What age did you teach your child to write?

adouglasmhor

I used to get in trouble for continental zeroes (Ø) and sevens when I was at primary school, people thought it was wierd. Until I joined the army and was told to use them.

Actualy that zero is back to front.

Penny-Pincher!!

DD could write her name, address, alphabet and phone number when she started school at 4. We had been teaching her Letterland from the age of 18 months as we knew the nursery and school taught this. She could also read quite a few words by the time she started school. We also introduced some basic sign language when she was a toddler and have kept it up through the years. She has always loved books and went to the library 1-2 times a week from a very young age.

She is now 15, nearly 16 and already has 3 GCSE's with another 11 to come next year.

We have always encouraged learning and DD has always thrived on it. Try and make any learning fun.

I remember talking with DD's primary school teacher years ago and him telling me that many parents do nothing with their child as they feel it's the responsibility of the school and teachers. I couldnt believe it!

HTH

PP
xx

JBD

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

We have always encouraged learning and DD has always thrived on it. Try and make any learning fun.

I remember talking with DD's primary school teacher years ago and him telling me that many parents do nothing with their child as they feel it's the responsibility of the school and teachers. I couldnt believe it!

HTH

PP
xx

PennyPincher, I think some parents don't really know what to do for the best.Perhaps they weren't really encouraged to learn when they were younger. I was invited to my [younger] son's infant school about a year before he started and we were given some guidance. He also went to a special needs nursery so there was quite a lot of guidance and direction given. My oldest son went to a playgroup and there were no 'early bird' classes at his school so I think a lot of parents didn't really know how to help their children with early learning.

teacherandmum

i believe in emmergent writing. I don't technically teach my daughter any letters or numbers but she dioes do something with letters and numbers in preschool. She recognises her name and her friends by their names on pegs and bags etc in preschool.
emmergent writing is when children are just given pens, paper, pencils etc in meaningful contexts and just write. for example, if she wants to play cafes, she takes an order and makes some scribbles on her pad of paper. or writes a shopping list if she's pretending to be mummy with babies. she likes making and writing cards for us too.
her 'writing' is a jumble of lines and squiggles with the occasional looking number or letter. It has become more refined of late and there are definate separate 'words' with gaps left between them.
She has learned that writing goes from left to right, that you need gaps between words, that can go on to another line when one is full up (surprisingly children find this concept difficult!), writing goes from top to bottom on a page, that words have meaning,
we use this type of early writing experience at the school where i teach too alongside other methods.

nottslass_2

Penny-Pincher!! wrote: »

I remember talking with DD's primary school teacher years ago and him telling me that many parents do nothing with their child as they feel it's the responsibility of the school and teachers. I couldnt believe it!

HTH

PP
xx

In the days before nursery school children started infants around the time of their 5th birthday. There was no expectation for a child to be able to read and write before starting school.
Having a large age gaps between my children means that DS2 started formal education a lot younger I can assure you that long term a child is no more advantaged by being able to write their name by the age of 3.

Children learn more through play than any other method,enjoy the early years,relish playing with them,getting wet and messy and having fun will teach your child so much more than anything else which will in turn encourage a life long love of learning.

Your child will learn to read and write, but there is no need or advantage for a 3 year old to be able to do this. Playing "tea parties" with your child will teach them more in 30 Min's than any amount of writing practise.

The early years pass so quickly - get your priorities right and you'll have a happy healthy child who is equipped for the big wide world.

go_cat

Thank you so much for all your responses, some fanatastic advice

To the people who asked he is not showing signs of wanting to write but loves colouring and drawing and can draw lines to match two identical things together IYKWIM.

I don't want to push him unnecessarily as I tend to go with the flow and let him develop at his own pace, but target ages for things like this are so hard to find so a massive thank you for all that took the time to respond :T

PinkLipgloss

For those of you interested in giving your children a head start before starting school there are some fantastic ideas and FREE resources on this website:

http://www.childcareland.com/teach.html

Scroll through the photos and "free printables" for some great inspiration!

miss_corerupted

argh!!! i have an 18month old, my first and it never occured to me that i should do things likethis with him we just play tractors mainly

although he can climb up and over a five bar gate already which impressed me lol he's to busy to do these things he doesn't even watch tv!

he will draw and do pianting. i'm worried now that i will have trouble (personally) teaching him things especially as he's going to welsh scholl

jackomdj

I have just started helping my DD write her name. She is 3 1/2 and she asked if she could do it. Her creche told me she asked them too.

My eldest was just over 3 when she started tracing letters.

She has known how to spell her name for a while (kicking K, a, t, i, e - said very quickly together!) and can do the same for her big sister & recognises that they both end in ie. She "reads" her big sisters school books (eldest has just finnished reception) every night & can often repeat the story word perfect whilst pointing at the words!

When helping our eldest before she started school a teacher friend pointed us towards http://www.sparklebox.co.uk/ which is a great site. As previous posters have said don't push them but help them when they want to go for it. We love work book, drawing lines between matching or linked items, tracing lines, counting things etc.

If you have a prefered school that you think you will get in ask at their reception for their letter formation as different schools do it differently, that way you will be helping your LO in the right way.

**curlywurly**

Be guided by your child. As others have said, I would not "teach" your son to write, but encourage him to use writing tools, give him free access to all the stationery he needs and let him be creative. My fears were realised when my daughter went to school very advanced and was simply ignored whilst the others caught up, so don't feel it's an advantage in any way shape or form for your son to be in front !