CHILDRENS WRITING AT 7 YEARS - ASSOCIATIONS WITH HANDWRITING ON SCHOOL ENTRY AND PRESCHOOL FACTORS

Summary. This paper reports associations between children's (N=331) handwriting skills on entry to school, at 5 years, and writing at the end of infant school, at 7 years. The 7‐year test had four components —‐ transcription/punctuation, quality of writing, range of vocabulary and sentences to describe pictures. Pre‐school handwriting was significantly correlated with both 7‐year transcription/punctuation and total writing scores. It is argued that these results suggest the value of early assessment as an aid in helping children's progress as writers. Antecedents of writing at 7 years were studied further by exploring associations with four preschool factors: parental teaching of writing, children's WPPSI Vocabulary scores, knowledge of literacy, and experience of books. Multiple regression analyses showed that only pre‐school parental teaching and WPPSI scores were independently related to writing progress. It is argued that, despite reservations of teachers, parents' help with writing should be recognised and encouraged. 1991 The British Psychological Society