Learning to write begins with understanding that your thoughts can be put on paper and saved for later. For young children, writing first looks like scribbles and has no meaning. But around 3 years old, children start to realize that different scribbles are actually symbols and represent sounds and words. This concept is reinforced when parents and teachers have a conversation with children and write either their own or the children's words down as they speak.
At Koti Academy, teachers write children's words during circle time. Then, as the year progresses, they hang clipboards in various learning centers such as the block area or science areas so that children can record their own thoughts either with drawings, scribbles or inventive spelling. Imagine drawing a sketch of an animal habitat before building it. What will it look like? What should it include? Blocks, rocks or pine cones? Children respond to such prompts both in writing and in their play.
Language develops naturally and through authentic experiences. Gone are the days of worksheets, Welcome to learning through play!