When Should Your Child Write His Name?

When should my child be able to write his or her name?

The easy answer to this question is that there is no set timeframe. Every child develops skills in a different order, which is why you may have one child who walks at 10 months old and another long after a year. Before name writing can happen, your child needs to develop both small motor skills and letter recognition skills. Fortunately, your child is practicing these skills in his/ her Head Start classroom every day.

Did you know that every center in a Head Start classroom contains paper or notecards and writing utensils? We do this to encourage writing things such as a menu or receipt in the dramatic play center, blueprints in the block center, or a prediction in the science center. Classrooms also establish some form of signing in, from daily attendance sign-ins to signing up to use a popular tool, such as the computer.

We encourage you to try the same things at home. Provide the materials needed for daily writing, and keep them in a special place for your child. Add books, magazines or greeting cards that may prompt your child to begin to copy words or small phrases. Give your child a pad of paper to help you create a grocery list, or to create a “reverse list” as you put things into your cart at the store.

Most importantly, accept the beginning scribbles as true writing attempts. As you can see from the chart provided by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), they are the beginning of what will eventually become your child’s name.