Writing

 

Phoebe is asleep upstairs. She is five years and one month old. All Sheffield schools are currently on their half term holidays.

Late this afternoon, she showed keen interest in what Grandma was doing on her laptop. In her capacity as secretary of the local Women's Institute, Grandma was writing up some minutes. Phoebe began to help and under close supervision did a line or two of typing.

I invited her into the study to practise her growing writing skills on my desktop computer. I brought up a fresh "Word" page and we agreed that she would make a short Christmas wishlist.

Though I guided her closely, I did not actually touch the keyboard. It was all her own work. This was the very first piece of writing that she has ever done with the aid of a computer keyboard.

When it was done, I turned our printer on and explained to her what she needed to do to create a print off of her work.

Very soon the page was churned out and I showed it to her. With wide eyes, she asked, "How did it do that?" It was a moment of revelation.

As writers, we all have to start somewhere and it seemed to me that those few lines will be the first of thousands to come during the course of her life. It's a significant step forward from slowly writing her own name with a pencil.

The other day I was quite surprised when she used the words "camouflage" and "nocturnal" perfectly correctly. Again her little face lit up when I praised her about this.

An hour ago, I read her a bedtime story as she settled down for the night. It was, "There's No Such Thing As Monsters" by Steve Smallman and Caroline Pedler. I don't know about you but I am not totally sure about the premise of that story. However, at five years and one month old you don't need to learn about the real monsters of present times and history. Not yet anyway. That can wait.