Parents and teachers usually find that children thrive with recognition. We’re so conditioned to warn them away from danger and improper behavior that often we forget to praise and give them encouragement.
When I finished conducting the writing workshop with the 15 youngsters I mentioned in my last post, I gave them certificates of achievement.  It’s usually not possible to do this when I visit schools as an author and to teach workshops simply because of the number of students involved.  (I do try to give out bookmarks instead.)
However, because there were only 15 young writers, I decided handing out certificates at …read more