Writing skills by the end of K? - Page 2

[whatsnextmom]

I also liked the question at the end. To be fair, she is imitating the style of a series of books she likes (she is good at doing this).

But that is how you start as a writer. My own DD often wrote in other author's styles in the early grades. I thought the "Series of Unfortunate Events" stage would NEVER end lol. Even if your DD is trying out a "style" from a book she's read recently, it's clever work and unusual for kindie.

[ramama]

Originally Posted by loraxc

How does this work for kids who are not really reading at the end of K? Isn't that still considered within the realm of normal, or no? Are they expected to be able to write independently?

My DD could write phonetically far before she could read in any measurable way (sure, she could read her name and a few three-letter words, etc.). Her school, which was Montessori if that matters, said that kids are often ready to write before they are ready to read. It was quite funny, though, because I often had trouble reading DDs stories because of the phonetic spellings and lack of spacing. I would ask her what something said and she would say "I don't know, I can't read!"

[Momily]

Originally Posted by egoldber

Interesting. My older DD went to a small, private K and then our large public first. She was not able to write at this level until I would say end of first quarter in first and she was definitely well within the range of normal for her first grade. But she was a very advanced reader and hated the "invented spelling" because she KNEW what she was writing was wrong and it bothered her. It was a bit of a struggle to get her to write for awhile because of this. It really wasn't until her spelling improved that she enjoyed writing.

It's important to remember that there's a wide variety of "normal" in any grade -- so while what I posted is what the K teachers aim for, there are also plenty of children who are doing quite well, and who don't quite hit that mark.

Also, our school places a lot of emphasis on early writing. We use invented spelling as our primary vehicle to teach phonemic awareness and sound-symbol relationships. We also start the kids writing in 4th quarter PreK, while they start reading in 3rd quarter K. I know many schools still reverse that (I say still because I see it as a more old fashioned curriculum), and work on reading first.

[oceanbaby]

Originally Posted by egoldber

Interesting. My older DD went to a small, private K and then our large public first. She was not able to write at this level until I would say end of first quarter in first and she was definitely well within the range of normal for her first grade. But she was a very advanced reader and hated the "invented spelling" because she KNEW what she was writing was wrong and it bothered her. It was a bit of a struggle to get her to write for awhile because of this. It really wasn't until her spelling improved that she enjoyed writing.

Neither of my kids will do "invented spelling" for exactly the reason you mentioned. They know there is a correct way to spell it, and if they don't know it they ask me. They don't like to try on their own because they don't like to get it wrong. So early writing has been a struggle with both of them - they don't have the skills to do it correctly, but don't want to bother if it isn't going to be correct. At the age of 4 and 5 they wanted me to write it for them.

[Emmeline II]

Originally Posted by loraxc

How does this work for kids who are not really reading at the end of K? Isn't that still considered within the realm of normal, or no? Are they expected to be able to write independently?

For K my district says:
"Students must read and comprehend previously unseen text at the emergent level."

Also, they need to be able to

• form upper and lower case letters,
• write their name,
• demonstrates correct directionality when writing,
• writes letter for beginning sound of word,
• uses letter sounds to write words,
• uses environmental print to spell words.

[inkslinger]

My daughter just finished kindy and she is writing sentences, mostly phonetically. As a few have mentioned above, she gets frustrated sometimes because she knows what she is spelling is wrong and she's a bit of a perfectionist. We're working on it! Here is a sample from her journal:

I do not want to live on the moon becus ther is aliens. And the hols, they shoot out fir.

[Freeman]

Originally Posted by loraxc

She said she spelled perfect wrong on purpose to make the joke--I did think that was clever!

I was wondering if "purrfect" was intentional before I saw this post - VERY clever - love it!

Originally Posted by egoldber

But she was a very advanced reader and hated the "invented spelling" because she KNEW what she was writing was wrong and it bothered her. It was a bit of a struggle to get her to write for awhile because of this. It really wasn't until her spelling improved that she enjoyed writing.

My ds just finished K, and I notice this with him, too. He prefers to "spell it right" and will want to know how to spell words before he tries to write them. He would much rather read than write and does not enjoy having to write neatly!