Emergent Writing

By observing the adults around them, children become aware that people make marks on paper for a purpose and by approximately two to three years of age children begin imitating writing by scribbling or writing mock letters. A child’s earliest attempt at recognizing that letters represent meaning is seen when the child begins to write their own name. As the child records his/her name, the repetition of this familiar word may establish some very important concepts, namely, this identical set of letters and order of letters make up a remembered word. Little by little, he/she adds the other letters of their name, in appropriate sequence, until the child can run through four or five letters. Next, they may begin to recognize the pattern of letters in other names belonging to people that are important to them such as family, classmates, and pets (Clay, 1975).

Environmental Print – Children also begin to recognize environmental print that exists all around them on storefronts, restaurants, street signs, at the grocery store, within their home, and in their pre-kindergarten classroom. Furthermore, the young learner observes their parent/caregiver paying attention to environmental print in order to follow directions, read a menu or locate items in a grocery store. Pre-kindergarten children soon realize that these symbols represent meaning and they are eager to imitate these letters in their early attempts at writing.

Recommended Reading

I Walk and Read, Hoban, T.
I Read Signs, Hoban, T.
Alphabet City, Johnson, S. T.

About The Author
Recommended Web Sites
References

Shopping for Peaches Presents a Teachable Moment for Parents and Caregivers of Prekindergarten Children to Learn About Environmental Print!

Explore Autumn Leaves Changing Color and Have Fun Writing About Your Discovery in Nature!

Activities

Take a Walk – Walk through town and view names on street signs, names on storefronts, and words made of letters on traffic signs. Letters are everywhere in our environment which we see while driving in our cars, walking down the street, or walking through the aisle in a grocery store, Target, or at the shopping mall. Open your eyes and look for letters everywhere you go, especially the letters in your child’s name.

Practice Writing – Try imitating the same letters seen in the environment by writing them in a tray of dry beans or shaving cream, with a stick in the soil outdoors or with chalk on the sidewalk. Practice writing letters using large motor skills kinesthetically in the air. Opportunities to observe letters are everywhere and imitating parents and siblings as they write letters, grocery lists, cards, and homework assignments afford young children a chance to mimic and write their own versions on unlined paper. Olsen (2003) recommends beginning writers use capital letters with big and little lines, and big and little curves. She also reminds young writers to always begin writing at the top of the page. Wherever we write with our young children, we can make all capital letters with big and little lines and big and little curves and always start at the top of the page.

Create an Alphabet Book – Create a page for each letter and write names of objects or draw pictures of objects that begin with the same letter until you have a page for every letter of the alphabet.