Children and Writing: Part 2

Restrict Writing Time- Many young children get frustrated if expected to write for long periods of time or several times a day. Therefore, it is important to restrict writing activities to suit your child’s personality. Limit it to one session per day or divide it into several short sessions through the day. It all depends on the individual child and what he prefers.

Connect Writing to Reality and Make it Fun- Learning is always more interesting when we see its relevance in the world. No matter how young a child is, learning can be connected to reality and also made fun in different ways. Consider the following example. A four year old is learning to write the letter “a”. You can make it interesting for the child by preparing him for it in different ways. Some suggestions are given below-

1. Trace the letter “a” together using sand paper letters and say the phonetic sound.
2. Weave a story that has lots of words with the sound “a”, such as apple, ant, cat, rat etc. The “a” sound does not have to be only in the beginning of a word as in apple, ant etc. It can be anywhere in the word. Note that the “a” sound is in the middle of the word when you say “cat” or “rat”. Stress on the “a” sound whenever it appears in a word in your story. Invite contributions to the story from your child. Let him add to the story and also think up some words that have the “a” sound.
3. Play a game wherein each of you takes turns to point out objects around you that have the “a” sound in them. You can play the game in different places such as in your home, in the garden, in the park, in the mall etc.
4. A simple story could go like this- Once upon a time, there lived an ant. The ant had a friend. His friend was a cat. The cat had a friend. His friend was a rat. The rat was quite fat. The rat loved apples. Note the number of times the “a” sound appears in this story. It is important to stress on the sound as and when it appears in the story. Also, remember that the story does not have to make perfect sense. Let your imagination go wild!
5. Sing songs that have lots of “a” words in them. You can look on the internet for phonics songs or even make up your own. Encourage your child to add to your song or even make up his own.
6. Make the letter “a” on paper using paint or crayons.
7. Make the letter using clay.
8. Narrate stories for the formation of the letter “a”. This is purely based on your imagination. For example, while writing “a”, you can pretend that you are going from home to the park.  The point where you start writing “a” in the book is your home, the path followed by the letter is the road and the point where you finish writing the letter is the park. Many children love such imaginary stories. This approach also helps them grasp the formation of the letter quickly. If your child likes this approach, you can also encourage him to make up his own stories for the formation of different letters.
9. Begin the actual process of writing in books only once you’ve prepared the child on similar lines as mentioned above. It will make writing a lot easier and fun for the child. When children see some meaning to what they are writing, they are more willing to do it, than when it seems like a repetitive activity that has no relevance and is boring.

Enjoy writing!


<p><a href="http://www.freedigitalphotos.net/images/view_photog.php?photogid=2664">Image: Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net</a></p>