How Children Learn to Write
Supporting and Developing Children's Writing in School
- Dorothy Latham - Independent Educationist
Early Childhood Language & Literacy
`The chapter on the Taxonomy of Writing Purposes will be useful for planning and those on extending and enhancing writing will definitely be helpful in many day-to-day situations' - Nicholas Bielby, Times Educational Supplement
This book outlines the processes which are involved when children learn to write.
The author shows how certain strategies can improve children's progress in writing. Dealing with the age range three to 13, the book addresses issues to do with:
- the gender gap
- children with English as an additional language
- left-handedness
Dorothy Latham includes ideas for sound and easy ongoing assessment of writing. The book is written in line with the requirements of the English National Curriculum and The National Literacy Strategy Framework for England, but is not limited to them.
Topics also covered include:
- brain development and structures
- the acquisition of speech
- language and thinking
- working memory
- secretarial skills
- stages in compositional development
- writing purposes and cross-curricular applications
- strategies for improving self-generated writing
- using reading to improve writing
- using speech and drama to improve writing and
- ten ways to improve children's writing.
This book is for serving teachers in schools wishing to study the subject in further depth, and as a source book for students. Useful for school-based staff INSET, it provides simple activities for teachers to do and discuss.
A good publication which provides some practical examples to help children learn new skills or extend individual writing needs. The Chapter on brain development and gender differences was interesting to support TA’s on the Foundation Degree to adapt teaching resources to advance children’s individual needs.
This book gives a good overview about the acquisition of writing skills in children. Especially the section about the underlying cognitive functions was very interesting and helpful for my class.
This book gives a very comprehensive overview of how children learn to write, starting from early brain development and culminating in an Epilogue which suggests ways that teachers can help their students to improve their writing. It is easy to dip into, if so desired, and has useful guides and exercises for the teacher to consider. It would be beyond the scope of the course that I will be delivering, but it will be useful to have in my college's library.
A useful book to supplement core literature, which covers a wide range of developmental areas within literacy.
Latham gives readers an excellent grounding in how children learn to write a first language and how this process is supported by education in the UK. Whether a reader has a background in education or linguistics, or neither, this book clearly explains the complex processes and developmental stages. It is also an excellent model of comprehensive and solid research as well as the academic writing skills that support its presentation, for students to emulate.
