That Early Childhood Nerd on Children’s Writing

11/30/2021

That Early Childhood Nerd on Children’s Writing

Four great adventures: read, learn, write and travel.
Lailah Gifty Akita, Ghanaian writer

On a recent "That Early Childhood Nerd" podcast host Heather Bernt-Santy interviewed Rebecca McMahon Giles, author of A Young Writer’s World. We urge you to listen to their delightful conversation. Here’s a small sampling:

Heather: I feel like literacy is always a topic and people always want to talk about reading…but there aren’t many books I’ve seen that help children become writers…

Rebecca: I do think that we, as parents and teachers and just a society in general, recognize the importance of teaching reading…the exposure to books…but we haven’t done such a good job of getting that message out about writing…It just hasn’t been emphasized…

A common misconception occurs between the terms writing and handwriting…Writing is definitely not penmanship…When you’re talking about writing it’s all about self-expression, and the emphasis is on communication, regardless of the form that takes.

Heather: Yes, you say that early in the book, that it isn’t a manual on teaching handwriting, it’s a guide to help nurture young children’s writing as a means of communication. I love that discussion of the ultimate goal."

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