Children learn to write with real life opportunities that mean something to them.  In our classrooms there is paper and pencils in every center, that way the child can decide to make a note or drawing at any time, when they think of it, meaning it is more meaning and relevant.

Because their fine motor skills are still developing, we offer large pieces of paper and different sized and thickness of writing materials. Provide markers, pencils, crayons, chalk, as many choices as you can.

Learning to write involves so many skills and is so important to school success.  There are some things you can do now to help your child want to learn their letters and then to write them.

Children are more likely to want to write if they see adults model that behavior in their lives.  Seeing mom make a grocery list is so powerful – more powerful than we realize.  Children need to know that writing and (later) reading are important, what better way to do that than to see you do it.

Share your writing tasks with your child, ask them for ideas when making a grocery list, or when making a “note to self.”

Six stages of writing:

1. Drawing – the drawings are a form of communication. Ask your child to tell you about their drawing (don’t ask them what it is, instead ask them to tell you about it). If they relay the meaning that is more open ended, so open ended that the meaning they tell you can change from one telling to another 😊.
2. Scribbling – children believe they are writing and can often read back what they wrote. This is an important step since it shows that the child understands a basic necessary premise, that words have meaning.
3. Invented letters – next step, they believe they are writing when using this type of letters.
4. Random letters- usually writing random letters they remember.
5. Invented spelling – this is related to the sounds of the letters that your child hears in each word.
6. Common spelling – words that you will recognize.

Just as learning to speak happens in small milestones and accomplishments, so too does learning to write, each phase is movement toward the end goal.