Learning to Write

Learning to write By Catherine Lynch

Children need to develop lots of skills before they can write. The three main skills that build writing foundations are the physical ability to make marks on paper, knowing that print conveys meaning and knowing what to write.

In preparation, children need to develop both their gross and fine motor skills. Gross motor skills develop first; walking, jumping, throwing and reaching.

Fine motor skills, like picking up small objects follow. Children need to be given lots of opportunities to move their bodies and build up the muscles needed to sit in a chair, hold a pen and write.

Next, children need to know what they are going to write. Adults can support children in this stage by providing practical opportunities. Writing shopping lists together is a great way to get children writing for a purpose.

And now to the basics of getting marks on paper. Children’s first marks on paper start with squiggles and scribbles. With practice, their marks become more controlled and they may start to ascribe meaning, for example, scribbling lines on paper and saying it is a list of their friends.

As children’s awareness of letters increases they will start to use letter shapes in their writing. Familiar letters might start appearing among their squiggles and shapes.

The next stage is using their phonetic knowledge to identify which letters to write. Phonics explain the relationship between sounds and letters. Typically children start by hearing and writing the initial sounds in words, for example ‘c’ for cat and ‘a’ for apple. As their phonic knowledge improves they will start to hear and write more sounds in words. It is common for children to reverse letters, miss out sounds and muddle up letters for the first few years that they are writing.

By the end of Year 1 children should have been taught most of the letter sounds in the English language, complete with alternative spellings and sound groupings. For example, the many ways to write the /ai/ sound in sail, crayon, lake, weigh, grey, reindeer, break and acorn. Initially children won’t typically use the correct spelling of the sound; however, the more they read the better they will get at recognising when a spelling looks right.

Fun activities to support children develop their writing skills

Create obstacle courses that require a wide range of movements. Using a variety of ball sizes for challenges is a great way to get children developing their motor skills through play. Encourage fine motor skills alongside gross motor skills; picking up small objects, building with blocks, threading beads, using pens and cutlery are all examples of fine motor skills. Provide lots of mark-making opportunities eg finger painting, drawing with chalk on the ground, using crayons, pencils and pens. Help them get the correct pencil grip by using the ‘pinch and grip’ method.

Praise all their efforts; writing skills take time to build.

Provide opportunities for children to apply their knowledge of letter sounds, ege by writing secret words and secret sentences.

Make use of free resources available as downloads for home practice. There are many ideas for play activities, tips to get parents and children started, word tracing sheets, handwriting guides, letter formation worksheets and posters. Good resources include www.planbee.com, www.jellyandbean.co.uk, www.teachhandwriting.co.uk and www.teachingideas.co.uk.

Catherine Lynch is a former UK primary school teacher, now writing for PlanBee (www.planbee.com) about issues affecting teachers, schools and pupils. PlanBee has lots of completely free resources for teaching and learning for home and school.