Yes, babies can write just as well as read!
In this article we will talk about writing and the baby. The baby has to discover that he not only draws objects, but can also draw what he talks about! In addition, she can be taught the language and the representation of objects and actions in writing, and not only in the writing and / or combination of letters.
It is observed that, in general, the baby begins to draw and/or is stimulated when the spoken language is already underway and is already habitual for him. However, at present, speech seems to predominate in the treatment of current early childhood, modeling, as such, a large part of one’s own inner life, subjecting it to its laws. However, if we look at the way the baby draws, we learn that there are more possibilities. The baby can know what makes up a doll and draw it. Initially, she draws from memory and does not need to look at a model doll to draw. Therefore, the baby does not draw what he sees; instead, she draws what she knows. But if you take him to know other ways, he adds more elements to his observation and really begins to draw what she knows with the help of the ways he already masters.
The baby can begin to look at models to improve his drawing. She does so before fully mastering speech, which shows that she can break free from the imposition of speech to show that she has an inner world. She observes and knows, before speaking.
How to discover these elements?
With only 12 months we can show the baby samples of shapes, that is, circles, rectangles and squares, among others. We show samples using hand movements, following the shape of the pictures, using a finger (or a crayon), and we have the baby imitate the movement and show it and she will discover that she can look and do what is shown. , also reproducing the movement that will lead to the construction of the form.
Another way to develop observation is to teach the drawing of the parts of the body. Begins with learning the parts of the body, pointing to each when asked. If the baby knows which is which, she perceives that a part is missing when she draws a body. She looks at what she drew and perceives the imbalance, acting very provoked, seeking to add to the drawing what is missing. The baby has a vision of the whole because she knows the whole. The drawing reflects what the baby knows.
If drawing, as defined today, is a graphic language that appears on the basis of verbal language, the baby has to draw what he knows how to express. And we see that even without speaking much he already draws what she knows, changing our concept of what his drawing is. Therefore, drawing can be stimulated long before speech.
There is an agreement among psychologists that the baby discovers that the lines made on the paper can mean something. It’s like she does magic. The baby feels that she can represent on paper what she knows and perpetuates the sensation of seeing the object. He/she loves that! We think she knows she’s acting because she says she’s going to do a frog, a crying baby, or whatever, and she tries to produce what she thinks she’s producing. She sees the drawing made as an object and not as a symbol of the object represented on the paper.
Based on what has been said so far, every time the baby writes a sentence, it is best to ask him to draw the equivalent, or vice versa. This practice helps you perceive the content of both actions. When we do this, we are educating for reflection and learning, and we help in the development of the ability to abstract from it.
In another phase, when he has a large vocabulary, the baby discovers that he can draw beyond the things he talks about. Therefore, the problem of writing is already overcome as a starting point. In other words, she won’t have a problem with writing; she will love the game of writing what she speaks.
A pedagogical point of view
From a pedagogical point of view, this transition should be provided by the dislocation of the baby’s activity from drawing things to drawing speech. It is possible to observe how this dislocation occurs when we are teaching babies to draw what they know and then draw what they speak. It is important to note that they draw what they know before they draw what they speak, because the speech occurs afterwards.
Until recently, the teaching of writing came too late. At the same time, we know that not only did the teaching of writing come too late; that of reading too. The truth is that most of the children already read at the age of four and the parents perceive it; teachers, however, do not. In any case, teaching must be organized in such a way that reading and writing are necessary for babies, since they add to what they learn every day, to what they know. It is by no means an abstract activity, neither laborious nor difficult.
Writing is not just a motor skill that is taught to the baby at a predetermined time. It is a complex cultural activity! It must be taught naturally; It must be cultivated, not imposed. It must be a pleasure, fruit of the game as it is the activity of drawing. Writing is drawing the meaning of what is spoken in the mother tongue.
In the same way and at the same time babies learn to listen and speak, they learn to read and write. Read and write playing. It is a revolution, a paradigm shift.
The environment must provide, it must be favorable to the baby so that the need to read and write can occur in daily play. It is necessary to play reading and writing with the baby because we are the intermediaries between the baby and the world. It’s up to us to make them happy!