Learning to Write

Learning to Write sections include: (click to view the section)

Parents as Writers

Parents and Children Writing Together

The Reading-Writing Connection

Handwriting and Spelling

Parents as Writers

Why is it important for my child to write ? Isn't reading what is most important ?

Just as children begin to learn to read at home by doing "pretend reading", they also begin to learn to write by doing "pretend writing" which generally appears as scribbling. Both reading and writing are equally important and both can develop at the same time. What this means to us as parents is that we need to spend equal time focusing on the skills that build this development.

How do I encourage my child to want to write?

Just as we provide many good models of reading for our children, we should also provide models for writing. At home, children should see us with pens, pencils or even computers doing things such as :

• Writing letters
• Writing thank you notes
• Writing checks
• Filling out forms
• Taking phone messages
• Journaling
• Scrapbooking
• Addressing envelopes
• Writing greeting cards
• Writing lists for shopping and "things to do" and of course "honey-do" lists

Having children see us doing these kinds of things on a daily basis and involving them in doing these things with us really sets the stage for them being interested in learning to write. It also sends a message to our children that writing is an important part of our lives.

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Parents and Children Writing Together

What can I do at home that is fun for my child without making him/her feel like learning to write is work?

Provide a bucket, a special drawer or shelf or even a small desk/table with their own writing supplies:

• A variety of papers - lined, unlined, colored, white, all sizes
• A variety of pens, pencils, crayons, markers
• "Stamps" from advertisements such as Publisher's Clearing House
• Envelopes
• Glue or glue sticks
• Stapler
• Scotch tape
• Picture dictionary
• Alphabet with both pictures of initial sounds and upper/lowercase letters

I'm not a teacher. How do I get started in helping my child learn to write?

• Encourage your child to begin by writing his own name and names of family members
• Encourage your child to draw and tell stories around his drawings - ideally these should be "real" stories from his own life
• Begin to label the pictures with the name of things in them (initially this might be just the initial letter/sound - a cat might have a C next to it)
• Then begin to write a sentence, he has told you from his story showing him how writing "works"
• Let your child see writing for different purposes - describe something that happened, a thank you note, lists - grocery, to-do, wish list J
• Ask your child to say words slowly, out-loud as he writes, listening for the sounds in the words
• Respond to the ideas your child is writing or telling you - laugh, smile, ask questions, connect to something in your own experience
• Encourage your child to write so that it sounds like he is talking
• Ask your child to read his writing aloud
• Plan a time and place for you and your child to read and write every day
• READ READ READ to your child - tell stories - help him realize that what the authors of his favorite books do, he can do also!

What kinds of things should we write?

Draw pictures from favorite stories and label what is in the pictures. Write a sentence or two telling about the picture.

Write notes to friends and relatives.

Create shopping lists together.

Write instructions on everyday objects - i. e. for the stove, it may be hot, be careful.

Make small books by stapling pages of paper together. Encourage him to draw and write his stories.

As your child shares a story with you, you write it for him. Read it to him and let him draw the pictures to go with it.

Write the story together that matches a wordless book.

Put the photographs from a special event such as a birthday party, sports event, new baby, or trip to the park together in a scrapbook. Work with your child to label and write sentences under the photos to tell the story of the event.

For an older child, use similar activities as above, but help her to think more about the description of the events and people in her stories and the words she is using. For example, if she wrote "Grandma loves me", ask "How do you know ?" and include those details in the story.

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The Reading-Writing Connection

Why is writing important to reading and reading important to writing?

Just as children pretend to read when they are first learning, they also pretend to write. Writing and reading are connected processes. That is, one informs the other. Just as with beginning reading, allow children to experiment in writing. Accurate writing/spelling/ letter formation is not the initial goal. The first goal is developing an understanding of WHY we write - what purpose writing serves in our world. As you read with and to your children, point out that an author wrote the story. Bring attention to the kinds of writing you do all day, every day. (see list above) Writing is something they can do too! We want them to begin to understand what writing is for, why people do it and all the reasons that we write.

Write stories for them to read. Let them watch you as you write so they see how the words form on the page. Stories starring your child, things he has done, places he has gone, family events, things you've done together are always wonderful topics to write about and will hold his interest. Captions for pictures that you or your child draw or for photographs are also valuable models.

At first, children will "pretend write" and there will be lots of scribbling. It may even be pictures that he is referring to as writing as it takes awhile to understand the difference in the terms writing and drawing . Ask the child to tell you what his story is or what he has written. Write it down below the picture or scribbling exactly like he says it. Read what the writing says back to him or let him try to read it, even if he is just making up the story. Point to each word as you read. Writing down what she says as she watches shows her how her words look on the page. Children know that grown ups make these "squiggles" and it says something - we want children to feel that their "squiggles" say something also.

How will reading aloud help my child in writing?

• Hear "book language" that is different from his/her way of talking.
• Learn how stories work (beginning, middle, and end)
• Hear the way "real" authors use language
• Learn about different types of text (fiction, non-fiction, how-to, reporting, poetry
• Increase vocabulary

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Handwriting and Spelling

My child holds the pencil in an odd way? Should I correct him/her?

Be aware of how he is holding a pencil and teach him the correct way, always keeping the wrist below the writing and the page of paper slightly slanted. Work with his teacher to reinforce this at school. A pencil grip may be helpful until the correct position is well established.

My child is left handed. Is that a problem?

If your child is left-handed, DO NOT try to alter this. It really doesn't matter and this kind of forced change can result in all kinds of other problems. Be sure that he holds his pencil or pen correctly.

Is letter formation important?

Gradually introduce your child to letter formations using both capitals and lower case letters. Do not have him sit and practice making individual letters over and over. That does not create excitement about wanting to learn to write. Just allow her many opportunities to write !

As she begins making letter formations point out what she knows. Make connections with other things she knows.

When letter formations are first introduced, use a clear manuscript style. Tell her the names of the letters. If necessary, purchase a child's handwriting workbook from the grocery store. This would NOT be for your child but for you to remember those long ago lessons of correct formation. Teaching a child to write his first name might be the first writing he learns. This should be done correctly in both upper and lower case letters. Do not force any of this or children will become resistant to wanting to write. When a child shows he is interested, choose a letter to show how it is written.

You could say, "I always do it like this. Begin at the top and go this way. Now you try it."

It is more important initially that children want to write and start believing they have something to say than that letters are correctly formed. Having something to say is the hardest part of writing. Correct letter formations will come with good models and lots of opportunities to write. Writing is not copying !

What about correct spelling?

It takes many years to be able to know how to write what you want to say and how to spell. This is a developmental process. Children will initially draw, scribble, and start to make letter-like formations. They will then write strings of letters and use them to tell you an entire story. Eventually those strings of letters will match up to their stories as the initial sounds in the words and then the initial and ending sounds. For example, you may see something like IWTABDP on your child's paper and the child will read it to you as "I went to a birthday party."

This is moving gradually toward correct spelling. Give children all the help and encouragement you can. Enjoy their attempts and give them feedback - focus on what they can do and answer their questions. Provide correct models for spelling. But forcing a child to correct all of his spelling in early years will discourage him from writing and his wonderful stories will be lost. In first grade, begin suggesting he find a couple of words that he is able to recognize as incorrect and can spell correctly.

One question you will get often is, "How do you spell __________?" The response is to ask a child to say the word slowly. Show him how to listen for the sounds in the word. Initially all he may hear is the beginning sound and that is all he will write. Praise the attempt !

AND....

Always show interest in his "writing", asking him to tell you about his story or read the story to you. Show a child both in reading and writing, how the print is written and read from left to right.

Set up a writing folder for your child and save his "work". You may want to date the pieces as you will enjoy looking back at them as he grows. It is great fun to watch the progress he will make.

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