There are lots of writing workbooks available. Many parents get ‘bridge books’ to keep their kids interested in school over the summer, as a review of the past year’s math, reading, writing, etc. They are full of word games, art projects, reading, writing. Sometimes there are answers in the back.
I love learning grammar rules so have a few books around the house (some since my kids were in grade school and they are now 29 and 30. Some have word games or puzzles, little quizzes about grammar. She can learn a lot by doing crossword puzzles. the American bar association news letter used to have (maybe still does) a column called ‘The Grammatical Lawyer’ where the author would take a grammar problem and answer it, like when to use further and farther, when to say ‘Whether’ or ‘whether or not’ (and it sometimes matters. Yep, I’m a nerd but found them fun.
Does she speak a second language? I learned a lot about grammar by studying French. Make sure it includes reading and writing the second language,not just speaking.
At her age, I actually think quantity is as important as quality of the writing. My aunt writes books for young adults, and she would tell her own daughters (who became a librarian and a think tank researcher) just to write write write (they were both big readers too). If your daughter wants to fill 10 spiral notebooks this summer, let her. Write silly stuff like poems without using the letter O, or a page using the words to, too, and two as many times as she can.
I have to say you don’t get a pass because you have more in common with your son. You are a girl dad too. If she likes ponies, you like ponies. If she wants to talk about Taylor Swift friendship bracelets, that’s your new favorite topic. Don’t worry,it can be fun.
You don’t need to be a teacher to come up with prompts. Open a book, find a word and have her write about that word: Wednesday, blueberries, ice cream flavors, Italy, zoo animals…it all works. Make it a game. Set a timer. Limit the number of words. Fiction, non-fiction.
This week I saw a biography about Anne Rice, who writes about vampires. When she was little (like 6) she just wrote and wrote and wrote all the time. Her sister said she sent the writing to publishers and never had anything published but she never stopped writing and didn’t care that it wasn’t any good. Quantity over quality. Took her many years to get published.
