Letter writing is alive and well in my classroom. We wrote a letter to Queen Elizabeth, and we received a reply. Children were beyond thrilled. Everyone heard the sound of the letter opener tearing the envelope. Anticipation!
And there it was, a real letter from Buckingham Palace, thanking us for our letter. It was written by the Queen’s Lady-in-Waiting, which added another magical level to a very important letter.
The Queen wishes me to write and thank you for your letter.
Her Majesty was pleased to hear from you and, although unable to reply to you personally, The Queen was interested to see your questions.
I enclose a little information which I hope you will enjoy reading and I am to thank you, once again, for writing as you did.
The Queen was interested to see our questions. That is wonderful! Yes, they were important and curious questions from the children.
Language is the root of learning, and it comes alive with writing letters.
Jennie
A Teacher's Reflections 
Oh yes, you are so right! Let us rekindle the love for letter writing!
Absolutely, Peter. Well said.
How wonderful! I’m sure your students were thrilled and delighted to have a letter from The Queen. 🙂🇬🇧
Thanks, Tonya. It was very exciting. 🙂
This was almost like a Royal visitor. Your idea of writing to the Queen “worked!” I have always encouraged handwritten letters to solve problems, resolve differences and to demonstrate love, Jennie.
Congratulations to you and your Aqua Room children. 💞
Thank you, Robin. Letter writing, especially handwritten, does so many good things. It really did feel like we had a Royal visitor. The children felt the heavy paper and the raised emblem, too.
This was on my blog “to do” list for the new year, Jennie. I wrote two long letters already! My especially wonderful past 80 years old Aunt Amelia and Uncle Orrin, as well as an old friend. ❤❤❤
And they will love the letters. Such a good thing to do, Robin. ❤️
You are definitely right that language is the root of learning, Jennie. That is very evident here in South Africa were English is badly taught as second language and we have a huge illiteracy level. When we were kids we used to write to movie stars and they would send us signed photographs.
I remember doing that, too! Many elementary (primary) school teachers have children write a letter to the author of a book they just read. Isn’t that a great idea? I didn’t know that there was a huge illiteracy level in South Africa. So sad.
Unfortunately there is, Jennie, it is a huge problem as it makes people virtually unemployable.
Yes, it does, Robbie. I can’t shake this, much like the same thing in my home state of West Virginia. My giving goes to Read Aloud West Virginia, dedicated not to giving books, but to reading aloud and growing readers. Is there such an organization in South Africa? If so, I would like to know.
Hi Jennie, I am a member of my company’s Corporate Citizenship Team. We do collections for various schools and charities. One of the drives we do is a book collection of new and second hand books that go to various underprivileged schools. There is a support team which arranges sessions to read the books to the children. I, unfortunately, can’t participate in that as I am to busy during my work day. We also collect food and this year we are collecting stationary for the return to school for a rural nursery school that has nothing.
Wonderful!!!
How fun! Awesome to hear someone keeping the art of letter writing alive! 🙂
Thank you, Russell! 🙂
I just loved this!
Thanks, Ritu! 🙂
How wonderful for the children to receive a letter from the Queen. I loved their questions too. I have heard that all the letters to her office are answered, which is a nice touch. The children must have been over the moon.
It was wonderful, Darlene. I loved the question about bows on her shoes! From the mouths of babes. It’s so nice that her mail is answered. Best to you.
How lovely for your children, Jennie 🙂
Indeed it was, Sue!
🙂
Writing letters to well-known people is a good game. Choose a special occasion and write saying how wonderful a letter of support from x would be; it’s amazing how many replies you get. Or, there was a chap called Henry Root in the ’80s who published books of his, sometimes ridiculous, correspondence and, presumably, made a reasonable living from it. So far as the Queen is concerned, I do remember a couple of girls from school inviting her to their 18th birthday party and the very nice reply from a lady in waiting saying how sorry she was to be unable to come; we all thought it was hilarious. More seriously, so many people in the UK have no idea how to write letters – informal, or formal. What you are doing is excellent. And there’s another angle: what on earth will historians of the future do without the rich resource provided by letters and diaries, because people in the 21st century don’t write?
You are so right! People think an email or a text is just fine. I sometimes wonder how many people don’t even know what stationary is. By the way, the Queen’s is lovely, as you can imagine. For children, writing letters at a young age really plants the seed, especially when there is a reply. I love the story of Henry Root and the girls’ letter to the Queen. Many thanks!
Oh how wonderful, the children would have been over the moon! 🙂
They were! Thanks so much. 🙂
This is something they’ll never forget!!
I think you’re right, GP!
What a lovely and clever idea! Thanks for sharing. I am sure the children were thrilled.
Thank you, Sue!
Did she answer the questions?
No, she did not. The children were so excited that the unanswered questions didn’t bother them. She did send some wonderful information and pictures about how she spends her day, and about her swans. That was terrific!
I am still writing ‘real’ letters on a regular basis to the same three correspondents. We have been in touch by letter for more than 30 years now, and only ever email in emergencies. I guessed that Buckingham Palace would reply, and pleased that they did. It is a great learning experience for your children indeed.
Best wishes, Pete.
You were right, Pete. And it was a great learning experience. 30 years of letter writing to three people? Wonderful! Sounds like a book to me (hint). Best to you, Pete.
I have some letters from me, to another friend who died. I might eventually put them into a blog post. At the moment, it is still too upsetting, even after all this time.
https://beetleypete.wordpress.com/2015/05/24/letters-from-beyond/
Best wishes, Pete.
Thank you for sending me the link to your post. This is wonderful, yet I understand that your feelings are quite different and deeply grounded. One day you may be able to read the letters. You’ll know when. Letter writing is powerful. My best to you, Pete.
I just read that post I sent you a link to, and it made me cry. 😦
Oh my goodness. Tears can be good. Thank you for telling me, Pete.
Awesome! I love that you are teaching kids to use language for real purposes-to answer their very real questions. Who doesn’t want to know if the Queen loves fries? Thanks for sharing and your dedication to teaching children well.
Thank you so much, Tammy. I loved the bows on the shoes question, too. 🙂
Now I am imagining the Queen shaking a bottle of ketchup at a fancy dinner. But, what are fries without ketchup? I think it make her seem more approachable. I’m glad you encouraged the children to write and I’m very happy for them that they received a reply.
Like you, I thought the questions were so genuine and made the Queen quite ‘real’ in the eyes of children. Getting a reply was the icing on the cake. Thanks, Dan.
Love this, Jennie! Thank you for sharing.
You are welcome, Khaya. So glad you liked this!
What a special treat. I’ll bet some of their parents were impressed and disbelieving, as well: “The Queen of England sent us a letter.” “Really?!!” Long live letter writing!
Yes, indeed! It was marvelous. Long live letter writing!
Reblogged this on charles french words reading and writing and commented:
This is a wonderful blogpost about the importance of writing letters.
Thank you, Charles!
This is a wonderful post, and letter writing is such a lovely way to communicate!
what nice thing!A beautiful memory made!
Thank you, Michele!
What a thrill for your class!
It was, Anneli. Thank you!
Lovely post, my son has not long finished high school and letter writing was not covered much, email were, sign of the time I think.
A friends young daughter writes to the Queen weekly and tells her about her horses and show jumping, she is over the moon when she gets a reply
Thank you for your story. I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
Thank you!
You’re very welcome
I love letter writing! My kids have a couple pen pals and they also wrote to their grandmother fairly often. It’s a good skill. How cool to get a letter from the Queen, though. Wow!
Thank you so much!
I used to write letters…Long, rambling letters. Then my audience stopped writing back claiming they only did email. Then I got email. And still they did not respond. Hence, I write blog posts, not letters, and NOT EMAILS…
Good for you, KC! Sounds like it might have been the audience and not the letters? Keep writing, as many of us are readers. 🙂
Writing letters was and still is a real art in itself. I used to have a few pen pals when I was a kid and loved writing letters. Nowadays it’s mostly emails but I make a point to still write real cards foe special events like birthdays etc. It’s so wonderful that you keep this art alive by teaching your children to write a letter and I’m so glad the Buckingham Palace replied – I can imagine the excitement when the kids read the letter! 😊
Thank you, Sarah! I am just like you when it comes to writing letters. It was a great experience for the children, especially getting a reply from Buckingham Palace.
What a wonderful thing to do for your kids and how exciting. You are Amazing Jennie! 🙂
Reblogged this on Die Erste Eslarner Zeitung – Aus und über Eslarn, sowie die bayerisch-tschechische Region!.
Thank you so much for reblogging. Always an honor!
Thank you very much for posting. Its an honor too. Michael 😉
My pleasure. 🙂
What a thrill, Jennie! How did you manage to keep the children in their seats? Or maybe you didn’t? I’m sure this was a defining moment for some of them. One thing is certain… they will never forget the teacher whose creativity spawned this significant event ❤
Thanks so much, Tina. You could have heard a pin drop as I opened and read the letter. I think they will remember! ❤️
Jennie, this post is such a delight! So joyful. Your descriptions were marvelous (the sound of the letter being opened), and I love seeing the pictures — particularly of the children’s letter. Have a satisfying Saturday! Hugs.
Many thanks, Teagan! 😊
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Oh, how wonderful! I bet receiving a letter from the Queen is something the kids never will forget…
Thank you so much!
I’m totally with you on letter writing. I actually prefer that to email writing. For this, I wrote a letter for my 1 year old every month to let her know how much she is loved.
That is so wonderful! I’m glad you enjoyed the post, Kally.
Wonderful to receive such a warm reply. And …. Wonderful of you as a teacher to have made it possible. in the first place. Congratulations.
Thank you so much, Chris!
It is true, children are like sponges, and kudos to you for providing the “water”.
Thank you!
It’s so wonderful you started your kids writing letters so early. So many young adults don’t seem to understand the concept today. Getting a letter in the mail is so exciting today especially from the Queen.
Thank you, Dayne. You’re right that letter writing is exciting and important. It also helps children learn how to read. And, getting a letter from the Queen is the icing on the cake.
Oh so cute and precious
Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!
Oh my God Jennie this is amazing! How adorable that your kids wrote the queen, and gorgeous that she responded. What a way to learn writing. Thank you for your caring with these children. So inspiring! Blessings, Debbie
Thanks so much, Debbie. It was the best. Much appreciated! Blessings to you.
This is wonderful, the children must feel very excited and important, its a lovely experience for them .
Thank you! It was certainly wonderful for the children. 🙂
Jennie, I believe that you and your children could write a letter to the Petrified Forrest and get a written response on a piece of petrified paper. 😀 Thank you for giving children such fantastic memories and growing blocks.
You might be right, Ren. Ha! Thanks for your kind words.
Amazing! I’m currently hoping to get a reply to a letter I have sent to Noel Gallagher but not sure if he will get it because just put Noel Gallagher, London on envelope.
Thank you! And I do hope you get a reply.
I missed so many posts this year but caught this one. How fun to get a letter back from far away and royalty to boot. Learning about reading and letter writing can change the world. I can just imagine your group of children feeling the paper and the raised emblems. I could feel their excitement in your writing. Who will the next group write a letter to?
It was really fun, Marlene. Letter writing is important, and getting a reply from the Queen was huge. Yes, the raised emblem was the crowning glory (pun intended). I won’t know who we will write to next. It will most likely be the trumpet player who will visit, or an Army Sergeant who will talk with children on Memorial Day. Best to you, Marlene.
Reblogged this on Notes from An Alien and commented:
Delightful re-blog today 🙂
Thank you, Alexander!