Raising a seven year old prolific writer.

Prodigy novelist Christopher Paolini is proud to be home schooled, and his success has alerted more parents to the fact that 'home schooled' is often synonymous with 'accelerated' and 'advanced'. More people now understand that the level of attention a parent can give their child cannot be replicated in a large classroom setting, and that the results of this attention is usually very evident, especially when it comes to reading and writing. My daughter Adora is another home school success story. I began teaching Adora to write when she was four; she is now seven.

Adora can type over seventy words a minute, and she recently appeared on Good Morning America to demonstrate her ability to craft structurally sophisticated and interesting adventure stories. This year we collaborated together on her first book, Flying Fingers: Master the Tools of Learning through the Joy of Writing, which includes Adora's stories, followed by her tips on writing, and the teaching strategies and exercises I have found to be most successful.

Although Adora has a natural talent, I believe that children can generally write much better than one might think. Teaching Adora to write was a process of trial-and- error for me, and I learned a lot. I never expected Adora to advance at the rate that she did. It was amazing to see how her progress accelerated once we really began focusing on writing in a serious fashion.

I say 'serious', but of course my best trick was to come across as the exact opposite. Ask your child to complete a simple sentence such as 'The house was------'. If he/she seems unable to elaborate, begin asking zany questions. Is the house made of jell-o? Can the house fly? Once kids begin to contemplate the amusing possibilities, words just tumble out. If your child gets excited and begins throwing out ideas, ask him/her to write the first idea down before moving on to the next. This of course is just one activity, but I generally follow the same principals with most educational exercises. I ask questions, I maintain a playful attitude, and I always, always make sure my children know that I am truly interested in what they have to share.

I was curious to see whether the same system of exercises and activities I used to teach Adora would have a similar affect on other children. I started a small writing workshop, and I have been consistently amazed by the progress I can see even in students who started out with a limited interest in reading and writing. It's been great to work with so many like-minded parents, and Adora and Adrianna have been inspired by the chance to share their ideas with other kids. Most importantly, it taught me that Adora's talent is not singular; most children will flourish as writers when you help them understand that their writing can be a source of interest, praise, and entertainment.

Writing is just another form of make-believe, and when children realize that writing is one place where the sky is the limit, they begin to turn to writing as a source of fun. Encourage writing as a playtime activity when friends visit. Tell the kids 'You decide. It's all up to you. How do you want your castle to be? How do you want the world to be? Write about it, make it up, keep me reading!"