Monday, September 17, 2012

Write On!

(Source)
Does writing help children read?

 I can recall starting to write my name, or what I thought resembled my name, at a very early age. I was extremely proud to display my writing skills on notebooks, coloring books, menus, and sometimes on my walls. I never realized that my fascination to write letters was the first step to reading.

I also remember adults always trying to help me write by correcting my backwards Ls and my sideways Cs. While adults are only trying to assist their children they are unaware that it is okay for children to make mistakes. These early attempts of writing mean that the child is aware that we write down our words. Although the letters may not exactly look like letters it is a good sign that the child is observing adult's writing and trying to imitate what they see.

The readings on fundamental reading and writing lead me to think further into a child's early attempts to read and write. I think that encouraging writing is an excellent way to help a child start to recognized letters, words, and sentences. I love the idea of incorporating a writing station into the classroom, especially in grades K-2. The writing station could be used at the beginning or end of the day to encourage students to write as much as possible. The writing station would also make writing fun and they would have the ability to be creative and have various materials to work with.

The topic also raised a few questions. Do you agree that adults should not correct a child's first attempts of writing? Were you encouraged to write as much as possible as a child? If so, do you think it helped you learn to read?

6 comments:

  1. I do agree that parents, caregivers, and preschool teachers should encourage all writing attempts by children. I can certainly see the advantages of choosing not correct a child's mistakes in their writing. Choosing not correct can result in the child feeling encouraged and motivated in their early writing attempts and this pre-writing practice can familiarize children with writing conventions. Obviously, there is a point in time at which you must correct writing mistakes. My question is when should educators and/or parents begin to correct?

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  2. I love the idea of a writing station in the classroom as well! It's such a great way for children to express themselves in a fun way- using different colored writing utensils or paper. I do agree that young children should initially be encouraged about their writing rather than critiqued. It's so easy to get discouraged and frustrated when trying something new so I think correction should be done after they get some writing experience under their belt.

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  3. I was encouraged to write a lot as a child. I wrote on everything. It was mostly scribbles, but my mom always said it was great and had me read it to her. I have noticed the same encouragement and positive feedback with my nieces and nephews. I think that it definitely helped with my reading. I began to go from scribbles to real letters and understand them. They become words, then sentences, then stories.

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  4. I do not think that parents should correct children until they reach a certain age. It is important for the child to just experience things before they are bombarded with corrections. I was encouraged to write a lot when I was little whether it was grocery list for my doll and I or my fake wedding invitations. It definitely made me want to learn to read which encouraged me to become a better reader.

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  5. I agree with Elizabeth that parents shouldn't correct children until a certain age. If they are constantly being corrected, they may become scared of writing for fear of being wrong. But once they get older, they need to be able to write with correct spelling, grammar, etc.

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  6. I agree with the previous comments. Although I think children should be encouraged to write in whatever form suits them, at what point do we tell them they've been doing writing their letters backwards? Part of me wonders if it forms a habit that is harder to break later on if we don't correct it.
    Also, I think my classes did a lot more reading that writing in class. I don't really remember writing a lot until 4th grade and then it seemed super difficult! Maybe if we had started earlier it would have been more enjoyable?

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