Have your child start by drawing a picture. For kindergartners, this is the thinking stage and it is an important part of the writing process. Next, encourage your child to "write words about your picture."
1. Begin with the picture - Say "Tell me the story about your picture." OR "What's happening in your story?" If the child can't think of anything, point to part of the picture and say "Tell me about this part."
2. Listen and repeat - State your child's story back to him/her as one complete, simple sentence. Get the child's approval on the sentence. If your child would like to write more than one sentence, repeat steps 2 through 7 for each sentence.
3. Stretch it out - Ask, "Do you hear any letters?" and say the first word of their sentence. As you speak, emphasize (louder and longer) the sound that he/she is trying to write. DO NOT separate the sound from the rest of the word. Allow your child to write what he/she thinks the letter(s) are. DO NOT tell them what letter to write.
4. Magic line - If your child has no idea what letter makes the sound, encourage him/her to use a magic line (a horizontal blank line) in place of the unknown letter(s).
5. How do I write it? - If the child hears the letter but does not know how to write it, refer to an alphabet chart. ("You can find letter j under the picture of the jar.")
6. Popcorn Words - If you come to a word in a child's story that is one of our Popcorn Words say, "Where can you find that word?" Note: These are posted on the wall in our classroom.
7. Adult Writing - It is important to use proper letter formation during your Adult Writing and to use capitals only where they belong. WHILE you do the Adult Writing, point out and praise what they did correctly ("Great, you heard the t in top, and you figured out the p sound at the end of top.") or close to correctly (Good job hearing that /k/ sound in camping. Sometimes that sound is written as a k and sometimes it's a c.). Be a cheerleader! Ignore their mistakes! Praise their successes!
Read the adult writing back to the child twice as you point to it. Encourage the child to join in.
Thanks for supporting your child's academic growth!