Learning to read and to write is a major step in a child's education. In the past this has led to considerable pressure being placed on practitioners to get children started earlier and earlier. Up until quite recently, it was not unusual to find three-and four-year-olds sitting around worksheets and tracing over letters. The consequences of this approach showed themselves most frequently in reception classes. Louise, a teacher from Bromley, explains, 'We used to find that many children refused to write unless an adult was with them, as they were not confident enough to have a go by themselves. Since the introduction of the Foundation Stage, this is happening less and less.'
Educational consultant Meg Marshall also welcomes the focus on building children's confidence in their writing. 'In the past, there was too much concentration on the handwriting component of writing. This sapped children's confidence and made them worried about the physical process of writing. Now good practice is about letting children develop a secure base by experimenting with marks and focusing on building their physical skills - something that our European colleagues have been doing for years.'
So how can practitioners encourage children to write? Judith Stevens, early years advisor for Lewisham, London, suggests that often the best way is to think about following a child's own interests. 'Children need meaningful reasons to write. This may mean taking writing over to children as they play. Boys, for example, who traditionally have shied away from reading and writing, particularly benefit from this approach. Children who enjoy playing with cars may make signs if they see an adult model this type of writing with them.'
Judith stresses that the Foundation Stage is about forming the right attitudes towards learning, 'Attitudes need to be built from an early age so that children actually see themselves as writers. This means that while they may not know how to put down the whole of their name, they do know that they will eventually be able to do so.'
As well as encouraging children to develop positive attitudes towards writing, many reception teachers face a dilemma as to how to introduce letter formation. Meg Marshall suggests that wherever possible, letter formation should be done in such a way that it does not change children's focus away from the process of writing. 'Ideally, we should be looking at encouraging children to gain a feeling of letters by working on physical movements. This avoids situations where children become so concerned about whether they will get the letters the right way round that they avoid writing at all.'
This approach is backed by Jan Christmas of East Ravendale CE Primary School in Lincolnshire. She says, 'We do most of our letter formation away from the writing table. Children make letter shapes in the air with scarves, draw shapes in sand and even paint the outdoor walls with water.
This helps children to gain a good visual and physical picture of the letter, which means that when they do their own writing, they are more likely to use correct letter formation. Since we have been doing this, children are noticeably more interested in writing.'