Writing in Early Years
Children learn best through playing, exploring and discovering real life experiences.
✏️There are many different skills, pieces of knowledge and a cognitive understanding that comes with the skill of writing.
✏️ Before a child is ready to write, we have to support and build the foundations of this skill in a variety of ways:
- Physically – strengthen the muscles in the hands. In Early Years we refer to this as “fine motor skills”.
- Cognitively – understanding, exploring, feeling, experimenting with the tools needed to be able to write (paper, pencil etc). In Early Years we refer to this as “mark making”.
- Knowledge & Understanding – “what is a letter/word?” The concept of a letter or word has to be explored, investigated, be heard, seen, played with before it can be used. In Early Years we ofer lots of opportunities for children to explore letters and words without the pressure to write them, through play and investigation.
✏️Other skills that come with being able to write that are encouraged and supported in early years are:
- Hand-eye coordination – little ones being able to physically control where they want the pencil/crayon etc to go and have the cognitive ability (brain) to direct this, following with their eyes and achieving the desired outcome.
- In early years we offer experience to support this skill such as
– using tweezers to collect your favourite colour of Pom Pom and place it in your bowl
– placing small pieces of Cheerios over spaghetti to make a cheerio tower, or threading some string through some beads to make a beautiful necklace.
✏️By taking part in these types of activities, your child is coordinating what they see with what they are doing with their hands.
- Convey meaning to their Mark-making – a useful skill for learning to write is to understand that what we write has a meaning or purpose. Children have to learn this to help them understand the skill of writing.
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- In early years we offer experience to develop this by:
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-Encouraging children to discuss what they have “written” (the scribbles or marks on their paper that means something to them in their mind, heart or imagination)
– adults scribing/noting down the discussion or meaning to demonstrate and introduce writing to children by leading by example
– showing examples of writing in a variety of sources such as books, posters, shopping lists, cards, leaflets, on a computer etc and children exploring and playing with these, making their own “shopping lists” etc, practicing the skill of their marks (pre-writing) having a meaning.
✏️We can do this in a fun and inviting way that children will want to take part in, such as with paints, salt, foam, glitter, feathers etc.
✏️Using a wide range of fun and exciting tools makes the learning experience much more enjoyable. When children enjoy the experience, they are more likely to absorb the skill or knowledge and retain this for future learning.
✏️These fun, eye catching and interactive activities are how our little learners are practicing the important skills to help them be able to write in the future.
✏️ Early Years Practitioners are skilled in identifying the level of ability, using children’s interests and current skills to extend their learning further. We adapt these activities to suit each child and their capabilities, while keeping the young learner excited and engaged in the activity.
✏️Supporting our children and young people to develop these skills will help them to become much more confident, successful and achieving writers in their later education and adulthood.
Please have a look at “The curiosity approach” to children learning to write.
