Children's Development in Writing and Spelling

How do children develop in writing? This article will include two figures from two separate sources that are accurate in understanding how your child achieves certain milestones in writing.

Figure 1

Developmental Stages of Writing

Developmental Stages of Writing.

Note. Adapted from *Stages of Writing Development*, by West Hartford Public Schools, 2010

(https://www.whps.org/uploaded/Offices/Curriculum_Instruction_and_Assessment/Families_-_Academics/Stages_of_Writing_Development.pdf).

 

As is clear in Figure 1, children’s scribbles have meaning. A child can develop from Pre-Literate to Fluent, the older preschoolers should be able to reach basic Sentence Writing (West Hartford Public Schools, 2010).

Figure 2

Spelling Stages

Spelling Stages.

Note. Reprinted/adapted from “Spelling Stages,” by Literacy Today, 2025,

https://www.literacytoday.ca/home/writingproduction/writingproduction-process/spelling-stages. Reprinted/adapted with permission.

 

Whereas Figure 2, it is a more detailed look at how children learn spelling.

Hence, the teacher’s role is to provide many opportunities and provide the learning environment, and incorporate visual patterns of words during daily lessons and have a bank of words for children to follow (Literacy Today, 2025).

References

Literacy Today. (2025). Spelling Stages. Retrieved from Literacy Today: https://www.literacytoday.ca/home/writingproduction/writingproduction-process/spelling-stages

West Hartford Public Schools. (2010). Developmental Stages of Writing [PDF]. Retrieved from https://www.whps.org/uploaded/Offices/Curriculum_Instruction_and_Assessment/Families_-_Academics/Stages_of_Writing_Development.pdf

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