Transitions and learning to write

Many children transition from sign creation to sign use at the same time as they transition from preschool into formal schooling. Sign creation refers to children’s scribbling and drawing as they creatively express themselves in ways that are not restricted by rules. In contrast, sign use refers to text production within the framework of a conventional form of language (e.g. to compose a sentence in English which applies the rules of written English). The writing transition sits within the broader context of becoming literate and is impacted by possible mismatches between preschools and schools in terms of the beliefs and expectations of educators across these two contexts (Lynch, 2009) and the approaches to writing pedagogy, curricula and assessment processes operating in these contexts (Kagan, Carrol, Comer & Scott-Little, 2006). Children’s journeys in learning to write are all different as they are greatly impacted by the experiences they have prior to and outside preschool and school.