Appropriate grades or age groups:
Elementary School

Estimated time to complete project or implement technique:
10 to 30 minutes

Materials needed (if applicable):
1 composition notebook
2 different colored pens

Project instructions or description of technique:
Get a conversation going with your child about their day. What happened at school or what good deed they did for the day? Instead of talking about it - write about it. I usually start the dialogue by writing "How was your day?" Let the writing progress from there naturally depending on your child. The idea is to have a normal conversation, only it is in the form of writing instead of actually speaking. In this your child will learn to write out their ideas and convey their messages as they intended. This will alleviate frustration when communicating with others whether verbally or written. Be sure to encourage him/her to begin their sentence with a capital letter, stay within the margins and lines as well as using the correct punctuation. In the beginning the answers may be one syllable yes or no. As you become comfortable with this technique, so will your child and there will be elaboration of stories and all capitals used to convey emotion. As a perk, the composition notebook will become a treasured journal for you to refer back to when your little one is a teenager and not speaking to you.

Other suggestions or comments:
Choose a time during the day when you and your child are in a good mood. For us it is after a meal and we are relaxed.