Encourage Prewriting Skills with How to Build an A by Sara Midda {Featured Book}

We made a fantastic find a few weeks ago when we stumbled on the interactive book How to Build an A by Sara Midda.

 



 How to Build an A

 

Why? Because it's an alphabet book that not only teaches letter knowledge but promotes prewriting skills, too.

The books comes with 11 different pieces that can be combined in different ways to make all of the letters of the alphabet, both uppercase and lowercase. What's more is that on each page there is a cute illustration that helps to show the child how the letter should be formed.

It's lots of fun! We usually work on a few letters at a time, but baby bookworm has gotten quite good at this "game" and I can honestly say it has helped her writing skills.

So...don't forget that literacy encompasses both reading and writing skills. It's not often that you come across a book that makes it super easy to practice both.

Here are a few other ideas for encouraging prewriting in your baby, toddler, or 3 year old:

 Encouraging Writing Skills from Books {Harold and the Purple Crayon}

 How to Aid the Development of Your Child's Writing Skills

 Writing Readiness Activities from Imagination Soup

 Sensory Bags from Pre-school Play

 Promoting Prewriting Skills from Teach Preschool


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A Little Writing Inspiration from Harold and the Purple Crayon

So earlier in the week I shared some tips to help you raise a writer in a post titled, How to Aid Your Child's Development of Writing Skills: The Often Forgotten Half of the Literacy Equation 

I am as guilty as anyone though for forgetting (or at least focusing much less on) writing.  We read, read, read all the time, but literacy involves reading and writing.  Baby bookworm is not NEARLY as enthusiastic about "writing" as she is about reading.  In fact, she's not enthusiastic about it at all.  I usually get one little scribble followed by an "I can't do it."

Sigh.

I can now sympathize with parents who say they can't get their children interested in reading.

I think baby bookworm's main frustration is that she knows her letters and numbers, and at 25 months she can name just about every picture in any book I point to.  But, she can't make her crayon strokes look like she knows they are supposed to look; she's knows her scribbles aren't a letter A, and she knows they look nothing like that house she wanted to draw.  So she gives up and says "You do it, or that's not an A!" 

But I've been on a mission to change her reluctance, and reading Your Child's Writing Life has helped educate me with methods for helping her literacy journey.

Today I'm sharing a lesson that we did this week that I think was a success.  

1). First we read Harold and the Purple Crayon.  (We checked it out at the library and read through it a bunch of times before attempting our writing activity)

2). Then I asked her questions about the story (great for assessing comprehension).  We talked about what happened at the beginning of the story.  I asked her to draw about it with a purple crayon just like Harold.

I divided our paper into three sections to talk about
beginning middle and end.

She drew a path like Harold does at the beginning
of the story; I labeled it

3). Then we talked about the middle of the story.

She wanted to draw a moon which isn't exactly the middle of the story but...
 she got a little frustrated, too.  I ended up helping out!

4). Then we talked about the end of the book where Harold goes to bed.

Once we finished up talking about Harold and our story, we flipped our paper over and I drew a picture.  Then I asked baby bookworm to come up with a story about what I drew.  I wrote out our story as she described it. She liked this activity VERY much - and had I begun with this one first, I think our Harold activity would have been more successful.

Baby bookworm describing the story

And.......much MUCH to my surprise, this is what I caught baby bookworm drawing all by herself (without even being asked) later in the day.  This is the most elaborate thing she has ever "written".

She told me it was a "thinking hippo" - OK! whatever you say, but I LOVE it!

So, I think something clicked.  I'm hoping this is a step in the write (pun intended) direction. ha ha.

Here is some other writing info:
Writing involves the use of a child's fine motor skills.  Babies and toddlers will generally hold a writing utensil with their entire fist and between the ages of 3 - 5 a child will start to hold a writing utensil with a thumb and forefinger.

What does writing "look like" with babies and toddlers?  Here is a simplified developmental continuum of writing.

• a baby may try to make a few little marks on a paper
• a young toddler may make random scribbles
• an older toddler may actually be able to draw some shapes and lines
• by about 3 years, a child's writing can sometimes take letter-like form

Babies and toddlers also show an understanding of the purpose of writing by showing interest when others write, experimenting with different writing utensils, and verbally labeling what they have written ("that's a dog").

Tell me about your writing journey!!!  How do you inspire your child to write?  Any great writing activities you have tried?  Does your child enjoy reading or writing more?

How to Aid Your Child's Development of Writing Skills: The Often Forgotten Half of the Literacy Equation

Literacy by definition is the ability to read and write. 

There is a lot of information regarding the importance of reading aloud to young children.  While parents are constantly bombarded with information on how to get their child to become a better reader, or how to get their child to love to read, or how to read aloud to their child, there seems to be much less information on how parents can foster the development of writing skills in their child.

And, writing is the other half of the literacy equation.  I think Pam Allyn (2011), Executive Director and founder of LitWorld, describes the relationship between reading and writing best in her book titled Your Child's Writing Life: How to Inspire Confidence, Creativity, and Skill at Every Age,


"Reading and writing are inextricably connected in ways that current research in education is showing to be more remarkable than we've ever understood before.  It is a constant circle and we are too often missing half of it. A child who reads regularly is a better writer. A child who writes regularly is a better reader. While reading, a child is ingesting words, and by writing he is practicing with them. Reading is like breathing in, writing is like breathing out."
(pg 9)

Much like the journey of learning to read that can and should begin at a very young age, the development of writing skills can and should begin with babies and toddlers, too.

Yes, you can begin to raise a reader and a writer from birth.

Here are few ways to help your child develop readiness skills in writing.  Some of these suggestions are things that may come naturally, such as play, but others may take a little time and effort on your part.  But, I encourage you to start today!

1) give your child the gift of play time.

Play (both solitary or group play, and guided play) is a fabulous skill builder.  In fact, it not only helps your child to gain reading skills, social skills, motor skills, and listening skills, but it even helps to foster the development of writing skills.  How?  According to Allyn (2011), play helps children learn narrative, time, and setting - three important elements of writing.

2) be a model writer.

It's not a secret that children learn through observation.  In fact, famed psychologist Albert Bandura proposed social learning theory decades and decades ago.  Parents who want their children to read more, should model good reading behaviors.  The same goes for writing.

Write out your grocery list.  Carry a notebook and jot down ideas as they come to you.  Take the time to write thank you notes to friends and family.  Keep a journal.

My notebook that travels with me in every room of our house;
as you can see, a little baby bookworm wanted to write in it too!

Daddy's notebook that he keeps next to the bed - just in case inspiration strikes

3) live and breathe words.

Have you ever walked into a daycare or preschool classroom and noticed labels on everything?  They aren't there because a teacher went a little nutty one day.  They are there to help children learn the value of print. Try doing the same thing at home.  And, if you don't want labels all over your house, Allyn  (2011)has two clever and creative solutions to try.  She suggests cutting out words and framing them, or creating a box where newly learned words are placed.  Simple and yet genius.  And don't forget, reading is one great way to help your child learn new vocabulary. 

You can even incorporate writing and words into your play time.  It's as easy as setting out a marker or crayon, and a piece of paper.  The play kitchen you have can then become a restaurant - you become the diner and your child the waiter who writes down your order. 

4) make writing special.

Do you have a reading nook in your house?  Do you read bedtime stories or stories at some other time of the day? 

What about a space and materials for writing? What about a time that you and your child write together?  What do you do with all of your child's drawings and "stories"?

Don't forget your child needs a special place to read and to write.  It also makes writing seem more special if you have a  place and method for keeping or displaying those stories your child worked so hard to create!

Our space for reading and writing

Our folder for art work, projects, and stories

5) provide a writing scaffold.

This tip is especially true for young children since their "writing" begins as scribbles and drawings.  You can't exactly hand a baby a crayon and say "Go to it! Write me a story!" 

Try drawing a picture together and then asking your child, "What did we draw?" Label the people and objects in your drawing.  Write down exactly what your child says about the picture.  Encourage him or her to tell a story about the picture, and model how to do so.

Books can also provide a great starting point for a writing activity, and provide a little motivation, too.  Try reading Harold and the Purple Crayon together.  Invite your child to be like Harold and draw with a purple crayon.

My Crayons Talk is another book that could easily be the beginning of a fun writing project.

So now you know how to help your child's writing skills, but what exactly does does writing "look" like with babies and toddlers?

More on this later in the week!