Writing & Spelling

My daughter has a learning disability. What strategies can I use to help her through the writing process?

The following articles from LD OnLine have information about writing and learning disabilities:

• Handwriting Club: Using Sensory Integration Strategies to Improve Handwriting
• Strategies for the Reluctant Writer
• Prevention and Intervention of Writing Difficulties for Students with Learning Disabilities
• Teaching Expressive Writing to Students with Learning Disabilities
• All Children Can Write

Also, contact her teachers and ask for suggestions. They may have strategies they use in class that you could use at home.

The following link has reviews of software programs for many different educational applications, including writing:

• SuperKids Educational Software Review

How can I help my preschooler with her writing skills?

The following articles will give you an idea of the types of skills that very young children should be demonstrating:

• Literacy Milestones: Age 3-4
• Literacy Milestones: Age 5
• Literacy Milestones: Age 6

Incorporating reading and writing into everyday fun activities, such as reading a recipe and baking together, writing a grocery list, and sending notes to each other, is one of the best ways parents can help develop pre-literacy skills in their very young children. Allow your preschooler to scribble letters without correction, use letter magnets and stamps, and take dictation while she tells you her ideas. In this way, she will discover the joy, power, and practicality of literacy and will be inspired to learn more as she is ready.

The following articles may give you ideas of ways to encourage your child’s writing skills in playful, fun, and developmentally appropriate ways:

• Tips for Parents to Encourage Writing
• Writing Leads to Reading
• 25 Activities for Reading and Writing Fun
• Written Language: Practical Ideas for Parents
• The Early Years are Learning Years
• Fun Reading Tips and Activities

One of the most valuable gifts that you can give your child is to instill in her a love of reading and writing and a genuine curiosity and desire to learn. She will take this gift with her throughout her lifetime.

My daughter just started preschool and I have noticed that sometimes she writes letters backwards. Should I be concerned?

Writing letters backwards is a normal part of developing writing skills in preschool. If you have other reasons to suspect dyslexia (like parents or relatives with dyslexia, or problems identifying sounds or learning to say the alphabet), you should continue to monitor her progress and document your observations in case you see signs of a bigger problem.

Keep practicing with her by doing fun writing activities at home, like writing a shopping list, or writing a letter to a relative. Most of her early mistakes will be part of the process of learning to write, so model the right way, but don't hold her to it too early! She is in an experimentation phase with this skill.

The Reading Rockets website has articles that may be of interest to you as you help your child learn to read, including sections on writing and developmental timelines.