If you wait until your child is in first grade to teach reading and writing, are you delaying academics? Or are these skills being taught too early in schools in the first place?
The creator of Waldorf education studied child development and believed that children were in a prime position to learn how to write and read during first grade.
Here are some reasons why children younger than around 6.5 are not ready for writing and reading.
Hands
- Holding a writing utensil can be uncomfortable for young children because the internal structure of their hands is not developed enough.
- Children younger than around 6.5 or 7 have a real need to move their bodies, so many of them will find it frustrating to sit for schoolwork.
Heart
- Young children live in a dreamy, imaginative state, where they are the directors of their free play. Starting academics too early can interrupt the development of their creativity and ability to self-direct.
Head
- Young children’s brains still have a lot of growth to do before they are ready for academics.
- Before first grade, their eyes need to develop more to be able to read comfortably.
- Their hearing is also still developing, and they are not necessarily capable of distinguishing among the sounds of certain letters.
This is not to say that younger children are not capable of learning how to write and read. But it does express why it can be beneficial to let their hands, heart, and head fully develop the capacity to learn these skills before teaching them.
If you’re ready to teach your first grader how to write the letters of the alphabet, form drawing is a fantastic introduction to learning the lines and curves that make up the letters. Click here to learn about our form drawing unit for first grade!