Starting Out with Writing: A Simple Guide for Parents

Let’s Talk About Writing

Along with reading, writing can feel like one of the hardest skills to navigate with your kids. Questions like 'Why aren’t they interested?' and 'Why aren’t they improving?' are very common.

Pressure from others can add to these worries because writing progress is such a visible thing - people can see at a glance whether a child is writing or not, and judgments can quickly follow. As more families take on home education, I hear the same concerns over and over - about progress, interest and where to start.

I wrote this guide because of these worries. From my years of teaching, I learned a lot about what doesn’t work when helping children learn to write and enjoy it. Rushing, pressuring or focusing on neatness too early can quickly put kids off and affect their confidence and self-esteem. This guide is based on those experiences - what I’ve found works really well, and how to help children (and you) enjoy the process rather than feel stressed by it.

This guide walks you through the building blocks of writing right from the beginning, breaking it down into manageable and adaptable steps, whether your child is new to it, struggling or resistant.

1. The Foundations: Enjoyment & Environment

One of the most powerful ways children learn is by watching and copying what we do. It’s hard for a child see the importance of writing if we’re not showing them that we value it too.

So are you writing? It doesn’t have to be anything grand (especially if you struggle with it or don't enjoy it) - a quick note to someone or a list can be enough. The point is to show them that writing is a normal, everyday thing. And if you do enjoy writing, share that! Journal in front of them, copy a beautiful poem or write down a silly story.

If your child is making marks and patterns on paper, drawing pictures or telling stories and funny rhymes, these are the very first steps toward writing. These early ideas will lay the groundwork for future writing. Create an environment where they have time for this playful exploration as it’s an essential starting point.

2. Breaking it Down: What Writing Really Is.

Writing isn’t a single skill - it combines forming letters, ideas and language, spelling and grammar. Expecting all of this at once is a huge ask for kids. At the very start, spelling and grammar can wait. Seriously. Let's split it out and start with what matters:

Ideas First: Even toddlers create stories and rhymes. Don’t overlook this vital stage. Julie Bogart’s 'Jot it Down' method is a great way to spark writing: any little poems, stories and funny phrases they come up with - write them down, in front of them, slowly forming the letters. Keep these all together and revisit them regularly; it really shows them the value and purpose of writing.

Feed Their Imagination: Expose them to rich language through stories, poetry, rhymes and books beyond their reading level. They don’t need to understand every word for it to sink in - rhythm, vocabulary and phrasing have an effect over time. Classic children’s literature and poetry is perfect for this, as well as folk tales, fables and traditional stories from around the world. Audio books are useful here too.

Creativity Is Separate: Brilliant ideas can exist even if the mechanics of writing are tricky. Many famous authors were dyslexic, yet still created incredible work. Encourage storytelling and imaginative play, write down their ideas as needed, and focus on the physical act of writing separately.

3. Forming Letters: Patience is Key

It’s often normal for children to show little interest in writing before age 6 - 7. Many learning approaches wait until this age because children are usually more physically and cognitively ready.

Forming letters is often the hardest part. It requires hand strength, coordination and stamina, as well as posture and control. It can take months or even years to master the basics. The most important thing at this stage is patience and following your child’s pace.

• Write for them first: If your child has complex ideas, don't let their current skills get in the way. Their ideas are writing, even if they can’t form letters yet. Keep writing for them, in front of them - it's all going in.
• Form drawing: This type of drawing, which I've written about here begins with the curved and straight line formation needed for forming letters. It's a brilliant place to start.
• Playful practice: Write letters in the air, in sand, on each other's backs or with whole body movements. Then use plain paper and let them form a letter as though it’s a drawing, such as filling the page with big 'A's in different colours. A single letter a day, or every 2-3 days, is a good starting pace. It quickly builds up over the weeks.
• Make very simple words: You can take the letters they've learned and make simple words with them. So once you've done ABCDEF, they can copy words like bad, cab, dad, dab, face and so on.
• Lowercase and uppercase: There are no rigid rules needed here. Some say start with uppercase (they are easier), but we ended up doing both at the same time, and it worked for us. Do what feels right for you and your child.
• Practice at their pace: Short, playful sessions together work better than long, forced ones. You're exploring and playing at this stage so keep it light.

4. From Forming to Copying & Dictating

Once they can confidently form letters:

Copying: This is a brilliant way to practise forming letters without having to think of ideas at the same time. You might find you stay at this stage for a while, especially if they're starting to learn to write on lines.

• Use a lined notebook (like this 'write in the stripe' book), plain paper or a whiteboard - you'll be able to tell what they're ready for. Write down simple words for them to copy like names, favourite foods, lines from poems or jokes.
• Join in yourself and copy something alongside them. Doing it side by side is honestly a more relaxing and collaborative way to learn.
• Keep returning to copying even after they can write independently; it refines handwriting, builds stamina and you can work on longer poems and extracts from stories you may be reading.

Dictation: It might sound a bit old-fashioned, but it can actually be really simple and casual. It helps kids practise holding an idea in their head while writing it down, which is a great way to build memory and coordination.

• Start by giving them items to write down for a shopping list you need, a birthday list or daily plan. Keep the words short and simple. You might need to repeat the words a few times at this stage.
• Move on to short sentences, jokes or lines from stories they particularly love - I was reading out a lot of Fred and George Weasley's hilarious dialogue from Harry Potter for quite a long time!
• Swap roles occasionally. It can be fun for them to make you write down really silly and gross things they come up with.

Don’t worry about spelling at this stage. They may ask you to spell a word out - just say it for them. Most kids get really frustrated when adults ask them to 'sound it out.' I would too. Spelling is not the focus at this point, work on it separately.

5. Writing For Themselves

They might start writing their own things in their own time: notes, labels, lists or copies of things they love. For my son it was copying lists of trains from his magazines, for my daughter it was labelling drawings and writing notes. Leave all of this well alone. This is them enjoying writing, for themselves, and seeing its purpose. Don’t correct it. It’s brilliant.

When I was little I used to write letters to my grandad, but he started sending them back with corrections. You can probably guess how many letters I wrote to him after that! 0️⃣

6. Practise Flexibly

Even if your child has passed the early stages but resists writing, it’s fine to revisit earlier activities and remove pressure.

• Short daily practice or bursts of activity for a few weeks followed by a gap can both work.
• Follow your child’s energy and pace. Step away if it stops being enjoyable and return when they’re ready.

Next Steps

Once your child knows the basics, you can gradually move toward more independent writing. I’ve written two companion posts you might find helpful: Everyday Writing: How to Make it Happen and Creative Writing Inspiration: My Top Resource for Young Storytellers.

Other areas like grammar, spelling, handwriting and cursive will come in time. I’ll add dedicated posts on these. For now, focus on enjoyment, ideas and playful practice.