Words, Words, Words: Writing Centers

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Young children should be given opportunities to play with symbols, letters, and words to encourage an interest in writing.

Work on developing writing skills in children as early as possible to...
...help your child express him/herself.
...develop necessary skills to become a writer.
...learn to hold a crayon or pencil correctly.
...recognize the movement of writing from left to right across the paper.
...begin to recognize complete sentences.
...play with word usage.
...develop creative thinking.
..encourage imagination.

Although formal writing instruction is not necessary for very young students, setting up a writing center in your home or classroom gives kids an opportunity to play & practice with the tools of the trade.
Choose materials for your writing center based on the age of your child.
Here are some suggestions for getting started:

To Write On:
~Post-It notes
~Construction Paper
~Tracing Paper
~Cards
~Notecards
~Lined Paper
~Printer Paper
~Paper Cut in Shapes
~Letter Head
~Dry Erase Board
~Notebook
~Diary
~Binder

To Write With:
~Markers
~Pencils
~Colored Pencils
~Pen
~Erasable Ink
~Alphabet Stamps
~Q-Tips: dipped in anything
~Fancy Tip Markers
~Calligraphy Pens
~Crayons
~Letter Stickers
~Highlighters
~Editing Tools: Glue, Scissors, White Out, Tape

To Encourage Writing:
~Books
~Encyclopedia
~Magazines
~Thesaurus
~Dictionary
~Calendar
~Newspaper
~Poems
~Story Starters
~Letter Blocks (Boggle cubes)
~Scrabble Pieces
~Computer
~Pictures
~Props, Toys, Artifacts
~Graphic Organizers/Brainstorming Webs
~A Mirror

To Write About:
~Holidays
~Family
~Friends
~Vacations
~Events
~Favorites
~Pets
~etc. etc. etc.

To Write:
~cartoons
~notes
~letters
~lists
~interviews
~stories
~biography
~recipe
~brochure
~menu
~receipt

To Make the Writing Center Special:
~A Desk
~A Lamp
~ A Bulletin Board for finished work

Include your child in the excitement of setting up the writing center!

Denise at Explorations shares her wonderful Easter writing center with us. You can easily change some of the thematic supplies to make this work for any time of the year.

Many home school families enjoy learning with work boxes. Hadley shared a great batch of work boxes with us. She has a few boxes specifically set up to practice writing skills. Using the information in her post, and some of the ideas posted today, you may be interested in putting together some writing work boxes of your own.

Do you have a writing center/station in your home or classroom? What else could be included?

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