Nursery World - What it means to children to write

Further to Colin Lancaster's In My View column ('The wrong way to write', 15 April), may I offer my opinion on how children acquire this skill successfully, based on my 35 years of experience as an early years practitioner who has seen and been involved in many ways of teaching young children how to write. Young children need to be given the opportunity to experiment through play with a variety of writing materials - and may I stress that 'through play'

Young children need to be given the opportunity to experiment through play with a variety of writing materials - and may I stress that 'through play'

is the key issue here. Writing materials in the home corner, office area, or pretend shop or supermarket, as part of long-term provision in day nurseries and pre-schools, allow children to use their skills without fear of failure. They can take telephone messages, make their own shopping lists, write letters to each other, and be creative with pencils and crayons, all the while learning that the written word conveys meaning. This in itself is crucial in maintaining interest at the beginning of learning to write.

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