A synthesis of current research, theory, and professional opinion on how children learn to write, this report begins with a brief introduction followed by a discussion of writing readiness that suggests children's eagerness to learn to write. The third chapter examines children's use of writing to extend the functions of speech, drawing, and play, to participate in adult writing activities such as note writing, and to fulfill school assignments; and the fourth chapter examines how children learn the forms of writing from punctuation and grammar to story structure and conventions for arguing and explaining. The next chapter suggests that children learning to manage the writing process are increasingly able to use writing as a learning process, while the sixth chapter investigates the influence of cultural differences on children's orientation toward language. The seventh chapter states that the teacher's first job is to provide children with intelligently guided writing experiences and the eighth describes two effective student publication projects. The ninth chapter presents a number of ways that parents can help their children become successful writers, the most important being reading aloud to them. The report concludes by urging both educators and researchers to seek out their own justifications for strong writing programs. (MM)