Key takeaways:

- Webinar Introduction: The webinar, hosted by Tales Toolkit, features Matt Glover, a literacy expert with over 30 years of experience as a teacher, head teacher, consultant, and author, focusing on nurturing young writers and composers.

- Matt Glover’s Background: Matt has extensive experience in education, has authored numerous books on literacy, and speaks globally on supporting early reading and writing, with his work aligning with Tales Toolkit’s focus on children creating their own stories.

- Composition vs. Conventions: Matt emphasizes the importance of composition (creating meaning through language) over conventions (grammar, spelling, punctuation), as composition drives engagement and long-term writing growth, while conventions are secondary and not a prerequisite.

- Honoring Approximations: Using Kyle, a three-year-old’s picture book about a fire engine, Matt illustrates how honoring children’s approximations (e.g., asking them to read their work) reveals sophisticated writing skills, like focus, planning, and reading like a writer, despite unconventional marks.

- Picture Books as a Medium: Picture books are ideal for young children’s compositional writing because they align with children’s familiarity, encourage stamina, and build a writer’s identity by mirroring published authors’ work, supported by a “stack of texts” for study.

- Choice in Writing: Allowing children to choose their topics and genres (story or list books) boosts engagement, particularly for reluctant writers, as it respects their interests and energy, with list books being more common and easier for young children initially.

- Avoiding Adult Writing in Children’s Books: Matt advises against adults writing in children’s books or dictating words, as it sends a message that children’s words aren’t good enough, hinders understanding of their abilities, and skips developmental stages, advocating instead for teaching strategies to support independent word-making.

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