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What are pre-writing and pre-reading activities?

Teaching little ones while they are having fun is generally the main goal of early childhood educators.

 

Presenting pre-writing and pre-reading activities helps children acquire basic notions that are essential for school...

 

Pre-writing and pre-reading activities help children develop their visual memory, their attention span, and the ability to identify objects (visual discrimination). In terms of fine motor skills, these activities aim to refine children's ability to move their fingers and their hands. Children who are stimulated at a young age will be more comfortable with pencils, paintbrushes, and a pair of scissors and will therefore avoid useless energy expenditures.

 

What is pre-reading?
Pre-reading is the step before actual reading. Observing an illustration (interpreting emotions, characters, identifying time, corporal, and spatial concepts) contributes to the efficient development of children's attention span and their ability to discriminate. Associating illustrations to words helps children discover that everything they see can be written and read.

 

What is pre-writing?
Pre-writing precedes actual writing. Pre-writing exercises help children develop their fine motor skills. To be more precise, fine motor skills can be divided into four main components: hand-eye coordination (the eye directs the hand), finger dissociation (moving fingers individually), the ability to stop and start when required, and finger strength or muscle tone.

 

For example, a child who is playing with modeling dough is working on his fine motor skills, but to be more precise, he is strengthening his fingers and building muscle tone (pulling, flattening, pushing). This activity is therefore essential for learning to write. If the child has no muscle tone, how can he/she hold a pencil adequately?

 

The ability to stop will make it possible for children to form letters while hand-eye coordination will enable them to write between two lines.

 

In general, it is preferable to present activities in an attractive way: on a platter, pretty crayons or pencils, in a special folder just like at school, etc. Material must be available at all times so that children can practice "writing" whenever they want. Pre-writing and pre-reading workshops should be present in your daily daycare setup on a permanent basis.

 

Keep in mind:

  • Never force a child to do an exercise.
  • Make exercises fun. Be a model for children and they will gladly follow in your footsteps.
  • Emphasize the process and not the end result.
  • Integrate exercises in your daily planning.
  • Nothing is more important than having fun!


Marie-Josée Thibert


Educatall.com is not responsible for the content of this article. The information mentioned in this article is the responsibility of the author. Educatall.com shall not be held responsible for any litigation or issues resulting from this article.

 

 

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