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Curriculum

How to Support Children with Their Writing

Whether a child rushes through writing to get it over with or finds holding a pencil hard work, there are simple ways to help.

  • 24 minutes
  • 6 modules
  • 0.5 CPD hours
  • Certificate

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What you'll learn

  • Tell a reluctant writer from a struggling one, and match your support to each
  • Use picture prompts and story starters to get past the blank page
  • Plan a story with a child using a story mountain or a simple scaffold
  • Build handwriting and fine motor skills in short, varied bursts
  • Recognise signs that might mean a child needs an assessment for dysgraphia

About this course

Some children race to the end with a sigh, one character and no plan, just to get it over with. Others want to write but tire quickly, hold the pencil awkwardly and mix up their b's and d's. The first child is reluctant and the second is struggling, and they need slightly different help.

You'll learn to tell which is which, with ideas for both. A picture from a free site like Pobble 365 can replace the blank page, and a sensory box of shells and sand can start an under-the-sea story. Five-minute bursts of letter formation beat pages of the letter A, and a comic strip lets a slow writer put everything into one good sentence per picture.

You'll also know the signs that might point to dysgraphia, and when it's worth raising a concern with a colleague or the child's teacher.

  • For parents, support staff and teaching assistants. Early years and primary.

6 modules

Open in order

  1. Introduction

    3 min

  2. Wrap up

    2 min

  3. Characteristics of struggling and reluctant readers

    5 min

  4. Support reluctant writers

    9 min

  5. Support struggling writers

    7 min

  6. Share your concerns

    2 min