Phases of Writing Development

Year Level: Early Years, Foundation, Year 1 & 2
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A milestone and information sheet which identifies the four phases of writing development. It includes age related examples.

Just as children make many “mistakes” or approximations as they learn to talk, the development of writing skills is also a process. At each phase of writing development, children demonstrate what they know about written language and all their writing efforts need to be recognised and encouraged as steps towards conventional writing skills.

The four phases of writing development are listed out below:

  • Phase 1: Role-play Writing
  • Phase 2: Experimental Writing
  • Phase 3: Early Writing (or Phonetic Writing)
  • Phase 4: Conventional Writing

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