Learning+to+write

It is true that children can tell complex and extravagant stories, but when it comes to writing them down it is harder to do. Hill gives reasons for this in her chapter ‘the Development of Writing’, she suggest that learning to write and represent language in symbols involves learning to use a pencil; how to hold it properly and form letters. Not only do children need to learn how to handwrite, they also need to learn how to construct sentences and convey meaning.

Learning to write is extremely complicated when compared to oral language. Many children can tell a whole story just by looking at a picture or by remembering because it was read to them. When I was a little girl I told my Mum and Dad that I could read the book and I didn’t even need to look at it. When you consider the steps involved in learning how to write you realise that it is a big achievement when students begin to write. These steps include:  ·   Forming the letters  ·   Writing them without reversals  ·   Getting the spelling correct  ·   Writing in the lines  ·   Writing left to right  ·   Making a written word correspond with a spoken word. This is the process that advanced writers take for granted. But imagine if you had to concentrate on all these steps for just one word. By this stage a student is already miles ahead in their mind as to what the story is about, yet cannot completely or fluently write it all down.

The different stages of learning to write are: BEGINNING WRITING- A child may use drawings to communicate a message and swirly lines to represent words. Sometimes letter symbols and numbers appear at this stage. EARLY-EMERGENT WRITING- A child may explore in more detail the use of symbols, either drawing or letters, to represent words. At this stage children are seperating pictures from words; sometimes drawing a picture and placing letters underneath, making the connection between picture and text. EMERGENT WRITING- At this stage a child is beginning to create more letter-like shapes and spaces are starting to appear between words. A child at this stage is starting to write down initial sounds. For example 'bl' for ball and 'pla' for play. EARLY WRITING- At this stage a child is getting more confident with their writing and trying hard to sound out words; developing their two syllable words. A child at this stage is starting to realise the difference between upper and lower case letters and spaces between words are becoming more apparent. TRANSITIONAL WRITING- At this stage a child is increasing their volume in work. sentences are becoming more detailed and as Hill states "quantity not quality becomes more important". (Hill, p.285 2007) EXTENDING WRITING- At this stage a childs handwriting is beginning to resemble that of an adult. Punctuation is mostly correct and the same with spelling.

It is important for teachers to plan writing programs in response to the abilities of the children in the class. Some children may need to be encouraged more than others. Some children may need more time than others and some children may need a simpler task.