Stages of Writing for Young Children
Every child will go through stages in his or her writing.
Being familiar with these stages will help you see that what behaviors are
normal at each stage. Be sure to encourage your children through each writing
stage. Each one is fleeting and priceless. Treasure some artifacts from each
stage and stick them into your child’s writing file. Looking back on them will
help you realize how far your child has come.
- Scribble Writing: This stage involves a child pretending to write letters and then telling a story about their work. They have the idea that written letters and words communicate something, but they aren’t ready to form letters. Children at this stage will write more with pictures than with letters and words.
- Random Letters: Letters are written at this stage, but they won’t match the sounds you hear in the words your child is trying to write. Many times children will reuse the letters in their name over and over again because they are most familiar with them.
- Beginning Sounds: This is the stage that parents begin to see actual writing. The child will write down the initial or ending sound that they hear.
- Inventive Spelling: It is very important to be extra encouraging during this stage as it will help your children write creatively down the road. Children write the sounds that that they hear even though they are not necessarily spelling the words correctly. At this stage, encourage content and not spelling. You will not interfere with their ability to spell. During this stage, pictures are still a big part of their story. It is fine to have your child draw their picture first and then follow up with their writing.
- Conventional Spelling: During this stage children are beginning to spell many words correctly. There will be more focus on the writing than the pictures.
