Thursday, September 27, 2012

How does writing emerge in young children?

Writing emerges in young children in predictable stages.  During the initial scribbling stage, children make global approximations of writing.  Next, in the linear/repetitive drawing stage, they refine their scribbles to appear more cursive.  Writing at this level often looks like scallops or waves.  This stage is followed by closer approximations of letters in the letterlike forms stage.  Next, during the stage of letters and early word-symbol relationships, children actually print letters but may use a single letter to represent an entire word.  Phonetic awareness becomes apparent in the following stage,  inventive spelling,  as children begin to write the sounds they hear.  Finally, children progress to the stage of standard spelling.

Children are excited about writing, especially when it serves a purpose, such as advancing their play or preserving important information.  Parents and teachers can capitalize on this natural interest in writing by designing specific materials to incorporate into play activities or planning to highlight the writing process.

During peace-out time in Lunch Bunch we provide journals for each child.   Most children seem to like the idea of having their own journal and it is another way to cultivate an enjoyment of writing.

Today Micah Rosin was so excited to write letters in his journal.  Micah shouted out, "Lauri, I can't wait to tell my Mom that I made lots of  "M's" in my Journal!"   He went on to say with volume," I can make an "E" ...do you want to see?"  " I can make all the letters in my brother's name!"   Micah's excitement about writing was just wonderful to behold!  

We will continue to provide Micah and his all his classmates with materials for explorations in writing!

2 comments:

  1. Awesome! Micah proudly showed me all the letters he wrote down in his journal this afternoon! He couldn't have been more thrilled :)

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  2. Very interesting! Thank you for explaining this process in general and how it is happening in your students specifically!

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