Learning to Write

When I created our Name Folders, one of the many ways that we teach children to recognize, spell and write their names, I did not anticipate such a stir about the fact that our younger students write their names with capital letters. People ask, "Why are you teaching in all capitals?" and comment, "Nice idea, but it's so frustrating to have to break bad habits like these." Some admonish me to, "please, please, please teach them lower case letters from the start!" Many people feel that, "It should be taught correctly as soon as they learn to write."

Every lesson and learning objective that I plan for my class is intentional. I have a degree in early childhood education and a masters in reading education; I am a thinker and a planner. My choice to write their names in capitals is not accidental or ill-advised. It is an intentional decision and I'd love to explain.

Writing sample of a Pre-K student, age 4.10

Young children are surrounded by capital letters.

We all know about the influence of environmental print. Young toddlers who cannot identify any letters can likely "read" Sesame Street, Subway, and Stop because of the powers of environmental print. 

They might have their names on their bedroom walls and wooden toys like these in their playrooms. Capital letters are everywhere.

Capital Letters are easier to recognize and easier to write.

Capital letters are usually easier for children to recognize because they are still developing visual discrimination skills. Many lower case letters look alike. Imagine being a young child. Which of these is easier to identify?

Children are also developing their fine motor skills. The capital letters tend to have simpler lines than the lower case letters. For example, the capital E has 4 straight lines, while the lower case e requires more a much more sophisticated movement.

Writing sample of a Pre-K student, age 5.2

Most children can identify more capital letters than lower case.

In Virginia, our benchmark for kindergarten readiness (based on the PALS assessment) is 12-21 upper case letters and only 9-18 lower case letters. When our students arrive in the fall, we do a quick check to see how many letters they know. This past year, 4 out of my 10 pre-k students recognized zero lower case letters. If students only recognize capital letters, they are only going to write in capital letters. Increasing alphabet knowledge is an important component in learning to write.

Writing sample (and artwork!) from a Pre-K student, age 4.8

Most importantly, learning to write is a developmental process. Using capital letters is part of that development. It is not a bad habit!

All learning is developmental. Here are a few examples:

• Infants crawl, pull up to standing, take a few steps, then toddle around before they learn to walk "properly." We would never discourage a toddler from cruising the furniture out of fear that it would foster bad walking habits!
• Children learn to babble before they speak in single words. Then they string a few words together before making a complete sentence. Once they've mastered that, they may be able to carry on longer conversations. We would never discourage a child from saying, "Mama, up!" out of fear that he would develop bad speaking habits. Eventually, he will learn to say, "Mommy, please pick me up!"
• The same is true with writing. Children begin by scribbling. Then they make letter-like symbols and start to string random letters together. As they learn more about their name, they write its letters, even if some are reversed or missing. We do not discourage this type of writing, or insist that the children write their names conventionally! It is just a part of the process -- not a bad habit.

Teachers know their children best.

Like other teachers, I know my children very well and constantly strive to meet them where they are in their development. Do you remember Lev Vygotsky and his Zone of Proximal Development? His theory is that we always work toward what the students can do with a bit of instructional support. It's that sweet spot between work that is too easy, and work that is currently out of reach because it's too difficult. When my students show signs that they are ready to use lower case letters, or in January of their Pre-K year (whichever comes first), we move to conventional name writing. The 4-year-old who wrote his name below is not quite ready for conventional writing. His goal is to identify and include all of the letters, and it will likely be with capitals.

Writing sample of a preschool student, age 4.3

Model, Scaffold, and Support

Finally, it is important to model conventional names for our children. All of the names that are posted (everywhere!) in our classroom are written with an initial upper case and subsequent lower case letters. Every time the children see me write their names, it is conventional. 

Simultaneously we work on our fine motor skills (see examples here, here, and here) to build on the skills that the children are developing.

We celebrate when the students return from winter break in January of Pre-K that it is actually their kindergarten year! We talk about all of the wonderful things that might happen (losing teeth, riding the school bus, going to the "big school"). I make a big deal about the fact that now that they are almost ready for kindergarten, they have to start using lower case letters in their names. Instead of being frustrated, this is motivating for our 5-year-olds. They want to be big kids! They want to do things like a kindergartner! With few exceptions (there are always some kids who are just not quite ready) my students leave Pre-K writing their names conventionally. They do it because we have supported their development as they learn to write their names at age 3 and 4.

Writing sample of a Pre-K student, age 5.5

I'd love to know what you think. Should preschoolers be required to write their names with lower case letters?

You can read more about how we teach children their names in these posts:

    

Powerful Mothering has a wonderful FREE printable page that you can edit (capitals or lower case!) for your children to practice writing their names. Click HERE:

Follow this board for tons of name ideas:

Follow Play to Learn Preschool's board Literacy: Name Games on Pinterest.

Here are some of the writing products that we use, for your convenience.