Keeping a diary or journal gives children a way of staying organised, but it also can benefit their mental health and help them in working towards their goals. It’s somewhere that they can record their day and keep track of how they are finding things. In this post is a list of fascinating benefits shared by a senior school in Hampshire.
The Benefits of Journaling for Children
This is a collaborative post
Reading and Writing Skills
If you can get your child to journal, you have found a way for them to regularly practise their reading and writing skills. This can help them in English as well as their other subjects at school.
Understanding Their Emotions and Knowing Their Mind
As your child grows up, they will likely experience “big” feelings that are often hard to understand and explain. Journaling helps children understand these emotions and “know their mind”.
A Tool for Reflection
The great thing about a journal is that it allows for reflection. Children can look back on how they were feeling throughout their day, or perhaps a week ago and underpin why they were feeling a certain way. They can also see the progress they have made since.
Working Towards Goals
Following on from the point made above, children can see the progress they have made in their goals. If there’s something in particular that they are working towards, like a competition or their exams, they can keep a note of how they are doing and the work that remains incomplete.
Keeps The Brain in Good Shape
Journaling relies on memory as your child will need to look back on the things that they did. This can help strengthen their brain’s hippocampus, which is in charge of remembering key facts.
With all that said, journaling is only beneficial if your child actually wants to write. Give them control as opposed to it being something that’s enforced. To encourage them, however, you can look at ways to make it a more enjoyable activity, like by looking for quirky journals and stickers they can use to make a note of how they’ve felt, etc.
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