It’s no secret that having a pen pal can be exciting for kids. There is a lot to look forward to when it comes to getting something in the mail and hearing from someone they don’t get to see or hear from on a daily basis. The advantages of your homeschooler having a pen pal are plenty.
Skills Your Child Can Learn by Having a Pen Pal
Having a pen pal can help your child learn social skills, grammar, learn about different cultures and many other skills. These are all important skills that your child will carry with them through the rest of their lives.
Helps Develop Social Skills and Making New Friends
Developing good social skills is extremely important for children whether they are homeschooled or not. As children write back and forth to their pen pals, they will be able to connect to another child as they share their lives and build healthy friendships.
Kids will naturally be curious and ask questions to their pen pal, so they get to know their new friend. This will help them learn about sharing and communicating properly to others as they ask questions and wait for their pen pal to respond back with their answers.
Through the letters they can share good news, bad news or talk about their feelings on a subject, or what is going on in the world. Many times, even though pen pals may start out as strangers, as they communicate back and forth for a period of time, it can turn into a lifelong friendship that will become extremely valuable as they get older.
Aids in Teaching Reading, Writing, and Grammar
With the technology we have today, handwriting a letter has almost become a lost art. When children are writing letters to their new pen pal, they will be able to practice and improve their reading, writing, and grammar skills the old-fashioned way. As they are writing their letters, kids will be learning how to use their words to describe things instead of just using emojis and smiley faces.
Without even knowing it, they will be learning how to form sentences correctly, be introduced to new words, learn how to spell, and even the proper way to write a letter. As they are reading the letters they receive, they will also be working on their reading comprehension skills.
Pen Pals Help Children Learn About New Cultures
Whether their pen pal is in the same country, or abroad, children will be able to learn about the different cultures and experiences in other areas of the world.
For instance, traditional foods that your child is used to eating, may be something their pen pal has never heard of or vice versa. This can bring up their curiosity to try new foods or even peak an interest in cooking.
Another example would be if their pen pal was in a different country. Together, both children can share their different experiences and learn about their different everyday lives and routines. Kids may also realize how fortunate they are as they learn that some may not have it as good as they do.
Getting to know other cultures can lead to them wanting to travel more, learn new languages, or even learn about other cultures they have never heard of before. This could have a large impact on what they want to do with their life as they get older.
Having a Pen Pal Can Help Teach a Foreign Language
Communizing with a pen pal is a great way to learn a foreign language while having fun. Children probably won’t even realize they are “learning” a skill because they will be too busy trying to find the words to write back to their new friend.
Using a program like Duolingo is a great free option. I’ve used this before in my homeschool class and plan on doing so again this upcoming school year. This is a great time filler for early finishers. The language choices are plenty.
How to Find a Pen Pal for Your Child
If you are wondering where to start when it comes to finding a pen pal, there are a few easy ways you can do so.
- You can join online homeschooling groups on Facebook or other communities to see if any other families would be interested in participating in a pen pal friendship.
- Churches can sometimes help with connecting you to missionaries, church groups, or other programs to help find your child a pen pal.
- If your child attends any kind of camp throughout the year, they can exchange addresses with others to stay in touch after camp is over. These will be other children they already have something in common with so it will be easy for them to get to know more about the friend they made at camp.
- You can do a simple online search or check your phone for apps that may help you find a pen pal for your child. I just did a quick search and the top two that popped up are InterPals and Conversation Exchange. One thing you will always want to do is to research the apps or websites you find so that you know it is a safe source.
Letting your child have a pen pal can be an exciting thing for kids. I personally know of the excitement of having a pen pal. When I was in the fifth grade, we were assigned pen pals from France. Living in Louisiana, with predominantly French culture, we studied the French language in school. To this day, I still communicate with my pen pal, only now we email and use social media instead of snail mail. I was even blessed with the opportunity to visit her in France for my fortieth birthday. Pen pals can be so much fun and life long!
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