Before a child's writing is able to be read by others, they may pass through some or all of the pre-conventional stages of writing. These stages are important and should be valued as attempts to convey meaning. If your child is at a pre-conventional stage in writing, praising their writing and valuing the meaning attached to their markings is very important as it will improve motivation to write more. You can help your child move through the pre-conventional stages at home by showing your child where they are at on this progression and then encouraging them on to the next stage by modelling how it might look e.g if a child is at number 2 on the chart below, but knows how to form one of the letters in their name, encouraging them to add that letter into their writing where they think it belongs can help your child move on to number 3 or even 4 .
In Year 0/1 your child will learn to write simple stories on their own. They will learn to plan their writing by talking, or by drawing pictures. Their writing will be for different purposes that cover several areas of the curriculum. For example, they may write about caring for a pet (science) or a report on a visit to a factory (technology). They will be able to read and talk about what they have written.
After one year of learning writing at school most children will be able to:
plan what they want to write by talking, drawing or perhaps writing word ideas
write about their experiences and ideas and give information
link their story to everyday experiences
use many words they know from their reading
Encouraging Writing
Don’t worry if your child’s letters or words are sometimes backwards or misspelt at this age. The important thing is that they have fun writing at home and are making an effort.
Display their work. Be proud of it. Share it with others. Avoid criticising or correcting writing shared at home. When children feel good about writing, they will write more often and for longer periods and research proves that the more you write the better you get!
Give them real reasons and opportunities to write-
Write to each other. Write notes to your child and leave them in interesting places, like their lunch box. Ask them to write a reply.
Help them email, text or write to family, whänau or friends.
Show them how letters and words are formed.
Work with them to put labels on special things – like the door to their room or their toy box.
Talk about what your child writes. Be interested. If you don’t understand what your child’s picture or story is about, ask them to explain
Spelling
Knowing how to spell high frequency words helps children become more fluent and confident in writing. The more words they know, the more energy that can be devoted to other aspects of story writing like ideas, vocabulary and grammar. Having to sound out each letter of a word makes the process of writing laborious. For this reason, we practise spelling the essential words found most commonly in the English language. By the end of year two we work towards most children knowing the words in list 1 and list 2 of the essential words lists. These words are not organised in difficulty, but by the frequency they appear in writing. List 1 words appear in 25% of writing and List 2 words appear in 15% of writing. You are welcome to practise the words in list 1 at home if your child is interested in learning them
Essential_List_1-4.pdfHere are some fun videos to help children learn the words in list 1 and 2. :
Some easy lessons strategies to try with your child when they write at home
Talk as you draw
Strategy: When you write you don't need to be quiet. You can say what you're drawing about out loud or to yourself. As you say a new part you can draw that part.
Tip: Allowing children to talk to themselves during writing time can help them to be more productive and engaged. Early on they will need the feedback that hearing themselves think out loud provides. As you work with children, you can propt them to add more, clarify their details, and or explain their ideas further if they are confusing.
Possible Prompts:
What else happened?
Who's that?
What will she do next?
What does he say?
Where are they I wonder?
So you said....(Retell story back to the child, pointing to the different parts)
Point Around the Picture
Strategy: When you read back your writing to someone else, try to point around the picture. When your finger lands on a part, say all you can about that part.
Teaching Tip: This strategy is one that helps the child to verbalise, and perhaps elaborate, on his picture. It's likely you will adjust your prompts based on what it seems like the child has made . It's important to figure that out first, through asking questions about what has been written or drawn, what it seems like the child is trying to do in his writing. Does it seem like a story, like they are trying to teach about something or trying to make a list?
With a story, be mindful that you are trying to coach them into storytelling language, not just listing and labelling. As you point around the picture, support the child by modelling storytelling language if the child gives one word responses to the items in the picture.
Add Detail to Make Pictures Easier to Read
Strategy: Look Carefully at your picture. Think about any details (small parts) you can add to it. Add those details.
Teaching Tip: This strategy is intended to support complexity of drawings- eg. if they represent a person with a circle only for a head you would nudge them to add eyes, nose etc.
Prompts:
What's that? Can you add something?
What details might you add?
I see a ____ and ______. What else does a ______ have?
