In order to get the most out of Private Journal, try some of the ideas below, or submit your own in the comment box at the bottom of the page.

Self-Awareness Activity

After a week of daily journal entries, encourage your child to read over what he has written. If he allows you to read with him, commend his creativity and expression. Positive reinforcement helps to make your child more comfortable with this type of expression. However, more often than not, your child may withhold his writing. If this is the case, ask him to reflect on the spirit and disposition of each entry. Your child will be able to engage with his thinking process, and hopefully, understand the reasons for feeling happy, sad, angry, or confused.

Organization Activity

When a journal entry becomes lengthy, discuss with your child the importance of the "add new page" function. Adding a new page withing an entry will induce a cleaner aesthetic, resulting in a more organized appearance. Inserting images into Private Journal, can also help your child organize this thoughts, using the pictures to separate different ideas - or introduce a new topic.

Writing Activity

With your child set aside time each day for journal writing. The writing usually will not take more than 15 minutes, so Private Journal will hardly burden your child, or interfere with outside commitments and assignments. Many people find that right before bed is a time of heightened creativity. Before bed each night, your child can reflect on the day's many activities, writing down highlights and memorable experiences. If your child has a difficult time getting started, prompt him by asking his "the high-point and low-point of the day." Not every entry will be a revelation, but a close analysis of a week of entries, will force your child to see patterns in his behavior and feelings.

Private Journal & ADHD

Difficulties with writing sometimes accompany children with ADHD. Children who persistence and lack attention to detail often struggle with coherence, spelling, or punctuation. Private Journal can serve as a good tool for practicing and honing these skills. Children who have been unsuccessful in English class tend to shy away from writing, but with positive reinforcement through a commitment to keeping a journal, Private Journal can go a long way to help children with ADHD enjoy the process of becoming a more efficient and confident writer.

How to Use Private Journal for Kids with ADHD:

• Encourage your child to use Private Journal everyday to become more in tune with his feelings. The app has more to offer than plain text, as Private Journal includes an emoji function, a way to insert images into the prose, as well as a music icon, where users can change songs within the app. The app provides enough stimuli to keep your child motivated to continue writing.

• Before your child sits down to compose an entry, stress the importance of organization and proofreading. Although journal entries are a bit more free-form than an essay, talk to your child about practicing good organizational writing strategies. Accompany certain journal entries with a brainstorm session, marking events and ideas worth mentioning. Your child can even write two entries in one day that function like a first draft/final copy. Upon completing an entry, your child should check for spelling and punctuation, so he can fondly remember the day's events, and not be embarrassed by errors in syntax and diction. A combination of pre-writing and post-writing activities will make for a quality journal entry.

• After a week of journal entries, discuss with your child the importance of self-analysis. Self-analysis is a way for your child to practice metacognition, while he reads through his journal entries. Entries should not be discarded or forgotten once completed; rather, they can prove to be very helpful for your child to learn about, and judge his behavior.

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