Yes, babies can write 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! In addition, language and the representation of objects and actions can be taught in writing, and not only in writing and / or letter combinations.
It is observed that, in general, the baby begins to draw and / or is stimulated when the spoken language is already in motion and is already habitual for him. Today, however, speech seems to predominate in current early childhood dealings, shaping, as such, much of one’s 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, you draw from memory and do not need to look at a doll model to draw. Therefore, the baby does not draw what he sees; instead, draw what you know. But if you bring him / her to know other shapes, he / she adds more elements to your observation and really begins to draw what he / she knows with the help of the shapes that he / she already masters.
The baby can start looking at models to improve what he draws. He does this before he has fully mastered speech, showing that he can break free from the imposition of speech to show that he has an inner world. Observe and know, before speaking.
How to discover these elements?
With only 12 months we can show the baby samples of shapes, that is, circles, rectangles, 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 he will find that he 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 how to draw parts of the body. It starts with learning the parts of the body, pointing to each one when asked. If the baby knows which is which, he perceives that a part is missing when he draws a body. Look at what he drew and perceive the imbalance, acting very provoked, seeking to add to the drawing what is missing. The baby has a vision of the whole because he knows the whole. The drawing reflects what the baby knows.
If drawing, as it is defined today, is a graphic language that appears based on verbal language, the baby has to draw what he knows how to express. And we see that even without talking much he already draws what he 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 strokes made on the paper can mean something. It’s like doing magic. The baby feels that he can represent on paper what he knows and perpetuates the sensation of seeing the object. He / she loves that! We think he knows he is acting because he says he will make a frog, a crying baby or whatever, and he tries to produce what he thinks he is producing. See the drawing made as an object and not as a symbol of the object represented on the paper.
According to what has been said so far, every time the baby writes a sentence, it is best that we 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 their capacity for abstraction.
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, you will have no trouble typing; You will love the game of writing what you speak.
A pedagogical point of view
From a pedagogical point of view, this transition must be provided by the displacement 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 drawing what they speak, because speech occurs later.
Until recently, teaching writing came too late. At the same time, we know that it is not just the teaching of writing that came too late; the one to read too. The truth is that a large part of children already read by the age of four and parents perceive it; the teachers, however, do not. However, teaching should be organized so that reading and writing are necessary for babies, as 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 should be a pleasure, a result of the game as is the activity of drawing. Writing is the drawing of 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 while playing. It is a revolution, a paradigm shift.
The environment must provide, it must be favorable for 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!