Value Bookshop's Reading Notes

Have a child who hates to write? Something must have turned him/her off. Could it be the countless, monotonous drilling found in schools? Whatever it is, let’s put the fun back into writing. Here are some things I’ve done that have helped my children in their writing skills:

1. Don’t be afraid to let them hold a pen/pencil.
I’ve had some well meaning folks advice me to NOT let my toddlers play with a pen/pencil because they may poke themselves in the eye. Don’t let this kind of thinking deprive your children from early writing experiences. On the contrary, encourage such acts of exploration.

2. Easy access to writing materials.
Allocate an area where your children can easily grab writing materials such as pen, pencils, color pencils, crayons and paper. Warning: Much paper will be “wasted” during these early years, so find a source where you can get unwanted papers that you can ‘recycle’.

3. Encourage scribbling.
Many parents get excited when they see their children enthusiastically making marks on a paper. They jump right in and try to teach the child to draw ‘proper’ recognizable shapes. Leave children to scribble. It is part of their pre-writing skills. When my son started scribbling, I let him be and gave him lots of paper to do it. Without any instruction from me, soon his scribbling started to yield some recognizable shapes. Soon these shapes progressed to look like alphabets. It is a gradual process that first needs minimal instruction but lots of encouragement.

4. Get creative.
Writing doesn’t just have to be on paper. My kids love to blow up balloons and write/draw on them. How about using chalk on the sidewalk or cement surfaces outside the house. You can also find forms in magazines or bank slips for them to pretend to fill up, just like an adult. Just make sure children clearly understand that there are certain places they can’t put their markings e.g. books, wall and furniture. To protect your lovely walls, you could stick up some white paper (like ‘mahjung’ paper) and designate that area for their art work.

5. When it’s time for your children to start learning alphabets, I suggest you start with the first letter of their name. The motivation is greater that way as young children are still very self centered.

6. Utilize technology.
There are plenty of writing worksheets that you can print for your children. There are some here at TLSBooks.com under the heading “Preschool Fine Motor Skills Worksheets”.
For older children learning to spell, how about setting up an email address and have them write to friends and family, or even to yourself.

7. Showcase their work.
Children love it when you do things to make their work look important (adults are the same). So put their scribblings up on the fridge, door or wall.

Make writing fun and learning will come naturally.