First experiences in writing begin with notes home written by the teachers and later, written by the children. Next, the children expand their communications to their peers. While the children need support from the teachers, we also recognize the value of being self-sufficient and the role it plays in becoming an independent learner.
To foster the children’s budding interest in literacy, the teachers met to come up with a plan for the Communication Area. In addition to supplying this area with references such as: the alphabet, name books, and address books, we have added the Favorite Words basket. This is a basket of the children’s common words and phrases used when writing letters.
When introduced to the children, they first used the words to add vocabulary to their drawings. Soon, they were requesting new words, and by the end of the day the teachers observed whole letters being created.