Back when I was moderating the early years foundation stage profile, a fellow moderator told me about a pupil who perfectly summed up the challenges that early years practitioners face when trying to teach children how to write.
The pupil was 5 years old, and had written a few words in his book to describe his weekend.
Underneath, his teacher had written: “Can you write some more?” His reply, filling the whole page: “Noooooooooooooooooooo”.
That “no” has stayed with me, not just because it made me laugh, but because it reminds me how crucial motivation and readiness are in young children’s learning journeys, especially with a skill like writing.
Learning to write, learning to drive
Writing is tricky for young children. They have to develop proficiency in their pencil grip and control, remember and execute correct letter formation, and know how to link letters and sounds. This is a lot for a young child to remember and do all at the same time.
We can compare the level of challenge to that faced by someone who is just starting to learn to drive. They have to check their mirrors, release the clutch, engage first gear, press the accelerator and steer safely as they pull out.
Mastering these skills takes time, practice and careful guidance. Young children learning to write need step-by-step support, just as a new driver would.
For that reason, it’s worth reflecting on getting the foundations right in Reception. But what does this look like?
The Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF) guidance report states that “language provides the foundation of thinking and learning and should be prioritised”.
Before they can write about what they did at the weekend, for example, many children in Reception need considerable support to develop their oral language and imaginative role play skills, so that they can speak in full sentences and move beyond the “here and now” to talk about things they did in the past.
Pillars of success
There are several tried and tested approaches to consider using in Reception to enhance this learning, including Tales Toolkit, Helicopter Stories and Talk for Writing.
For children whose language is substantially delayed, the has been rigorously trialled by the EEF, showing an average learning gain of four months (rising to an even more impressive seven months in the case of children eligible for free school meals).
Alongside language, physical development forms a second crucial pillar of early writing success. A carefully planned programme to develop children’s fine and gross motor skills, including the use of tools like pencils, needs to be in place before we can expect children to write letters, words and sentences. And as with all mastery approaches to learning, we should be checking these skills are secure before we move children on to more complex tasks.
None of this means that teaching handwriting should be avoided in the early years. Once children have the oral language and physical skills they need, it is important for them to learn correct letter formation. Forming letters incorrectly can quickly become habitual, and habits take a lot of unlearning. As the EEF report comments, we need to “support children to develop the foundations of a fast, accurate and efficient handwriting style”.
The Reception curriculum can feel overloaded, and expectations at this stage can sometimes be out of kilter with the realities of child development. It’s always worth remembering that the youngest Reception children will not even be 5 until the summer holidays.
For this reason, we need to pare our approach to writing back. By prioritising talk and movement before pencil and paper, we can give every child the strongest possible start - and a reason to say “yes” to writing.
