Learning to Write

How will you know when your child is ready to write? The ideal time to start helping your child with writing is between ages 4 and 5. One signal to look for is that your child will begin forming figures that look like letters. Your child may also begin to string multiple pictures together to create a story. This means that your child’s motor and cognitive skills are becoming more refined and developed.

Here's a few ideas to move your child’s writing skills along:

·         Make sure you have a lot of markers, crayons, pencils, and paper in places around your home so your child can scribble anytime they want.

·         Offer your child a choice of colors in paper, pencils, markers and crayons, the more colorful the better.

·         Encourage them to do projects that reflect everyday life. Here are a few fun projects that reinforce early writing skills:

o   Create a menu and play restaurant

o   Have them write out checks to play store

o   Have them create a program for their big play or dance recital

o   Have them create tickets to a show

o   Have them write a note to you every night before they go to bed

o   Make scribbling/writing a lot of fun by using pudding, ketchup, yogurt or other edible items.

Above all, make writing fun for your child and hopefully they will begin to practice their skills on their own.