10 Tips that Work!

Use these 10 tried and tested tips for fostering writing development in the early years.

They work!

1. Rejoice in your students’ progress. Watch scribbles turn to purposeful lines, curves to complete circles, and circles to parts of letters and numbers. Notice all markings that look like creative designs.

2. Model clear and excellent writing as much as possible. Your students will love to do what you do.

3. Show your students how to correctly hold a pencil, pen, crayon, or marker. Keep at it. You will not be sorry. It is very important for your students to learn these fine motor positions correctly from the start. Unlearning and re-learning are both very hard to do.

4. Buy pencil grips for your students. These are very helpful for little fingers. They are inexpensive and come in different styles and textures.

5. Bring in junk mail for your students. Check each one of the enclosures for large letters that might be good for tracing. Be sure to use the white spaces on the backs of both the envelopes and the enclosures for free-form drawing and coloring.

6. Introduce recommended activities to build fine motor dexterity. Here are some favorites: finger puppets, puzzles, chalkboards, painting, clay, and play dough.

7. Enjoy reading to your students from big print books. Point out as many words as you can. Direct exposure to print stimulates the writing process.

8. Create a writing station. Just as it is beneficial to have a comfortable reading corner, so it is important to have a special play area set up for writing and drawing.

9. Have a chalkboard with chalk and erasers handy for your students. That is an old-time favorite.

10. Put out a secret message everyday. Read them to your students in the beginning. See how long it will take for your students to start reading these messages to you.

Constructive Parenting… 

Have fun with writing, drawing, and creating. The more you all enjoy these activities, the faster and better your students will grow with them.

Fighting Violence!

Lots of relevance here. Writing, coloring, and drawing provide for your students an area of growth that takes 100% positive energy. In addition, both creativity and concentration will grow by leaps and bounds. Moreover, these open-ended activities will lead to other productive uses of time.