Literacy

How to help your child be successful with writing

Be a writing role model

Make sure your child sees you writing. They will learn about writing by watching you write. Talk with them about your writing so that they begin to understand why writing is important and the many ways it can be used.

Stay positive!

Kids who are worried about spelling every word correctly will often stick to a small group of words they can spell, or may avoid writing altogether. Focus on their ideas, their attempts at spelling and use of punctuation, capital letters and so much more! Be sure to not correct all of their work for spelling as this could discourage them further. 

Does spelling count?

With junior school students, you’ll see a combination of invented and correct spelling (especially words from a word wall or vocabulary list). Early attempts at spelling are not the random swings they sometimes appear. Children's "invented spelling" gives us a window into what they understand about written language. Praise your child on their spelling attempts, especially if it read phonetically close or even correct eg. werk (work).