How do you inspire writing?

As I write, R is doing her writing by herself.  She is sitting at a little end table in front of our family room TV which is hooked up to my personal computer.  Everyday she types into a word processor the words she wants to write, (I downloaded a special handwriting font,) and then she copies down her sentence with a pencil and special handwriting paper.

To be honest, I'm in awe.  She is doing this happily -- without me begging or even needing me to persuade her.  She's doing it because she WANTS to!  This is a huge advancement from only a few weeks ago when doing our writing each day was very much a challenge.  We often had to stop because I was losing patience and she was becoming frustrated.

So, what happened?  I'm not totally sure, but I'll give you my guesses.

For one thing, I think R has a pretty flexible nature.  She may resist things initially, but with enough prompting she'll easily jump on board.  I guess the best way to put it is that she's mold-able and easy to inspire.

I think another thing that helped was that I tried really hard to think outside the box about different ways to practice our writing.  (In the beginning I was tempted to do all letter drilling.)  I kept it light and fun.  I experimented with lots of different approaches until one in particular stuck with her:  writing notes.  She LOVES writing notes to her daddy, grandmas, and friends.  She also likes using the type of writing paper that has space at the top to draw a picture.

Writing has also been better since I stopped sitting right next to her and trying to tell her how to form each and every letter.  That was just too much pressure.  I have started sitting back and mainly praising, only giving a little bit of advice here and there.  I've been surprised by how quickly she has corrected certain mistakes without me having to tell her again and again.

I've learned to be largely flexible myself, letting little things slide, picking my battles, and letting her take the lead in her writing choices.  It's hard sometimes, but in the long run it's been refreshingly freeing.

What matters the most in all of this -- and this ABSOLUTELY applies to all homeschooling -- is that she is inspired and excited and enjoying what she's doing.  I feel strongly that this is the main key to seeing the best progress and educational development in children.  I know that when I feel interested in what I am doing, and when I really OWN it, I do far better than when I feel forced or pushed into things.