Children frequently have a natural skill or tendency for communication through writing. Monitoring attempts at drawing, mark-making, fake writing, and proper writing might reveal a learner’s early understanding of literacy.

Emergent writing refers to the stage at which children begin to express themselves on paper. It happens with their early understanding of reading, and we’ll look at the utility of emergent writing in more detail later in this essay. Continue reading to find out more.

Early Writing and Its Stages of Development

Typically, children progress through phases of early writing and mark-making. Here are a few examples:

Scribbling – this stage generally occurs between the ages of 1½ to 2½ years, and it is characterized by children drawing large circles and lines while gripping their writing instrument in a fist. Scribbling is more about motor activity and experimentation than it is about representing thoughts and ideas in a meaningful way.

Pre-writing, meaningful mark-making – between the ages of 2½ to 3½ years, children will begin this phase with more purposeful shapes and scribbles, and they will frequently state aloud what their marks signify. Drawing and writing are indistinguishable.

Pre-writing, letter strings, and letter-like formations – Between the ages of 3 and 5, children may begin to ‘write’ curves, dots, and lines that resemble letters, or they may write proper letters in random order. They will frequently ‘read’ what has been ‘written,’ and their attempts reflect their early awareness that writing is meant to express meaning.

Invented spelling – During this stage, which happens between the ages of 5 and 7, children will attempt to write words by constructing letters for the sounds they hear.

Conventional spelling – Beginning at the age of six, children improve their written representation of vocal sounds, learn how to spell high-frequency terms and other words properly, and gain an understanding of typical spelling patterns. As a consequence, reading their work gets simpler.

The Advantages of Invented Spelling

Many claims that encouraging ‘incorrect’ created spelling stunts a child’s reading development or fosters negative habits. Invented spelling has been shown to enhance learning to read, and while teaching good spelling is critical, fostering invented spelling in the early stages can have several advantages.

Kids can increase their phonemic awareness by speaking words and carefully listening to their sounds. By connecting letters with the sounds they hear, children acquire important phonics abilities for reading.

Stages of Spelling

The spelling efforts made by children, as well as their mistake patterns in the conventional and inventive spelling stages, are valuable in understanding their phonics knowledge and phonological awareness. In these stages, their spelling will progress predictably.

Finally, consider the following:

Emergent writing may be an excellent tool for understanding your child’s phonic, literary, and writing development, and it should be supported at all levels.