[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":3,"doc-detail-601157-en":59,"doc-seo-601157-105":80},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",[7,13,18,23,28,33,38,43,48,51,55],{"id":8,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":10,"show_sort_weight":11,"slug":12},1,"Document","Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":14,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":15,"show_sort_weight":16,"slug":17},2,"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":19,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":20,"show_sort_weight":21,"slug":22},4,"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":24,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":25,"show_sort_weight":26,"slug":27},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":29,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":30,"show_sort_weight":31,"slug":32},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":34,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":35,"show_sort_weight":36,"slug":37},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":39,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":40,"show_sort_weight":41,"slug":42},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":44,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":45,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":47},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":46,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":49,"show_sort_weight":46,"slug":50},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":53,"show_sort_weight":52,"slug":54},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":56,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":9,"category_name":57,"show_sort_weight":24,"slug":58},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":60},{"doc_id":61,"user_id":62,"nickname":63,"user_avatar":64,"doc_module":4,"category_id":34,"category_name":35,"doc_title":65,"doc_description":66,"doc_content":67,"file_id":68,"file_url":69,"file_type":70,"file_size":71,"view_count":14,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":8,"is_downloadable":8,"audit_status":8,"page_count":29,"language":72,"language_code":73,"site_id":74,"html_lang":73,"table_of_contents":75,"faqs":76,"seo_title":77,"seo_description":66,"update_tm":78,"read_time":79},601157,962090893776,"LangkahRina","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_155a257f0dc6eb9ab79c44ca47cae57d","A Misunderstood Fundamental - Developmentally Appropriate Strategies for Letter Formation in Preschool","Miss Carmin, a diverse preschool lead teacher, builds an emergent writing center after receiving guidance that explicit letter-formation practice may be developmentally inappropriate. Observing children’s nonstandard letter behaviors, she questions whether and how to teach correct formation without wasting instructional time or disregarding individual needs. The article frames letter formation as a learned skill, compares naturalistic versus explicit approaches, and argues they can be combined through systematic guidance aligned with preschool development.","A Misunderstood Fundamental: Developmentally Appropriate Strategies for Letter Formation in Preschool  \nBy Kristi Cheyney-Collante, Vivian Gonsalves, Shaunté Duggins & Julie Bader  \nMiss Carmin, an experienced preschool teacher, has just created a new emergent writing center in her classroom. Her students represent an array of different backgrounds and abilities, as she is the lead teacher in a diverse and inclusive setting. A facilitator in the county’s recent workshop series shared that explicit letter formation instruction is not developmentally appropriate for her young students. In fact, she was told not to use handwriting practice sheets or lined paper, and to refrain from pushing children to write “correctly.”In response to instructions from her school director, Miss Carmin created a center where her students can explore writing at a pace that is comfortable for them and that aligns with their interests. During writing exploration in this new center, Miss Carmin has noticed some children holding the crayons in their fists, writing from right to left, backwards, or using all capital letters. Her director says she does not think this is a problem since “they’re just preschoolers,” and that they have plenty of years to “get it straight” in school. However, Miss Carmin began her career teaching kindergarten and she remembers how difficult it was to break children of these habits. Now she’s not sure what to do! Should she teach them how to correctly form letters? Should she devote instructional time to this activity? If so, how can she help ALL of her students, including those who struggle, achieve this goal in a developmentally appropriate way?  \nWriting is an important part of learning across all content areas of school (Graham & Harris, 2011) . Even very young children experience the symbols of written language all around them. Soon they begin to notice that written symbols stand for people, ideas, things, or events, and attempt their own marks (Aram & Levin, 2011) . However, though language is a foundational human trait, reading and writing are not naturally occurring processes. These are learned skills that children acquire through explicit teaching, modeling, and meaningful practice in addition to exposure to literacy in their homes and schools (Neuman et al., 2000) .  \nWhen children learn to form letters incorrectly at a young age, they are more likely to experience difficulties in written expression throughout their schooling (e.g. Fancher et al. , 2018) . However, while many teachers provide a plethora of writing materials for students in preschool classrooms, research suggests that teachers are far less likely to use these materials with students throughout the day or to offer explicit guidance and scaffolding  \naround writing (Gerde et al. , 2012) . Despite decades of research, there remains considerable disagreement in the educational community as to the merits of a natural view (where children“catch” the conventions of writing and spelling during informal school and home experiences) versus more explicit instructional strategies (e.g. Berninger, 2019) .  \nFortunately, naturalistic and explicit instructional strategies need not be seen as mutually exclusive (Gerde et al. , 2012) . Many talented teachers have refined their approaches to providing systematic and explicit instruction without compromising developmentally appropriate practices, play, exploration, and a whole-child philosophy. This article first explores critical research addressing the development of letter formation for children prior to kindergarten, and then highlights two strategies to skillfully guide children in acquiring age-appropriate letter formation habits in developmentally appropriate ways.  \n“They’re Only Four. Who Cares About Handwriting?”  \nWriting is an important skill used for broad reaching academic and non-academic tasks. Older students use writing to organize and explore information, share with peers, and refine ideas. Writing is ","cbCaimUxEalrwyZe","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaimUxEalrwyZe","pdf",149798,"English","en",105,"# A Misunderstood Fundamental: Developmentally Appropriate Strategies for Letter Formation in Preschool\n## Why Explicit Letter Formation Matters\n## Natural vs Explicit Instruction\n## Combining Systematic Guidance with Developmentally Appropriate Practices","[{\"question\":\"Why does the article argue that letter formation should be addressed in preschool?\",\"answer\":\"It explains that reading and writing are learned skills requiring explicit teaching, modeling, and meaningful practice. It also notes that incorrect letter formation early can increase later difficulties in written expression.\"},{\"question\":\"What conflict does Miss Carmin face when designing writing instruction?\",\"answer\":\"She receives advice not to use handwriting practice sheets or push children to write “correctly,” yet observes persistent nonstandard letter habits that are hard to correct later. She must decide whether to teach correct formation and how to do so for all learners.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the article reconcile naturalistic and explicit instruction approaches?\",\"answer\":\"It states that naturalistic and explicit strategies do not have to be mutually exclusive. The article highlights systematic and explicit instruction delivered in a developmentally appropriate way that preserves play, exploration, and a whole-child philosophy.\"}]","A Misunderstood Fundamental - Developmentally Appropriate Strategies for Letter Formation in Preschool | PDF",1792092086,15,{"code":4,"msg":81,"data":82},"ok",{"site_id":74,"language":73,"slug":83,"title":65,"keywords":84,"description":66,"schema_data":85,"social_meta":139,"head_meta":141,"extra_data":143,"updated_unix":144},"a-misunderstood-fundamental-developmentally-appropriate-strategies-for-letter-formation-in-preschool","",{"@graph":86,"@context":138},[87,101,121],{"@type":88,"itemListElement":89},"BreadcrumbList",[90,94,96,99],{"item":91,"name":92,"@type":93,"position":8},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":95,"name":9,"@type":93,"position":14},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/",{"item":97,"name":35,"@type":93,"position":98},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/",3,{"item":100,"name":65,"@type":93,"position":19},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/a-misunderstood-fundamental-developmentally-appropriate-strategies-for-letter-formation-in-preschool/601157/",{"url":100,"name":65,"@type":102,"image":103,"author":108,"headline":65,"publisher":110,"fileFormat":113,"inLanguage":73,"description":66,"dateModified":114,"datePublished":115,"encodingFormat":113,"isAccessibleForFree":116,"interactionStatistic":117},"DigitalDocument",{"url":104,"@type":105,"width":106,"height":107},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/a-misunderstood-fundamental-developmentally-appropriate-strategies-for-letter-formation-in-preschool/601157.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":63,"@type":109},"Person",{"url":91,"name":111,"@type":112},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-24","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":118,"interactionType":119,"userInteractionCount":14},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":120},"ViewAction",{"@type":122,"mainEntity":123},"FAQPage",[124,130,134],{"name":125,"@type":126,"acceptedAnswer":127},"Why does the article argue that letter formation should be addressed in preschool?","Question",{"text":128,"@type":129},"It explains that reading and writing are learned skills requiring explicit teaching, modeling, and meaningful practice. It also notes that incorrect letter formation early can increase later difficulties in written expression.","Answer",{"name":131,"@type":126,"acceptedAnswer":132},"What conflict does Miss Carmin face when designing writing instruction?",{"text":133,"@type":129},"She receives advice not to use handwriting practice sheets or push children to write “correctly,” yet observes persistent nonstandard letter habits that are hard to correct later. She must decide whether to teach correct formation and how to do so for all learners.",{"name":135,"@type":126,"acceptedAnswer":136},"How does the article reconcile naturalistic and explicit instruction approaches?",{"text":137,"@type":129},"It states that naturalistic and explicit strategies do not have to be mutually exclusive. The article highlights systematic and explicit instruction delivered in a developmentally appropriate way that preserves play, exploration, and a whole-child philosophy.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":100,"og:type":140,"og:title":65,"og:site_name":111,"og:description":66},"article",{"robots":142,"canonical":100},"index,follow",{"doc_id":61,"site_id":74},1792883691]