Describe the development of writing. What does a preschooler's early printing look like?

What will be an ideal response?

At first, preschoolers do no distinguish writing from drawing. Around age 4, writing shows some distinctive features of print, such as separate forms arranged in a line on the page. But children often include picturelike devices—for example, a circular shape for "sun." Only gradually, between ages 4 and 6, as they learn to name alphabet letters and link them with language sounds, do children realize that writing stands for language. Preschoolers' first attempts to print often involve their name, generally using a single letter. Many children reverse some letters until well into second grade. Until children start to read, they do not find it useful to distinguish between mirror-image forms, such as b and d and p and q.