Mark-making is the precursor to emergent writing – young children develop the desire to communicate and naturally start to explore how symbols, pictures or pre-writing shapes can convey their ideas to other people. This intention to communicate continues to develop and, with appropriate support, leads to conventional letters and words in the form of recognisable “writing”.
When Do Children Start Writing?
Reading and writing has traditionally been considered to be the domain of formal schooling. However, early years curricula like the Early Years Foundation Stage in England, promote a more “fluid” approach, regarding learning as a developmental continuum which begins well before school.
The Early Year Foundation Stage (EYFS) Curriculum (DfES, 2007) applies to all Ofsted-registered settings which provide child care, for example, childminders, nurseries, children’s centres, pre-schools and playgroups. The EYFS sets the standards of education and care for children from birth to the age of five years (and, in some cases, beyond), so that there is no longer a sharp delineation between pre-school provision and education in school.
Stages of Development
Although the EYFS specifies milestones in the development of children’s writing (culminating in early learning goals – expected outcomes for five year olds), it recognises that each child is individual and unique. Whilst there are observable “norms” in terms of patterns of development, children’s learning builds and spirals, so that children may reach stages of development at differing times.
There are two important points to note here:
- Not all children will necessarily be ready to write at the same time.
- Not all children will start school at the compulsory age of five years – some will already be in school in an EYFS class or unit (having started earlier at “nursery” age) and others may be in children’s’ centres or different settings.
Ready to Write
Children may, therefore, learn writing skills at differing points, depending on their state of readiness. This decision will be subject to professional judgment and may involve observation of factors such as:
- Whether the child shows an interest in writing or the intention to communicate
- Whether the child has sufficient fine-motor control to grasp a writing tool
- Whether the child understands that marks convey meaning
- Whether the child is able to break the flow of speech into words and distinguish one sound from another
Although the issue of readiness is clearly important, children’s interests and eagerness to learn are equally important. Most early years provision is now based on principles of child-centredness, and “formal” schooling has shed many of its old connotations. This means that modern practitioners look for imaginative and innovative ways of facilitating learning and development.
Letter formation is no longer taught solely through repetitious drilling and handwriting practice – children can learn letter shapes in lots of engaging and child-friendly ways which promote inclusive practice and enable all children to access the curriculum at a level which is appropriate to them.
Learning to write is an important aspect of children’s learning and development. It is a complex process involving more than simply learning alphabet sounds. This area of development will build over time and vary from one child to another.
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