Kindergarten Curriculum – The Developmental Approach to Writing

The developmental approach to teach writing emphasizes the expression of ideas. A child’s typically progression in learning to write is as follows:

1. Picture writing – drawings of themselves, family, pets, home etc.
2. Scribbling – need I say anymore
3. Random letters and numbers – H 7 5 K O
4. Beginning consonant letters – I w S m
5. Beginning and ending consonant letters – I wt sm mk
6. Vowel letters – I wont soM Milk
7. Complete spelling – I want some milk.

Most kindergarten curriculums place emphasis on what the child wants to say - not on how to properly write it. This approach is known as invented spelling or incomplete spelling and continues to be taught through early elementary grades. Children are encouraged to spell as accurately as possible. This technique will not hinder learning conventional spelling. Tips to encourage this developmental process are as follows:

Write notes to your child.

I like to include notes in their lunch boxes. Other great ideas suggested by our school district include: labeling objects around the home, positioning writings in a conspicuous area to promote rereading of their material and placing notes under their pillows. Who said the tooth fairy was the only person who could leave something under the pillow?

Encourage your child to write at home.

This should be an entertaining activity. Both of my children write their own thank you cards. I address the envelope but they are responsible for the “thank you” letter. We typically listen to music, talk about our day and write together. A great activity on a rainy day! We also like to write notes to each other on road trips – a fun activity to pass the time.

Let your child observe you writing.

I typically write my shopping list while my children are eating breakfast and ask them if they have any special healthy requests – I typically need to remind them that the word healthy was a requirement not an afterthought. Our school district offers some good advice: share your writing with your child, tell them why you are writing and let them see you make a mistake.

Guide your child through this developmental process.

Offer advice but do not overwhelm them as learning should be fun as well as progressive. Our school offers some advice in this area as well. They recommend showing your child how to hold their pencil correctly. In addition, assist them in writing the sounds they hear. When possible, separate the word into its distinct phonemes (in layman terms, say each sound). For example, if your child is trying to write the word dog, you would say the individual sounds or “ /d/, /o/,/g/.” Assist them in spelling high frequency words correctly. Also introduce the concept of spacing between words. A great way to assist them is to use their finger to create the space. Finally, talk about capitalization as well as punctuation (period).

As always have fun teaching your child to write. Be patient and praise them for their accomplishments.