10 Ideas For Developing Lecto-writing – Parenthood

Would you like your children from an early age to be interested in reading and writing, but you don’t know how? Here we are going to present you 10 ideas to develop reading and writing in children in a natural way, before and during their learning in the education system.

In order for children to feel involved and interested in reading and writing, it is essential to offer them situations and contexts that stimulate their taste for these activities. Families play a fundamental role in this task. Monserrat Fons offers us 10 ideas to develop reading writing in our children.

Ideas for Developing Lecto-Writing in Children

Living with a world of letters

Reading and writing is a communicative activity that fits into our socio-cultural environment. It is therefore important that  small apprentices live with adults who frequently use lecto-writing. In this way, children will learn to discover and value the meaning of reading and writing.

Things as simple as writing a shopping list, reading the ingredients for a treat, leaving a note, reading a story or supermarket signs will help develop a taste and learning for reading and writing in children.

Symbolic play also offers the possibility of imitating the reading and writing behaviors that children see in their family and school context.

Facilitate interdependent learning

Reading and writing are processes that must be taught in a comprehensive and not isolated way. If we do full reading and writing experiences with children, it will mean a lot more to them.

In addition, it is recommended to create and facilitate contexts in which children reflect on the functioning of language, both written and oral. In this way, they will gradually learn the characteristics of each type of text, be it letter, recipe, news, greeting cards, story, etc.

Read aloud for new readers

The simple fact of listening to texts read by expert readers has very beneficial effects  for the little ones. This activity helps to familiarize new readers with the structure of written text and language.

Likewise,  it is important to develop the child’s participation during reading. We have to involve it when we read. We can thus comment on what we read, ask questions or ask him to relate what he hears to the drawings he sees.

By doing this, we will promote understanding of the texts before the little one learns to read. In addition,  reading while involving children creates an important emotional bond  and helps build a positive reading experience.

Write jointly

It is important to write jointly with children. We need to help them understand the usefulness and social functionality of writing in everyday life.

For this we need to  teach and explain to children the importance of writing well so that others can understand written texts. The importance of thinking about what they want to say and who they want to say it to, before you start writing. As well as the importance of rereading what has been written in order to improve it.

Take into account the relationship between oral language and written language

As we know, we learn to speak before we write. However, when the child develops his oral language, it is beneficial to offer him situations during which he would be in contact with written language.

He must understand, little by little, that the set of letters he sees written does not represent the objects but the name of the object; children, in fact, think that what does not exist or that what they do not know cannot be written.

Likewise, children must gradually understand  that we do not write the same way we speak. There are many separate rules: although writing can be oral, it does not coincide at all with spoken language.

Other ideas to develop lecto-writing

Encourage the child to experiment with reading or writing

We need to stimulate and motivate children, in any setting, to experience and deepen lecto-writing. By doing this, we will develop autonomy in their learning.

Always encourage him – but never force him – to try to read and write. Even if the child says he does not know how to do it well, we have to motivate him and help him and praise him for his good work. If we provide an environment of safety and trust for the little one, he will see his mistakes as a source of learning.

Respect the value of time and waiting

Learning to read and write is a long and complex process; it takes time and patience and, as we know, each child has their own pace of learning.

Normally, you start reading between 5 and 7 years old. However, the child who started at age 7 can be as good a reader as the one who started at age 5.

We must let the children discover, discuss and try for themselves. If we adults give them hasty answers and don’t let them think, children will end up being dependent on our explanations.

Highlight successes, more than mistakes

The child’s successes must be valued in an adjusted way. If we say “very well” we need to be more specific and say what he did well, for example “you wrote very clearly” or “you wrote a lot of letters”.

The generalized “very good” motivates but does little to help in learning. If we want the little one to become aware of his learning, we must  recognize and name what he has done well.

Using the material that surrounds us, one of the ideas for developing lecto-writing

We are surrounded by fantastic material that teaches children to read and write. The best is the one around us, such as shop posters, candy wrappers, bar menus, advertising, newspapers …

There is a wide variety of contexts that can motivate children in their learning to read / write. In addition, the child will come into contact with  different types of media and typography.

Talking about reading and writing

For children to progress in learning to read and write, it is good  to establish collaborative reading and writing situations. This facilitates verbal interaction that helps build learning.

On the other hand,  it is rewarding to talk about their favorite books, news that interests them, play with words, etc., making it habitual, even if they are not reading or writing at this very moment.

What to remember about ideas to develop lecto-writing

In kindergarten,  reading and writing should be seen as creative and playful activities,  not as compulsory. We must indeed try to make the little ones interested and passionate about these activities.

It is important that children have contact with reading and writing before starting school. This is not complicated because, as we have seen, there are many possibilities for learning in their usual environment. However, it is always necessary to present them the act of reading and writing as a game and not as an obligation to learn in a hurry.