In Chatabout Children™, we’ve talked a lot about reading. In my previous conversations with Megan Daley, Susanne Gervay, Josh Langley, and Robert Vescio, we’ve encouraged you to nurture this important skill in your child. However, there is another skill related to reading that, if honed well early in life, could propel your child to success in many life areas. This skill is writing.

Today, we’re talking with Dianne Scott, a very experienced and passionate teacher, to tell us more about this important skill that every child has to have.

Dianne realized she wanted to be a teacher even before she started schooling! True enough, she started her teaching profession very early at the age of 17. Since then, she has been a teacher for 39 years. She has taught all sorts of subjects to children of all sorts of age and learning abilities. She has also worked closely with allied health professionals, parents, families, and teachers as a coordinator of student learning. Today, her energy is focused on helping primary and secondary teachers become better equipped in teaching writing to their students through her Seven Steps to Writing Success program.

Key Learnings

In this episode, Dianne and I talked about:

How she realized she wanted to be a teacher
Why Dianne sees teaching as a way of life
The physical and cognitive skills needed for a child to learn writing
On parents’ fear of their children learning writing very early at school
How to use game and play teaching writing to your child
The relationship between drawing and writing
The biggest barriers children face in learning how to write
The effectiveness of breaking down writing into individual skills
Why put time limits when teaching a child to write
Involving other children in teaching writing to your child
Why you need to show that you value what your child is writing
The power of modeling
An introduction to Dianne’s Seven Steps to Writing Success program

Dianne’s Take-Home Tips

1. Write in front of your children.
2. When teaching your child how to write, break down writing into skills and steps then work on each individually.
3. Brainstorm different writing topics with your child.

Quote

“Writing is actually to give a message to the person who is reading, to give them a mind picture. So, start off with drawing.”

Links

Learn how to effectively teach writing to children through Dianne’s writing program at sevenstepswriting.com

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PODCAST DISCLAIMER

Any information and links presented within the Chatabout Children™ with Sonia Bestulic podcast are aimed to provide general information and advice only.
Information is to be used at the discretion of the consumer/ listener. The information presented does not replace or substitute the expert advice received from a direct consultation with the relevant qualified professional.