelos, tíos and primos will still enjoy receiving artwork in lieu of letters, and your niños will benefit from the practice they get while drawing, which develops the gross motor skills necessary to begin writing.
For those of you with older children who are learning to write, have your child dictate a letter to you. Encourage them to keep it short and simple. You can the write the letter down and then have your child copy the words onto a separate sheet of paper, or on some stationery (like the ones I offer in the sidebar).
Another great on-line resource is the Writing Wizard, which is a free resource for teachers and homeschooling parents. The site allows you to find writing practice worksheets or create your own, like the one shown above. The program lets you create worksheets by modifying the paper layout, writing style (including print or cursive), letter size, line patterns and more. The only thing it doesn't do is allow you to add accents (Boo!), so you may have to add those on your own.
