For all home learning superheroes
Home learning has taken centre stage in our lives in Hong Kong since school closure was announced in January with a second announcement of a further extension till March. Despite being an educator and a parent, home learning has not been a bed of roses for me. My '7.30 am-1.30 pm' child's persona in school, where she interacted and socialised with peers and her teachers, was not the persona I interacted with during that time of day .
7.30am - 1.30pm would see me prepping for lectures or training sessions, in a meeting or writing my blog. I worked in an (mostly) adult environment, Now, our personas meet and we tango around each other, sometimes crashing to a crescendo and at other times waltzing in rhythm. She does not like being home and I do not blame her; I do not like her being home, too. Do not get me wrong. I love my daughter and she marvels me with the way she thinks and does things, but she really, really needs to socialise with her peers, do P.E., learn from her teachers and gibber-gabber with her mates. Mum is a poor substitute.
As my daughter is an avid reader and enjoys crafting stories, the busy bee in me thought long and hard about how I could reach out to other home learners like herself and give them something exciting to do.
300 words is a creative writing competition for 5-13 year-olds residing in Hong Kong. Yes, there are prizes for the top 3 from each category. We are not looking for super spellers or little grammarians. We are looking for superheroes who are creative and imaginative. And yes, 5-year-olds can write good, entertaining stories.
I have some lovely judges who want to be entertained. The stories will be judged based on the following:
- Originality
- Plot
- Characterisation
- Language
Registrations are pouring in and I would love to see more children penning their fictional short stories. For inspiration, read some sample stories from children. I know that not every child learns visually or is inspired by photographs and drawings, so use the sounds they hear around them as a story starter - the doorbell, a zooming motorbike, a yapping dog. You could also visit the popular online video sharing service and try typing in "sound effects" and have fun!
As always, I love hearing from you so do leave your comments and share this post.
