Creativity in Full Bloom at Prairie Rose School

I had so much fun visiting Prairie Rose School on Wednesday, February 16! (Did you know that this school was built on the site of what was once Prairie Rose Dairy Farm? How cool is that – and the perfect backdrop for a discussion about “Lights! Curtains! Cows!” 🙂 )

First of all, I would like to thank the teachers and librarians who organized the visit, the two students who showed me around the school and made sure that I got to the appropriate classrooms, and of course all the amazing students and teachers who invited me to read and chat with them! The school even presented me with a lovely  thank you gift full of tasty treats – well, THANK YOU!

What can I say about the impressive students at Prairie Rose? First of all, they had GREAT ideas! In each class, before reading Chapter One of “No TV? No Fair!”, I asked them what they thought the book was about and what might happen in it. I heard so many different and creative ideas, I thought “wow – they could all write their own books, and they would be fantastic!”. I was thrilled to hear that many of the students actually do have an interest in creative writing, and maybe even being published. We talked a lot about how important it is to edit, edit, edit and make sure that our writing is the best it can be – students had great ideas about how to do this, and I was happy to share some of my tips, too. To all you budding writers, I say: Follow your dreams, work hard, be patient, and always remember to write for the love of telling a great story!

Speaking of great stories, when I asked students what they liked to do instead of watching TV and playing on the computer, students couldn’t wait to share all of their hobbies and pastimes – reading, basketball, snow angels, snow forts, playing with brothers and sisters, drawing, music – the list goes on and on. This is obviously a very talented bunch with a lot of energy…way to go!

In each class, we shared many laughs as we read “No TV? No Fair!” and imagined what Chloe would do without her TV and computer for a whole month (yikes!). In one class, we also talked about how there is also a serious side to consider whenever we’re using the computer. Being safe is “key”, of course . Also, we talked about how being kind and thoughtful to others is just as important online as it is offline. Excellent points – thanks for a great discussion!

Thanks again for a super visit. It’s always inspiring to meet young readers, and makes my job of writing books even more fun. I hope we meet again soon…enjoy the rest of I Love To Read week, Prairie Rose –  and have a good year!

Karin 🙂