• Concepts of print for young children

    Print is found everywhere. To help your child understand that letters make words and words have meaning, introduce your child to environmental print. Environmental print can be found on a cereal box, a kid’s meal, on a sign or marquee, to name just a few. Help your child “read” the words found in environmental print by pointing out the name of a favorite cereal, fruit snack or kids meal.  When shopping, have your child “read” the sign that says the name of the store. Have your child identify familiar words found on everyday items you purchase at the grocery store.

    • Encourage your child to “write” by having your child express himself/herself through pictures.  
    • Help your child keep a journal by having him/her dictate something he/she feels or wants to remember. 
    • Record what your child has said in a simple notebook. Show your child the words you have written. Letter Blocks
    • Use printing instead of cursive when recording your child’s dictation. Help your child identify some of the letters and sounds he/she may be familiar with. 
    • Encourage your child to draw a picture to illustrate what he/she has dictated.
    • When teaching your child to write his/her name, model writing by using a capital and lowercase letters.

    Children can develop stories by using stickers. Have your child verbally retell the story he/she has created using stickers. Write the words to the story your child has created. Follow the same procedure above in helping your child understand that letters work together to make a word. For example, if the child’s story takes place on a farm, the letters p i g work together to make the word “pig”.

    Stages of Writing

    Drawing/ Picture Writing

    Children express thoughts and feelings through drawings.

    Children's Drawing

    Semi Phonetic Writing

    Children begin to use some letters to match sounds, often using a beginning letter to represent the whole word. They may begin to use left and right progression. Letter reversals are still common.


    Alphabet

    Phonetic

    Children begin to write words with beginning and ending sounds. They also begin to spell some high frequency words correctly. Vowels may be inserted into words, but usually aren't the correct ones.

    Transitional Spelling

    Children begin to write words the way they sound. They are beginning to leave spaces between words and spell many high frequency words correctly. They use punctuation marks, sometimes correctly. They begin to write one or more sentences.

     

    Children's Story

    Conventional Spelling

    Children spell most words correctly, though phonetic based spelling still comes into play when they must spell longer words. They begin to use punctuation marks correctly and use capital and lowercase letters in the correct places.