Learning+To+Write

'Writing is a way of thinking' (Hill (2007) p.296). We write for many different purposes in our lives and for others; to tell a story, to organise our lives or events, to portray a message and to help us with our reading skills. Writing begins at an early age, as children watch the adults in their lives writing, and learn that it is used to provide meaning and messages to others.

Children observe everything in their surrounding environments, to learn how they should behave and act in their community. A child begins writing at a young age, imitating adults, with scribbles and pictures on a page. In this initial stage they cannot read or understand the symbols around them but they begin experimenting with scribbles, written symbols and pictures.

They discover that each word they speak is a sound or a group of sounds, which has associating symbols called letters which are paired with them. At first they create their own letters and symbols to convey their message, using their own rules in punctuation and sizing, creating usually an un-readable example. Using the symbols surrounding them in their environments, they understand that they create the meaning and begin to imitate these on paper. They eventually learn to write the correct letters for the correct sounds to create words, which eventually leads to developing sentences.

Learning to write isn’t as easy as we remember it to be. There are many other things to learn and accomplish including : 'Children's writing provides a window into their thinking and problem solving' (Hill (2007) p.288). When childrens writing ability is at the same stage as their reading ability they are making links on their own between speaking, writing and reading (Hill (2007) p.288). This can increase their vocabulary and allows them to understand and participate in conversations they may not have comprehended before.
 * Pen Grip- How they must hold their pen/pencil correctly.
 * Directionality- Learning that text is written from left to right.
 * Handwriting/eligibility- Is their writing eligble? can it be understood?
 * Formation- The way their letters are formed on the page.
 * Punctuation- Have they included full stops, commas etc?