Writing

Post 185

Is there writing in Kindergarten? Absolutely! When does it happen? Daily! How important is it? Very! Writing in the primary grades (K – 2) is a major part of the ELA curriculum. It is second only to reading and goes hand in hand with it. The belief is that”writers become writers by writing”. So children in class are encouraged to write from Day 1.

By now, students have learned that “letters in a word have to be in the right order.” I would expect your little one to be attempting to write words and group them into sentences. They also know that sentences begin with a capital letter and end with a period. It’s a lot for a 5 year old to remember! Lol.

A word of caution here…When you are helping your child write something at home I wouldn’t rush in to correct their spelling despite the above “rule”. As I mentioned, writers become writers by writing, and right now, getting something down on paper is the most important thing. Phonetic (invented) spelling is fine. As long as your child can “read” it (even if you can’t) that’s ok.Rules such as “e at the end of a word will make the vowel say its name” will be taught along with phonics and eventually will be incorporated into their writing.

In the classroom, your little one is actually writing all day. They have some sort of journal where they write a sentence and then draw a picture to go with it.(“Words and pictures go together”…another K Saying. 😀) But writing happens in other academic areas, too. In math, students write the number words, in science they may record what they see happening with a seed, for example. Theme projects incorporate writing such as listing different types of winter birds.Writing is happening all the time.

You can encourage your child’s writing at home, too. For example, ask them to write on a shopping list what you need…simple words like eggs and milk. Help them “stretch out” the word to hear the letter sounds. Give them other real world examples of writing. Valentine’s Day is coming up. What better way to write than to write friends’ names on cards or to write a message on a homemade message for a loved one? And remember to let your little one know how proud you are of their efforts. That’s the best encouragement of all!

Take Care. 🙂