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Getting children to enjoy writing and sharing their ideas first begins with building a love for writing.
To help your child develop this love and build their fine motor skills, encourage your child to draw pictures of things they enjoy. This can be their family, favorite animals or places, or anything the child wants to share.
The above crayons are chunky and fun. They are easy to hold which makes little ones enjoy writing or drawing even more. You can also use the thick toddler crayons you find at your local store.
When your child draws a picture, ask him to tell you about the picture. If your child is learning or knows letter sounds, encourage the child to listen to the beginning sound of the word that they drew on the paper.
For example, if the picture is of a flower. Ask the child what letter does flower begin with. You may need to say the word slowly and stress the beginning sound. In flower, you would slowly say the "f" sound as you say the word. Then encourage your child to write the letter "f" on the paper.
You can help your child spell flower using "best guess or invented spelling" by saying the word slowly and asking the child what sounds they hear and then encourage them to write the letters for those sounds.
Your child's version will not always have the correct letters. That is OK!!! The goal hear is to start writing ideas. Later, with practice the child will get closer and closer to convention spelling.
To see your child's progress, date the drawings and compare the words they write over the next few months.
***Most importantly encourage anything your child writes, even if it is just scribbles. Scribbling is the first stage of writing. It shows that your child understands that the black squiggly lines on paper are words and have meaning.
