Early stages
Until recently, most three-and four-year-olds were described as being in a 'pre-writing stage'. They would not be introduced to letters, or ideas about letters, until they had achieved certain 'pre-writing skills'. These skills were usually partly linked to cognitive and language development, and partly linked to physical dexterity. Children were not given pens to hold if they could not thread beads or speak in a complete sentence.
Cathy Nutbrown, Sheffield University's senior lecturer in education and an expert on early literacy, describes this as the 'philosophy of no literacy in the nursery' in her book Recognising Early Literacy Development.
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