Der Famles,

In Kindrgrtn, we strt riting by listning to the

sonds we her. U may notis yr chid riting wrds
that are not speld coracle. We lisn to the
sonds we her when we tri to sretch wrds out.
It may be the frst sond or multipl sonds. Az yr
chid lrns mor wrds, they wil tranzishun to
standar speling.

How to interact with your child’s writing:

• Use the verbiage “Tell me about your
writing” versus “What did you write/draw?”
We want to build their confidence J
• Ask them to read what they wrote instead
of guessing
• Hang their writing in your home! You
now have an author and
illustrator hard at work!

Thank you,

© Amanda Shackelford // ThatKinderMama

 Frequently Asked Questions
Why are some words spelled correctly when
they are writing phonetically?
The words we expect to be spelled correctly are high
frequency words that they have already been taught in
kindergarten. We have spent time going over them and
learning their specific spelling pattern.

For example:
I see a hos. (I see a house)

Students have learned the words I, see and a so they

know how to spell those words correctly (or find the
words in the classroom) BUT they wrote the sounds they
heard in house /h/ /o/ /s/

How long will my child be writing with phonetic

or inventive spelling?
There is no exact date but during kindergarten they will
slowly learn more high frequency words and spelling
patterns. They will slowly transition away from inventive
spelling and start spelling words correctly as they learn
more spelling pattern rules. By the 2nd grade, you can
assume your child will be writing most words correctly.

© Amanda Shackelford // ThatKinderMama

 Stages of Writing
Stage
Drawing/scribbling
Wavy scribbles or
“pretend writing”
Drawing and letter
strings
Copying words and
early phonetic
spelling
Phonetic spelling
Phonetic spelling
with sentence
writing
Conventional
spelling with
sentence writing
© Amanda Shackelford // ThatKinderMama
Description Example
Scribbles looks random
but is purposeful for the
child. Represent ideas
Imitates writing from left
to right or pretending to
write words
Draws pictures and writes
strings of random letters
from left to right
Draws pictures, copies
words and adds in
phonetic spelling (using
letters-mostly just
consonants- to represent
each sound they hear)
Writes words by using
letters to represent EACH
sound that is heard
Writes sentences with
phonetic spelling. Most
words have spaces The pig iz pnk.
between
Writes with complete
sentences with (mostly) The pig is big
correct spelling
and pink.
 Kindergarten Writing
Expectations
Beginning of the Year:
Students are drawing pictures
and labeling their pictures.
They may be writing the
beginning sound of the word
they are labeling or writing all
the sounds they hear. Students
are using phonetic spelling to
label their pictures.
Middle of the Year:
Students are writing sentences
mom
with high frequency words and me cr
labels. They are using a capital
letter at the beginning of their
sentence, finger spaces and
punctuation. We get in the cr.

End of the Year:

Students are writing multiple
mom
sentences on each page. Their me cr
words match their pictures.
They continue using capital
letter at the beginning of a
sentence, finger spaces and Me and mom are
punctuation. in the cr. We are
going to the zoo.
I am hape!

© Amanda Shackelford // ThatKinderMama