10 Positive Effects of Journaling on Your Child's Self-Esteem

I received an email from my good friend, Jill Schoenberg.

Here is what Jill had to say:


Be sure to claim your complimentary journaling gifts, if you haven't done so already.
Gain instant access to some great journaling surprises, including the fabulous special report 10 Positive Effects of Journal Writing on Your Child’s Self-Esteem and Confidenceright now.
You’ll be glad you did!

Go here: http://journalbuddies.com/thank-you/


Oh, and if you haven't done so already, please join Jill on Facebook.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Journal-Buddies/174003993954

Writing could improve reading skills

Believe reading is the key to succeeding. That was the full concept of my book, “Discover Hidden Secret Wisdom.” It was a self-improvement book with the subtitle, “A Recreational Therapist’s System on How You Can Become Great at Anything.” Believe the wisdom of the world is hidden in books. You must be an avid reader to discover these secrets.

Turns out that writing can also improve your ability to read.

You can download the electronic copy of the report called:

Writing to Read: Evidence for How Writing Can Improve Reading

This report was commissioned by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and published by the Alliance for Excellent Education.

Here is the link:
http://www.all4ed.org/files/WritingToRead.pdf
Realized that former West Virginia Governor Bob Wise is the president of the Alliance. Glad to see him promoting reading and writing.


Here is a link for the Carnegie Corporation on literacy:

www.carnegie.org/literacy

Want to discover more wisdom on the importance of reading? If so, check out "Discover Hidden Secret Wisdom." Go to this link for more info.

http://astore.amazon.com/hiddensecretwisdom-20/detail/1442105739

Jaycee Dugard kept a journal. Was it therapeutic?

Jaycee Dugard had been kidnapped and sexually abused for years. She is a person who I care about. Hope she has a better life.

Have provided recreational therapy services for children ages 7 to 12 who’ve been abused for the last 7.5 years. Feel passionate about this type of work. Interested in Jaycee’s story and how she has survived.

CNN reported that Jaycee had kept a journal during this time. Believe that her journal may have been a therapeutic tool to help her survive during this time.

James Pennebaker has an interesting book called, “Opening Up,” which discusses the healing benefits for keeping a journal about thoughts and feelings.

Some of her journal comments were posted on CNN. Jaycee had written about thoughts and feelings as evidenced by statements like, “I feel like I am sinking.”

It still angers me a lot that the abusers had done this to her. Hope she gets the treatment and services she needs to help her heal.

Source:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/02/11/jaycee.dugard.journal/index.html?hpt=C2

Story Hatchery Review

Who Else Wants To Write Amazing Stories?

Melissa Bickey White (formerly of West Virginia) has opened The Story Hatchery in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

This program sounds so awesome!

Melissa is a very talented young woman and her Story Hatchery program was designed to help children and young adults to improve their story-telling and writing skills.

Melissa says on her web-site, “Children and young adults are bombarded with entertainment options that can often overshadow writing and reading.” Many times throughout my recent self-improvement book, I argue that a person needs to turn off the television and pick up a good book in order to become self-fulfilled.

Melissa also says at her site, “we learn through play, discussion, the arts, games, exercises, and various projects that engage young minds, so students develop a close, harmonious relationship with the written word.”

Her comment reminds me of Recreational Therapy. We, recreational therapists use "play, discussion, expressive arts, games, exercises, and various projects that engage minds" and to bring about therapeutic and healing outcomes for the individual.

I’d argue that there are definitely “healing” and “therapeutic” benefits for the child or young adult who takes one of Melissa’s amazing courses.

Of course, you may read that and think, “But, I don’t need therapy.”

You may not.

I’m certaint that you want to be your best. A course like this could help a person to express themselves, become more self-aware, and learn how to use their leisure time more productively. It could allow for a person to explore her (or his) interests and help them in their path towards self-development and personal growth.

On the spectrum of complete illness to optimal health, courses like this could help a person move to having better well-being.

Please check out The Story Hatchery today at this link:

http://www.thestoryhatchery.com/

Enjoy.

Your friend,

Danny
Recreational Therapist and Humanitarian

P.S. You may want to read a recent blog entry on therapeutic benefits of stories that I had written a short while ago. If so, go here:

http://hiddensecretwisdom.blogspot.com/2009/11/therapeutic-benefits-of-stories-for.html

Nov. is national novel writing month.

November is “National Novel Writing Month” according to CreateSpace.Com.

I heard that a person is more likely to achieve her (or his) goals if a person writes them down and if they’re shared with others. I read a study once on graduate students at a leading college (maybe Harvard). They asked who had personal goals written and currently on them. A very small percentage of the graduate students had goals written on them. Some of them had them in their wallet or purse. One even had her limited on a card. They checked back on these graduate students ten years later. Each one with written goals were a lot more successful and had achieved a lot more compared to their peers from school who didn’t have written goals.

I love books, reading, and writing. So, here is my leisure goal:

I’m going to write a novel. Not this month, however. It is my long-term goal.

First, I must complete writing the complimentary journal for Discover Hidden Secret Wisdom, which is already late. I’m going to have it out in a week or two.

By the end of 2009, I’ll have an outline for my novel and character sketches written.

I plan to have my book written before March 2009.

I plan to have it edit by April or May 2009.

I'll need to get my market team ready for a big release in Sept. 2009!

I'll need to hire someone to do a graphic for the front cover.

I already have an idea for my story. It is top secret for now.

I’m so excited to write my first novel. This is going to be super fun.