George, three years old, had been listening with the other children in the nursery to his teacher telling them that the wheely toys could not come into the covered yard. She drew a line in chalk to mark the area. George asked for a chalk and drew next to it a wiggly line. He told them all loudly, 'This says no bikes in here.'
George had not had any formal instruction in literacy but already he knew, through his family and the world around him, that marks had meaning, that print is powerful and that it can affect the behaviour of others.
As they grow, children are active learners, constantly asking questions such as 'What does that say?' as they try to make sense of their encounters with people and print. By age three and four they are already experienced learners, not because they have been passive recipients of information, but because they have been involved in constructions and reconstructions of their world with meaningful people in their lives, and because the learning has had purpose and meaning.
It is important that children have ownership of learning, that whatever is to be learned is in the child's own terms and part of their world. When children are very young they make marks quite freely in various contexts: marks in sand on the beach, on steamed-up car windows, in pastry. These marks develop into purposeful written language as they realise the potential for power and enjoyment in the use of language and literacy. It is important to capitalise on this understanding to enable young children to progress.
We need to provide playful and purposeful opportunities for children to develop as writers.
Opportunities for name writing and the construction of simple captions and sentences can arise either because of planned events or in unexpected ways. For example, in some settings, children are asked to 'sign in' as they arrive in the morning, or alternatively to select their name from a table and post it in the entry box to establish who is present that day. Settings using a High/Scope approach may ask children to sign in to activities or to plan their day. They need to have ready access to a range of appropriate writing materials and also perhaps now a word processor.
Here are three examples of children writing for their own purpose, with a particular audience or reader in mind.
1 In one setting, practitioners asked the children to put a sign next to The Iron Man that had been built. They expected the children to copy the book title. Instead, two boys erected a sign saying 'DGR' (Danger) in bold red pen 'to tell people that he's scary'.
2 In the same setting, the children's activity was deterring birds from feeding at the bird tables. Independently, a sign was erected, sellotaped to a chair, telling the other children: DT BSCH CHRS HR (Don't bash chairs here).
3 After a discussion about the problems of climbing trees in the play
area, Tyrone made a notice, in red and on card, instructing others: DTDCMTREE (Don't do climbing tree) and put it next to a tree. It was effective, perhaps in part because he stood boldly next to his sign, a double deterrent!
These examples involved children who felt safe to use their developing knowledge of writing to construct messages that were important to them. As children process information about written language, they need time and space to experiment with their new-found knowledge. They also need the support of experienced writers to celebrate their achievements and help them to go on to new goals.
The examples above are effective because they have authentic purposes and the children also understand that there will be a real reader for their writing. It is through such engagements that children develop from 'being able to write' to becoming 'writers'.
