Kids Who Read Will Write

By Mark W.F. Condon, Unite for Literacy vice president

Young children who are read to regularly, who receive sweet birthday cards and other notes in the mail, or who observe their parents as they receive important written communications, easily “get” that print materials deserve their attention. They come to understand that print, along with art and other modes of self-expression, provide the potential for reaching out to “touch” others, quickly or across time, even over long distances.

When, through a pattern of such regular encounters, youngsters realize that they can share their own experiences with others through print, the possibilities for personal literacy kick in for them. Even very young children will begin to draw pictures and deliver “notes,” offering them as gifts to those they love, manifesting the natural beginnings of early literacy.

Experiencing the very personal value of reading and power of writing are critical first steps in becoming fully and gloriously literate. Literacy is social, like social play, and we want to invite kids to participate. Through our conversations, we help them see the kinds of things to consider while writing to a particular audience. We use what we know about kids and what and/or who they love to help them think about who they might “touch” through print. What would delight or inspire that person? 

“Aunt Maureen’s birthday is coming up. Let’s make her a card! What could we put on the front?....Let’s write a little note, too. She’s really funny, so let’s write something silly that will make her laugh. Hey, wanna tell her about our puppy Gracie getting into the Valentine candy and how there were red sparkles in her poop from the candy wrappers? Ha! What else shall we tell her? We’ll send this in the mail, and she’ll get our surprise message in a few days.”

The seeds of literacy are thus planted and nurtured. And when Aunt Maureen writes back, it will be the beginning of a child’s literacy journey.

For literacy to grow to be familiar and beloved, kids must come to understand the joy and even power that is possible when exchanging messages with specific, cared-for audiences. There’s just nothing quite like getting “mail,” establishing an abiding eagerness for receiving responses from others. This kind of start plants seeds for children to appreciate how print builds bonds between and among them and those they love and/or admire. Engaging through print with the authors of letters they receive or via the books they love will carry literacy into their hearts. That sense of connection is an essential, irreplaceable driver of the eventual embrace of books, writing and lifelong learning that adults and older siblings eagerly share with them. 

Kids also need the tools of a literate life: paper, pencils, crayons or markers, as well as easy access to the needed time and quiet places to use them. Writing well is hard to do early on, and it requires the orchestration of a whole variety of complex decisions. “Who is the audience?” “What is my message?” “What kinds of ‘marks’ should I use to capture that message?” “Should I add a picture to help them understand?” 

We want to support little ones’ early efforts at writing in the same loving way we cherish and celebrate their early efforts at learning to talk. It’s a strategic skill that is learned over time, with lots of opportunities to experiment and receive feedback from interested others. Then, as children become more mature in their grasp of the power of print, able writers might be invited to read a note or a letter that the child has written, that they believe is about ready for the letter carrier to pick up. They can offer small, gentle suggestions to such new writers, helping with clarity and letter formation, all the while celebrating what matters most: the reach and intent of the message.

The ultimate resource in children’s learning to write is the gathering of wonderful language found in engaging, self-selected books that are read to them. Consider Karma Wilson’s delightful Bear Snores On, the story of a collection of animals that find their way out of a snowstorm and into a sleeping bear’s cave for shelter. Here’s what the first visitor—a tiny mouse—does: crawls in, observes that the cave is dark and cold, then decides to build a small fire for warmth. But listen to Wilson’s vivid description….

“An itty-bitty mouse,

Pitter-pat, tip-toe,

creep-crawls in the cave

from the fluff-cold snow.

“Mouse squeaks, ‘Too damp,

too dank, too dark.’

So he lights wee twigs

with a small hot spark.”

The coals pip-pop and the wind doesn’t stop,

But the bear snores on.

Young readers who are awash in rich and wonderful language like this will soon fold it into their own ways of self-expression. Each child is one in a million, largely unique in their individual ways to mean something to people they love or with whom they wish to engage. And if they have been touched by someone else’s writing, it positions them to understand the power and potential to reach out to touch others. This is how they will artfully connect with them in inspiring and fulfilling ways, growing as contributors to their lives.