In kindergarten, your child really begins to grow as a writer. Kindergartners start to write words (often using their own creative or invented spellings), and even write their own books and stories about their lives and what they’ve learned. Creative or invented spelling is a crucial part of developing writing skills. Using this method, your child spells words using the letters and sounds he hears. This is an important part of your child’s writing development as he gains a deeper understanding of letters, words and their sounds. In addition, most of the words your kindergartner learns to spell correctly are one syllable words which often follow the pattern of CVC, or CONSONANT, VOWEL, CONSONANT—for example, "Cat," "Big," or "Rug." And of course, the reading that your kindergartner does is directly connected to developing his writing and literacy skills.
In order to build writing skills, your kindergartner:
- Writes uppercase and lowercase letters.
- Writes his/her name.
- Writes some letters and words when they are dictated.
- Uses invented or creative spelling to write a variety of words.
- Uses conventional spelling to write some words (CVC and basic sight words).
- Writes, Draws and Dictates about a variety of topics, including his opinion and descriptions of objects or moments and events in his life.
Writing Activities
- Label Things: Create labels with your child for different objects in your house. For example, various books, places for toys, foods, objects in the kitchen, or clothes. You or your child can write the names of the objects and your child can draw a picture to go along with it.
- Guessing Games: Draw a picture and have your child guess the spelling of that word. Give your child a few letters in a word. For example show your child “_AT,” and ask him to make as many words as he can with it.
- Create a Photo Album: When you take pictures of events or people ask your child to label the picture. Glue the picture to a piece of a paper so your child can write a description of the event, what happened, who was there, etc. If other people were involved in the event, send them a copy!
- Have a Letter Treasure Hunt: When you are in the car, at home or in the store, ask your child to find certain uppercase and lowercase letters. She can keep a list of all the letters she finds and write them down as she finds them.
