Personally, I grew up writing some form of letters as a child with a fill in the blank that teachers provided us to introduce ourselves, improve our handwriting, and form sentences to improve communication. With those papers, we filled in the blanks with our personal answers and colored them with fun pictures and geometric shapes. When our letters were finished, our teachers would collect them and hand one letter per person out of everybody to see who they got to make friends as an easier method than speaking face to face. Children are focused on using technology rather than pen and paper today which has been proven in studies that it affects their development skills (Akeba 2020). Learning how to write letters at a young age is important and should be taught throughout the years of education. Becoming pen pals with children or as a child can help make any topic of a letter special to anyone for encouragement to feel better about themselves.
Learning how to write letters begins during preschool or elementary school. A teacher named Jennie received an email from a child’s mother saying that the mother’s child misses her. This led to her writing a letter with a sunflower card, sharing the importance of smiling, wishing a late happy birthday, questions about a science trip he and his classmates took, and mention of a robot dog during the trip (Jennie 2023). Having a teacher write a student a letter with a card that reminds them of that student is impactful for the young mind. Adult handwriting is more neat compared to children’s handwriting, but it’s helpful for the child to read clearly instead of struggling for them to ask their parents for help. Letters sent from adults or children share the importance of understanding patience because children are in a fast mode everyday, so waiting for letters is difficult for them to value patience and it proves that excitement should be handled in a certain manner for children (Lisa 2018).
A teacher named Emily has been using letters as an activity for students to engage with each other for life changing goals in the future. During the pandemic of COVID 19, she took her students to Zoom as a way to share their letters through screens and focus on communication skills directly and socially (Clarke 2022). Learning to write letters during difficult times in the world has proven that anything is possible for young children to learn the same way in the classroom through a screen. Teachers collecting letters from students is to analyze their success in multiple skills mainly in writing. Using letters in the form of pen pals have improved how writing letters can help forget the emotions of feeling separated from people you get along with (Clarke 2022). Following safety guidelines proves that writing letters is possible to change the idea of expressing yourself in writing for better outcomes in conversations in the future.
A little girl named Annabelle was struggling with a personal loss that made her turn to writing letters everyday. Her mother noticed she was always writing letters, and this led to her messaging friends on Facebook if their children wanted or needed a pen pal. Annabelle wrote to six kids and would write two to three letters daily which made her feel better about herself (Deborah 2024). Writing letters during a hard time can improve yourself as a person even at a young age. Having children write letters during difficult times has proven their skills of creativity which is the uniqueness of pen pals written by children. Authenticity is important for children to write letters because writing too much may feel like a chore to them, so keeping an eye on how children write is helpful to imagine their legacy in the future (Lisa 2018).
Inspired by pen pal letters for children, there have been multiple programs that are used for children to write letters to brighten others and their future. A senior and president of a pen pal program named Kaylee Willman has progressed for elementary school kids focused on pen pal letters for the success of the school district. Kaylee was dedicated to not only the kids’ improvement of writing skills but the kids could get mentored by high school students that are inspired to help them express the true meaning of letters. Though the purpose of creating the club was good on applications, it made her want to continue the club with how numerous people were a part of the club alone (Robertson 2018). High school students are used as resources for children to learn letter writing which can create relationships between them. Relationships are important in letters because you can sense a strong connection with reading and writing with someone next to you or far away from you.
Having children write letters in different formats improves many skills they wish to achieve. Writing has improved for many centuries, and it’s worth saying it’s important to understand the importance of writing; especially with writing letters. Writing letters has been a resource throughout history, and it’s unique with how people still write letters by hand though technology has taken over completely. Learning how to write letters at a young age shows gratitude to their resources (family or friends), talents in showing creativity, and having fun. Children have freetime and using it with writing letters to friends has proven how much appreciation is put into an activity for people they care about for the better of themselves and people they consider important to them.
Overall, children have learned to write letters at a young age from activities that show creativity and adapt learning skills. Children writing letters can have different story backgrounds as to why they write letters to begin with which is why they’re important to consider for future generations in education. Writing letters at a young age helps impact success with communication skills because of how positive a child’s mind is. It’s been proven that children write letters with adults to create relationships that improve social skills as well as constructing conversations. Having children write letters to other children can create memories that only they can remember in good moments of their life. Children should consider writing letters to friends and family because it can help them form stories that can be remembered centuries later and change society on how to view writing letters.
Clarke. “Pen Pal Friendships Connect Students.” Mainstream News, 2022, https://www.clarkeschools.org/mainstream-news/pen-pal-friendships-connect-students/
Deborah. “Bringing Back A Love Of Writing Letters & Finding Penpals.” Super Busy Mum, 2024, https://superbusymum.net/bringing-back-a-love-of-writing-letters-finding-penpals/
Jennie. “We’re Still Pen-Pals.” Jennie Fitzkee, 30 January 2023, https://jenniefitzkee.com/2023/01/30/were-still-pen-pals/
Lisa. “Why Your Child Needs a Pen Pal.” Home School Notes, 8 March 2018, https://www.homeschoolnotes.com/why-your-child-needs-a-pen-pal/
Robertson, Kaydin. “Pen Pals exchange letters elementary kids.” The Wildcat Tales, 15 February 2018, https://wildcattales.com/news/2018/02/15/pen-pals-exchange-letters-elementary-kids/
“The Perks of Pen Pals.” Abeka, 11 February 2020, https://www.abeka.com/blog/the-perks-of-pen-pals/?srsltid=AfmBOorHfea75rRmPS05NYsbzL4kxVu3n552OOl6BKUbUG0InAizeNUe
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