I wanted to continue with some more strategies for enjoying the writing process. Many parents are tempted to just buy workbooks and have children work endlessly on the technical skills until they master them, but children can write stories before they can write at all, just through illustration. You can add to that by building in words in small amounts, as children get more and more comfortable with the letter sounds and letter formation. Children…

At first, working with your child on writing seems like it should mainly be about letters: letter sounds, letter formation, etc., but you don’t want to only focus on the technical writing skills. From the beginning, writing should be a fun and expressive activity, and the technical skills will develop alongside the more enjoyable elements of writing. I had spoken previously about developing stories and adding additional details, and the following activities are a great…

As I mentioned previously, it’s important for your child to understand that writing has a purpose, so I wanted to list some activities you can do at home that demonstrate the purposeful nature of writing. One thing your child has probably seen you do is write lists: shopping lists, to-do lists, etc. The next time you are writing a list, have your child watch you, and sound out the words as you write them, stretching…

As I mentioned briefly in chapter one, it’s important for your child to feel comfortable with the writing tools that they are using. Fine motor skills can take a while to develop, so you don’t want to rush your child into using a pencil if a chubby crayon is still more comfortable. Once your child starts attending kindergarten, they will be expected to be able to use a pencil, so a good way to transition…

As we discussed previously, we want to emphasize that writing can be a way to express oneself and tell stories. Getting children to be able to expand on their ideas and develop them more fully over time is the main goal. Let’s go back to the previous exercise of having your child come up with a topic, draw a picture, and then label it. Now have your child add to that drawing, and then try to write…

It’s very important for you to understand the stages of early writing skills. You want to know what you should expect of your child and how their skills should develop. First, your child will be able to hear, and subsequently write, initial letter sounds. This is the first letter in the word. Your child will start off by writing usually just the first letter in the word. Next, your child will start to hear medial…

In starting to support your child’s writing skills, it is important to engage your child in the purposeful nature of writing. Writing exists to express ourselves, to share stories, to let others in on our inner world. We want children to understand that, just as the books they read contain stories, they are able to express themselves through stories as well. In the early stages of writing, we allow children to express themselves through both…

In the following series of blog posts, I will demonstrate a series of activities to get your child started on the writing process. The following curriculum is adapted from Lucy Calkins’ Units of Study for Primary Writing: A Yearlong Curriculum. In teaching a class of kindergartners, half of whom had special needs in some capacity, I adapted the curriculum to meet each student’s individual needs. If you’re working with your child on beginning writing strategies,…