How Do I Help My Kid With Their Writing? Grades K/1
Something I absolutely love about teaching the lower grades in elementary schools is being witness to the process of kids learning that they can write down their own ideas. I would watch a kid struggle making the circles and lines that form our alphabet, then to copy simple, dictated sentences and then something would click, the pieces would fall into place. Suddenly the kid whose manuscript was illegible is writing up a storm. And then I’m teaching a room of budding authors! It’s great!
In the midst of this explosion of creativity, what is your role as a parent? How much should you correct a young child’s writing? How involved should you be? What can you do to support the process?
Let Them Explore: One of the most important things to encourage a young child’s writing is to let them become an explorer with their writing. Encourage them to write about themselves, about the weather, observations from the grocery store to the bus ride home. Write notes, lists, dreams and letters. Create a newspaper, a family magazine and anything else you can think of. Encourage writing.
Inventive Spelling: As your kid is learning to write, you’ll see some very funky spelling. Clouds might look like “calowdz” or car might look like “kre”. At this point they are experimenting with the letter sounds that they have learned. Your job is to be a reader, not an editor. Let them experiment. If you being to correct them all of the time they’ll stop writing. Teach them by asking questions” “What sounds does the word ‘car’ start with? Hmmm. Let’s think about that.” Make it a discussion in which they can participate.
I like to use books to teach spelling. “Here’s a book about cars. Let’s see how they spell it.” Join the adventure. This is a good time to buy a “first” dictionary. You can find them in used bookstores or online because kids outgrow them within a year or two. But this is the time to use one. Ask, “Do you want me to help you with your spelling?”
Paper: Having the right paper is crucial. Requiring a young child who is learning to write to use college ruled lined paper is just not fair. I’d rather give them a blank piece of paper. You can use paper like these or like these.
Or, if you don’t have paper like that, get a ruler or use the side of a book and make some paper with big lines on it and a square at the top for a picture. Just like this: (a picture of writing paper)
or
Learning to write is a very exciting experience. Kids suddenly realize that they can now communicate in a whole new way. Make it easy. Have paper and pencils around. Ask for help. “Hey, would you write carrots on the grocery list? Oh, you want chocolate, too? Write it down!”
January 10th, 2010
