How Children Learn to Write

Learning to write is related to both spoken language and reading. When preschool children attempt to spell a word (writing) they rely on the sounds they have heard (language) to create a written word. The more words a child hears- beginning from birth- as well as being read stories and having access to books and other written materials, the more experiences they will have to draw from when they are learning to write.

• Sing, rhyme, tell stories, and read books to children to expose them to spoken language and enhance their vocabulary. 
• Model writing throughout the day talking about why you are writing (shopping lists, addressing an envelope, writing in a card, jotting down a recipe....)
• Allow plenty of time for imaginative and dramatic play to allow children to naturally experiment with writing by playing house and creating a shopping list or playing doctor and taking notes in a file. 

In addition to exposure to language and written words, children also need plenty of experiences manipulating small objects with their hands in order to develop the strength and motor control needed for writing. Children develop their small muscles when they grasp, pick, cut, push, button, string, fasten, zip, thread, pour, tie and track objects with their eyes.

• Provide your child plenty of opportunities to manipulate objects with their hands: stacking toys, blocks, plastic bricks, puzzles, sand and water play, painting, crayons, markers, sidewalk chalk, beading, clay, play dough, scissors, glue, paper.....

Children's writing is a process that evolves as their physical and cognitive skills develop. Their writing will go through several stages before it resembles conventional written language and these early stages are just a important as those which appear to us as "writing".

While we used an example of a child pretending to be a doctor and writing in a patient's file, most medical offices are now directly inputting their information in a digital format. We also can't ignore the influence technology can have on the writing process. When using media keep in mind literacy and fine motor skills. Introduce the keyboard to practice typing as well as letter recognition and moving into a stylus when ready (versus continuing to use fingers on touch screens) are all important steps to help with good old fashioned writing with pen and paper. We like OTs With Apps site for help selecting quality drawing, prewriting, writing apps as well as developmentally appropriate styluses.