This study was designed to examine the effects of tracing and fading prompts to improve the handwriting of two preschoolers both diagnosed as Developmentally Delayed (DD) and one of whom had fine motor goals. The study took place in a self-contained special education public preschool classroom located in the Pacific Northwest. The results showed…

For many children, the beginnings of literacy appear in activities such as pretend play, drawing, conversations about signs in their environment, and writing. In this article, the author describes children's experiences and how they express themselves through writing. With the efforts to communicate, children will write their own stories, try to…

Intended to encourage teachers to examine their assumptions about teaching writing, this document containing a mixture of theory and practice deals with many aspects of writing. The chapters discuss (1) an examination of children's writing and some questions arising from the examination; (2) reasons for failure to write well, including the home…

This book combines a holistic approach to language learning with a developmental point of view, including teaching strategies appropriate for each age and stage of development. The book looks at children's literature and how it is used as the thrust for the development of oral language, reading, and early writing. The book includes: discussion of…

Based on observations of three first grade classrooms in Milan, Italy, this paper provides information about beginning writing instruction in Italy and offers suggestions for adapting some of the more successful techniques found there into writing programs in the United States. The various sections of the paper contain the following: (1)…

The difficulties children face as they are learning to read is the focus of this book, which is a collection of children's work (drawings and handwriting), with statements exploring their implications. The introduction discusses the relationship between early writing and early reading, individual differences, the question of age norms, questions…