Our progress reports provide a very detailed picture of your child’s current academic, social, and emotional development.  However, they can also be overwhelming if you are not sure exactly what they mean.  In my previous blog post, I outlined some of the key factors of reading development and I am following up with some more information on writing development here.

Like reading, learning to write is a highly developmental and complicated process.  Our youngest writers are not only learning the letters, their sounds, and how to correctly form them, but they are also learning what a word is, how to write a proper sentence, and how to craft and compose an interesting story that makes sense and is readable. I don’t think I have to tell you that this is quite a few skills to master all at once!  Like in reading, children typically follow predictable patterns as they progress in their writing skills.  This allows teachers to provide targeted instruction of the necessary strategies for each child to continue developing as a writer.

On your child’s report, you will see a writing section, “Foundational Skills,” and “Language.”  These are a few of the key indicators that will give you a clear picture of your child’s current developmental phase of writing.  Each standard under Foundational Skills and Language is broken into sub-standards.  A 1 in these areas indicates that, at this time, your student is reliant on the teacher to approach the standard and that they need support.  A 2 indicates that your child is beginning to use these strategies on their own but that they are using them inconsistently and are thus approaching the standard.  A 3 indicates that, at this time, your child is consistently using the taught strategies independently and is meeting the sub-standards that were taught.  At this point in the year, a 1 is not necessarily something to panic about.  It could mean that there is an underlying issue, but most likely, it just means that your child is relying heavily on teacher support because of their current developmental level on the writing continuum or because they are not yet able to compose a story.

At this point in the year, some children are beginning to write conventionally.  Others are still using letter strings to tell their stories.  Still others are finding it challenging to compose a story and consistently “read” their own writing without changing the story each time.

At PNA, writing, like reading, is taught in a workshop model.  All students participate in a mini-lesson in which I present a writing strategy or skill and provide an exemplar.  Students then spend time doing, writing, and practicing the taught strategies.  As some students work independently, I work with others to pinpoint their individual needs and help them continue progressing in their writing development.  This trimester, students will also start making writing goals, which they will adjust and discuss with me during our conferring times.

If you would like to help your child progress in their writing, here are some things you can do at home:

• practice proper handwriting
• learn all of the letters and their sounds
• learn to read and write their snap words
• tell stories together about things that have happened to you or things you have done
• read good literature