I wish to post a happy update to a Preschool Writer’s Workshop strategy conveyed to me last school year by Writer’s Workshop mentor Kacey Perry.  She suggested, rather than labeling student writing, empower children to write their own “words” to label or caption their drawings.  Even the youngest children thereby, perceive themselves as able and competent writers.

In a prior post, a three year old student insisted she could not write- the teacher writes [Link to Article].  I utilized Ms. Perry’s advice and encouraged this student to label her own drawing using developmentally appropriate “writing”.

This week, the student featured in the previous post achieved an extraordinary milestone.  During a writing session, she insisted that she could independently write.  She requested help in segmenting the word she wished to write, and as I broke the word “flower” into smaller sounds, she wrote the corresponding letter.  What especially delights me is she achieved this milestone driven by her own initiative.