How to help your child learn to write? 2026

Seven years old may be too early for a child to write well (he only recently learned to read straight away) and, surely, writing is still something similar to drawing for him.

But handwriting is more important than it seems. While practicing, vision defects and space structuring defects, as well as dyslexia or some other problem, can be detected. From the first letters it is good that you write on squared sheets rather than lined ones: it will be easier for you to make a legible letter by relying on a double structure (the height and width of the square). It is important that he separates the words well and joins the letters that make them up: although he will modify his writing as he grows, he will internalize words and phrases correctly.

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Does it express itself well?

At school, they begin to develop the written structure from the age of ten, but before that they must have acquired a foundation that will help them express themselves later. Mastery of oral expression and the habit of reading are the fundamental pillars.

The first thing a child needs to speak correctly is to talk often with his parents and other adults. Let's not use excessively childish language with him. If you don't know the meaning of a word, we will clarify your doubts or, better yet, invite you to consult the dictionary.

What fun strategies encourage your imagination and expressive ability?

Return to the "why?" When he was younger, he sometimes exhausted us with his relentless "and why?" It's time to get back to it, but just in the opposite direction. If we go to the cinema, we can help you reconstruct what you have seen, so that you exercise your memory, essential to express yourself well in writing.

Play adjectives. "What's the car like?" "Green". "AND...?". "Big". "AND...?". "Elongate". (So, until you get to supposedly absurd adjectives). "AND...?". "He has a good face." "AND...?". "From behind he seems to be embarrassed by something"... We will laugh together and make his imagination fly.

I see, I see. We complicate it more or less depending on their age (syllable, letter...). This fireproof game encourages your fantasy and your ability to observe, two basic conditions for writing.

Chained words. We decipher those that sound like Chinese and, so that the chain does not break every now and then, we set rules as we go (many words end with "-on", but how many begin? Help: "once", "onda". Are diminutives valid?).

Expand the sentences. The Internet and the media in general use very synthetic language that can influence our child to speak like an Indian from a movie. To counter, we can ask you to explain your experiences to us in detail. If you went on an excursion: what did you do? How long did the trip last? What did you eat? What color was the field? Were there clouds? What animals did you see?... (monosyllables are not valid). It is also effective to prepare a brief script beforehand so that they can tell their adventure or ask them to write a short essay about their experiences.

Collective stories. The whole family participates: one starts and another continues, until the end. And what if he writes it himself later (in summary, of course)?

Round but informal table. At 9 or 10 years old he can already comment with us on a television program, a painting, a movie...

How to turn you into a passionate reader

The most important thing is to show him that reading is not boring:

• We can play with him to change the endings of the stories or buy him books with open endings so he can finish them.
• There are stories with paragraphs in cut tabs that are chosen at random and allow many stories to be built. Even better if we make some with their help, cutting and pasting paragraphs from various photocopied books. If they are similar in theme, it is not difficult to make sense of the different stories.
• Reading comics is good in just the right amount. Comics use cinematographic language, with very short sentences, and, if that is the only thing you read, you will only learn very poor expressions. We can make a photocopy of the comic and erase the text on the speech bubbles with Tipp-Ex, so you can make up your own story. If you like to draw, you can even make your own comics.
• If you are bored with reading the classic children's collections, let's provide you with such fabulous works as Treasure Island, Alice in Wonderland, Gulliver's Travels, The Little Prince or one by Jules Verne or Emilio Salgari. And there are great children's adaptations of the classics: The Iliad, The Odyssey, Don Quixote...
• When he decides to write a story, let's remind him that he must describe the place, the characters, prepare the ending (without finishing it in one fell swoop)... If he describes something or someone, he must specify its form or expression, the opinion he has about them, etc.

Advisor: Manuela Martín Herranz, graduate in Educational Sciences, specialist in Teacher Training.