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Educators now realize that children progress through six
different stages of writing. |
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Drawing
Children draw and
"read" their drawings as a form of communication. They may
draw an unrecognizable form and say, "I played in the home
center today with my friends." Or they may draw a treelike
form and say, "This says remember to take me to the park."
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Scribbling
Young children believe they are writing when they scribble and
often "read" what they have just scribbled. Children often
will move the pencil like adults, making their scribbles from
left to right.
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Invented Letters
Many young children make up their own letters. A circle with a
line drawn down from the bottom (resembling a lollipop) is a
common invented letter. Again, children believe they are
writing.
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Random Letters
As
children become more aware of the alphabet, they often write
the letters in long strings, usually at random.
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Invented Spelling
Invented spelling takes many forms but is related to the
sounds the child hears in each word. At the beginning of this
stage, children may write one letter to represent one word.
Later, words are represented by two letters, the initial and
ending letters sounds. As the child's writing continues to
mature, most sounds are represented in their invented
spelling.
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Common Spelling
The
child begins writing more and more words spelled as adults
spell.
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