Ideas for Writing at Home (from Ministry of Education)
Writing for fun
- Talk about interesting words with your child, especially ones that are fun to say, like "hippopotamus" or "ringaringa". Short and simple games could involve finding how many little words can be found using the letters in the word ‘elephant’
- Work together on the small word games found in the children’s section (or word section) of the newspaper
- Make up a story or think of a pakiwaitara (legend) or traditional tale and act it out with costumes and music, write down the names of the characters or tïpuna (ancestors)
- Make up a play with your child. You could help your child to write the play down. Use puppets they design and make themselves to give a performance to the family
Here's a tip - keep writing fun and use any excuse to encourage your child to write about anything, any time.
Writing for a reason
- Writing for a real purpose can help your child want to write.For example, writing invitations, typing emails or writing and posting small notes
- Personalising notes by cutting, decorating, sticking or stamping are great skills for coordinating fingers and being creative. Postcards are a good size for a sentence or two and they are cheap to post, too
- Encourage your child to write what they need to pack for a holiday, dictate your shopping list to them, or get them to write a list of jobs that need doing.
Here's a tip - talk about what your child writes. Be interested. If you don’t understand what your child’s picture or story is about, ask them to explain.
Supporting your child's writing
- Talk to your child about what you are writing – let them see you making lists, writing emails, filling in forms
- Keep envelopes, banking slips, forms you don’t need so that your child can do their own ‘grown up’ writing
- Display your child’s writing where others can admire and read it
- Play with words. Find and discuss interesting new words – this can help increase the words your child uses when they write – look words up in the dictionary or on the Internet or talk to family and whānau members to learn the whakapapa (origins) of the words.
Here's a tip - be a great role model. Show your child that you write for all sorts of reasons. Let them see you enjoying writing. You can use your first language – this helps your child’s learning, too.