As a writer, it may be important to you to instill a love of reading and writing in your children. Here are some ideas to support your child’s learning while having fun.
In the early stages of life, your child begins learning to make sounds that slowly turn into what we refer to as “baby talk”. During these early months, your child is learning to mimic your speech, so it is best to speak normally and not in a “baby” voice. In another few months, your child begins scribbling – all activities that eventually help your child learn to write. Here are some other activities and tools you can use to help progress this learning.
Introduce Letters
One of the most popular toys for introducing your child to writing is the magnetic alphabet. There are also alphabet puzzles with larger letters that easily fit into a wooden puzzle. Learning to identify letters will soon have your child spelling simple words.
When you child has learned all of the alphabet, this is also a great time to start spelling simple words and even your child’s name. The letter pieces are always brightly colored to keep your child engaged.
Introduce Phonics
There are educational systems that skip phonics and go straight to sight words. What has been seen with this approach is that children don’t improve quickly in their spelling and writing. There are phonics programs you can purchase to teach your child the basics of learning the sounds of letter and letter combinations.
This is important for your child to learn how to sound out words correctly, so when he or she does begin to write, the ability to sound out the words means fewer spelling errors. If your child is learning only sight words, he or she may even experience the difficulty in putting words together to form sentences.
Writing Pads
Writing pads designed for children can be great activities. They come with rows of particular letters, where your child can then join the dots to write the specific letter. This is fantastic practice, guiding them enough so that they won’t get totally confused. There are some electronic toys and tablet games that do the same thing, but if you’re on a budget then writing pads are all you really need to begin with.
Once your child gets through the alphabet, teaching them how to spell his or her name is very exciting and builds confidence. You can then help them have fun and practice by letting them sign their name on cards for relatives. This is a great motivator to help your child learn to write!
