Knowing how to write a letter that is legible can be well understood by the reader is an important skill for everyone to have. It is easiest to master the skill of letter writing if we begin learning it as children. Letter writing is a skill that takes practice and thought, but kids are totally capable of learning how to write letters, beginning as early as about six or seven years old. The best way for a child to learn how to write letters is to be able to write real letters, meant for real people, which are going to be sent to the people they were written to. Children will be more excited about the process of letter writing if they know that their letter will actually be sent through the mail to the person they wrote to. Additionally, teaching kids how to write letters and allowing them to send the letters helps them to understand the process of the postal service and mail delivery as well.
Teaching a young child to write letters will require quite a bit of time over an extended period. The best way to reinforce the letter writing skills that children are learning is to allow them to write several meaningful letters over the course of many months. Start by explaining about the margin lines and how they are used, then point out the margin lines on the paper to the child. Show the child where the date should be written.
Show the child where to write “Dear…” followed by the letter recipient’s name. Next, explain to the child that when writing a letter, a greeting is needed first. Give the child examples of greetings, such as “Hi! How are you?”, or “Hello! I hope this letter finds you well”. Allow the child to come up with ideas for greetings themselves as well. When the child decides on a greeting to use in their letter, show them how to start on the next line and indent. For children who are still struggling to keep letters within a given line, you may want to have them start out skipping lines. Since the letter will be actually going to somebody who needs to be able to understand what is written, this may make it easier.
Help the child think of things to write about in the body of the letter. Could they tell of a trip they recently took? A movie they saw? A book they finished? It’s good to give ideas, but it’s also important that when a child is learning to write letters, that they are allowed to put their own ideas into them. Otherwise, letter writing is not very fun for kids.
When the child is ready to end the letter, explain what a closing is. Give them examples, such as, “I think that’s all there is to say for now”, or as my own seven year old wrote recently, “My hand is really tired now!” All there is left to do after that is to show the child how to sign the letter at the bottom.
It will take most children several months or even longer to become proficient at writing letters independently. Keep them encouraged by making letter writing fun and relaxed.
