Welcome teachers, therapists, parents and friends!! I am so glad that you are visiting my blog to read about and discuss writing matters! I have been a school-based occupational therapist for ten years and have had the opportunity to work with many excellent teachers and wonderful parents sharing a desire to enhance the development of quality writing skills in children. While I have thoroughly enjoyed my therapist role over the years, I am currently focusing more of my time and energy at home raising my two children ages seven (son) and three (daughter), both of whom love to draw, color, print, spell, design, create, and express themselves on paper. I cannot keep enough crayons, markers, paints, pencils, and paper in our cupboards to satisfy them on a daily basis. They spend hours on these activities each day as long as the right tools and materials are available to them. Despite their age and gender differences, my kids LOVE TO WRITE! Although, I observe them to each prefer different phases of the writing development process, it is clear to me that the attractive "draw" for both of them is the opportunity for creative and uninterrupted self-expression.
Although our world is ever changing particularly with the rapid and major advances in technology, I continue to see that writing still matters! Therefore, I strive to develop high-quality strategies to teach my children and others to write successfully. Most of all I want to help kids enjoy the process of learning to write. The writing skills a child acquires at an early age can definitely have an impact on their academic, artistic, and personal development and achievement when they reach upper elementary school, middle school, high school and even adulthood. Knowing this, it is essential that we continue to approach writing instruction carefully making sure that we are strategic and systematic. I feel that writing instruction should be simple, fast, and fun for children. Teachers, parents, and any other professionals providing basic and/or advanced writing instruction to children should also always try to incorporate multi-sensory tools and materials into the instruction process. In summary, writing matters! Quality results will be evident if the chosen approach to writing instruction is thoughtfully planned and strategically applied.
