In the first semester of first grade, Korean schools are asked to go easy on writing. A national Hangul policy asks them to avoid heavy notice-book writing and diary writing in that first semester. After that, both become part of school life.
I am a Korean mother of two sons in elementary school. This guide explains the notice book (알림장) and the picture diary (그림일기), what the national curriculum says about them, and how I help with both at home.
When writing homework starts
Checked October 2026 · Ministry of Education Hangul policy · National Education Commission Notice No. 2024-3
The first-semester rule comes from the Ministry of Education’s 2019 Hangul policy. It asks schools to avoid heavy dictation, notice-book writing and diary writing in the first semester of first grade.
The national curriculum for grades 1 and 2 then asks children to write about their own lives. One standard says children write freely about things that happened to them, then read their writing together and share their thoughts ([2국03-04]). Another says children show everyday experiences and thoughts in words and pictures ([2국06-02]). Its explanation names one activity directly: writing a picture diary.
The curriculum is gentle about length. It tells teachers to let children write one or two sentences freely, and to focus on enjoying writing rather than on spelling and spacing. It also says children who are new to written Korean can show an experience in words and pictures together. That is what a picture diary page is for.
The notice book (알림장)
An allimjang (알림장) is a small notebook for the teacher’s notes about the next day: homework, things to bring, and messages for parents. Children write it at school and bring it home.
In both my sons’ classes, the teacher also posts the same notes on a class app. So why write them by hand? In my experience, writing the notes down is what helps children remember what they need.
My children pack their own school bags from the notice book. My older son started doing this in third grade, and my younger son in first grade.
My older son started late because he was my first child, and I did not know better. Once both boys were in school, packing two bags for them became hard work, so I asked them to try it themselves. Looking back, first grade is the right time to start, a little at a time. I was a first-time mom, too.
Even so, I always check. Packing is a chore, so children sometimes say they did it when they did not. Mine have been caught doing this more than once. Sunday evening is the one time I never skip a bag check.
If your child’s class uses an app, a translation app can help you read the notes yourself and check the bag against them. Still, let your child write the notice book and pack the bag first. The writing is what builds the habit.
What a Korean picture diary looks like
A picture diary (그림일기, geurimilgi) page has a box for a drawing at the top and a writing grid below it, with one Korean syllable in each square. Most pages also have a line for the date and the weather.
My younger son had diary homework twice a week over the winter break of first grade. No teacher could check it. Right after the break, he moved up to a new second-grade class.
So I checked it myself. I asked for at least five lines and fixed his spelling. He could read almost all Hangul by then, so this was not hard for him. If he wrote a word the way it sounds, I simply corrected it.
Five lines was my rule, not the school’s. In my experience, teachers did not seem to mind how many lines children wrote, and the curriculum asks for only one or two sentences in class. If your child is just starting, two short sentences and a drawing make a normal first diary.
Helping your child find something to write
The hard part is not spelling. Children’s days look the same to them. They remember chatting and joking with friends, but not much about what they did themselves. Ask them to write a diary, and you get this: 나는 학교에 갔다. 친구들이랑 재미있게 놀았다. (I went to school. I had fun with my friends.) The next day says the same thing.
So I wait for a day that stands out. Say my child runs a race in PE, a classmate comes first, and he comes a close second. If he comes home and tells me all about it, that is what I tell him to write. Days like that do not come every day, and that is how children learn what belongs in a diary.
When a diary still comes out too short, I ask questions, one at a time, and each answer becomes a sentence.
Here is how it goes after a family dinner. What was the best part? “The meat.” Who cooked it? “Dad grilled it.” How much did you eat? “Two bowls of rice.” Put together, a one-word diary becomes three sentences: 저녁에 고기를 먹었다. 아빠가 구워 주셨다. 밥을 두 그릇이나 먹었다.
This works even if your Korean is limited. You can ask the questions in any language. Your child writes the answers in Korean, and you check that each answer became its own sentence.
This matches the curriculum’s own advice: help children write about a memorable experience as if they were telling it to a friend.
Choosing diary pages by grade
There is no fixed page for each grade. Most first and second graders start with a one-page picture diary. Once your child can read and write almost all Hangul, change the page little by little. Watch your child write, and decide from that.
In first and second grade, children can write only a few words, so I have them focus on the drawing and keep the writing short. From third grade, children can write real sentences, so a two-page diary with a drawing and more writing works well. A child who does not need squares can use lined pages, and a child who loves drawing can pair a drawing page with lined pages. Let your child’s personality decide.
I made my diary pages in the layouts my children use at school, as printable files rather than a bound book. Like a dictation notebook, a bought diary is rarely used to the last page. Printing one page at a time lets your child change layouts as they grow.
Frequently asked questions
Official sources
The Hangul policy and the curriculum standards come from the official pages below.