Component 6: Emergent Writing
Learning Goal 6.b: Children use writing to represent and communicate ideas in a variety of contexts; they use a combination of drawing, dictating, and writing to communicate; they participate in shared writing
By 9 months, most children:
- Attend to visual stimuli in their environment
By 18 months, most children:
- Make marks or scribbles on paper using a variety of media (e.g., chalk, pencil, markers, paint)
By 24 months, most children:
- Make intentional scribbles and shapes when offered paper and crayons or other writing instruments and show their drawings to others
By 36 months, most children:
- Use scribbles as representations of oral language (e.g., describing scribbles as writing or language by telling adult what they mean)
- Create drawings and assign meaning to them
- Imitate the act of writing during play
By 48 months, most children:
- Use letter-like symbols to create written materials during play or to express an idea
- Use writing tools and materials in various centers or learning environments (e.g., dramatic play, block area, science center)
- Dictate ideas, sentences, and stories
- With modeling and support, discuss or answer questions about their writing and drawings
By 60 months, most children:
- With modeling and support, use writing and or digital tools to communicate information, tell a story, or answer a question
- Use writing to convey meaning (e.g., writing a note to themselves during play, writing a note to their mother, taking a restaurant “order” in a dramatic play area, writing a grocery list)
