Teaching How to Write...

NO!!!! Children learn through play!!! Hands on play. Playdough, stringing beads, count pennies as they go into a jar, painting, manipulatives, wheels and dials, puzzels, peg boards, musical instruments, letters sounds, jumping on one foot, skipping, blocks. All of these things build their skills for reading, writing and math. You as a parent need to read some books on child development and how child learn and preparing your child for school.

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We homeschool and I have a 12 yr old who seems to have graphomotor dysfunction (can't write worth a darn). I used the same handwriting program with him as with the 9 year old, who has very nice handwriting when he actually uses cursive. Some things I've learned while researching how to deal with this:

Do NOT start handwriting instruction too early, especially with boys. It just physically takes longers for the myelination to occur over the nerve cells that control the fine motor skills. If you teach them too early, the brain forms pathways down the wrong neurons and hardwires in the wrong actions and muscles to do the writing. If they cannot grip a pencil correctly, do not let them write. Let them color, let them paint, they can use playdough and firmer clay to build up those hand muscles, try catching smaller foam balls to build hand-eye coordination, but don't build on bad habits. If they are trying to copy letters, check their pencil grip and work on that FIRST. If she has a good grip and is already trying to copy letters, then go for it.

I recommend Handwriting Without Tears - they have a preschool program now that they didn't have when I started. It's an inexpensive program, and it's designed by an occupational therapist. Many schools are now starting to use this program as well.

http://www.hwtears.com/

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Hi, J..
At my daughter's 3yr check up the doc asked if she was coloring. She was checking because simply coloring is a good step in the right direction for more advanced skills like writing. She said that at 3yrs she should be able to draw lines, but that was about it. She said that she may attempt circles, but squares & such would be more difficult. So, that said, I think that writing & trying to copy the shapes of letters or numbers might be a bit tough at this young age. Their little minds are so sharp so they can recognize letters & number, but getting their little fingers to cooperate may take a bit more time.

Good luck!

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My daughter just turned 3 and goes to a private pre-school where she's in a 3 yr old class and they are just now learning to trace letters, usually their name. It sounds like you are right on target.

Hi,
We started using the dry erase type books when she was almost three to trace letters with. They include the alphabet and numbers and some do connect the dots. You may find them at walmart and any teacher store. I think they are great and my daughter (just turned 4) likes doing them. She is writing her name on her own now and a lot of other letters.

From a certified elementary teacher and homeschool mom: She's still too young. Just let her have crayons and pencils, to draw or to color. Get her some kid safe scissors and let her cut, to develop her manual dexterity. Just let her play and make it fun.

Hi J. !

I don't know if you can buy the lacing cards anywhere anymore or not.
I have made my own. You can trace designs or pictures onto construction paper and then laminate it or put packing tape across the top or use the clear shelf liner across both sides of the paper and hole punch holes along the design or picture. Then buy different coloured laces or yarn ( the yarn you need to put tape or dip the ends in glue to make them hard like the ends of laces) She can then use these for hand and eye coordination by lacing the different laces up through the pictures.
Cutting out designs, making snow flakes and just colouring and drawing are really good for hand coordination.
I home school my 5 year old twins and these are somethings that we did. I tried the tracing letters and things like that when they were about 3, but they would get frustrated quickly because they didn't think they made the letters good enough. The other things really helped the hand coordination and they would sit and do these things for ages, and then move on to one of the other things and it improved their hand and eye coordination A LOT in a short time. They are now writing their name and sentences and things like that with no problem at all and they enjoy this as much as they did the crafty things we did when they were younger.
Here is a site that has a place where you can go and generate your own worksheets. It also has lots of other sites where you can get free stuff and printable.
http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/links_esl.html

Here is a Jan Brett site. She is an author of children's books and there is tons of things on this site including the printable worksheets of each kind of writing the traditional, modern and cursive. It is a site that I use a lot because I homeschool, so I like the bulletin board things that I can put up for the twins to learn days of the week, months of the year, and holidays. It is a great and fun site even for me. LOL
http://www.janbrett.com/activities_pages.htm

This is a site that has some worksheets you can print out and it has some wavy lines, straight lines, up and down lines and things like that with pictures on them so that she can trace of them. It is a great way to start the handwriting thing also. There is also some really easy connect the dots that she will have fun trying. There is lots of other sheets on the site, it is a Christian site, but there is tons of other things.
http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/Worksheets.html

Well I'll shut up now. I have lots of other sites also if you want to contact me with a personal message or anyone else that reads this.
Good luck! They learn very quickly at this age, but you might want to check with the school that she will be going to. I have heard of children getting bored with their first year of school if they are way ahead. I know my middle son was and they made him go back to doing things in another way and he grew to HATE school. He still does and he is 15 and I really believe that it had to do with the fact that they cramped his learning and wouldn't let him advance.

Hi J.,

A few months ago I started with my daughter and on of my daycare kids (my daughter is 3 1/2 and the daycare child is almost 2 1/2) when I started this with them I had no expectation of what the outcome was going to be but here is what we have done so far...
the 1st thing I did was went and got some of those plastic art boxes, I put in there a package of markers (10, washable classic) red, orange, purple, black, purple, pink, yellow, green, gray and blue. I then did the same thing with crayons (you have to buy the 24 count crayons in order to get all these colors), I also got glue and scissors. Each of them has their own art box and knows where to get it from.

I then found a few websites to print things of from
www.enchantedlearning.com
This one you can pay for a membership ($20.00 a year) and you can use as little or as much of it you want to.
www.first-school.ws
this is another site but is all free and you can print all kinds of things from it also.
The last one I use is
www.kidzone.ws
this is another good one, go to the preschool part and you will find all kinds of things to do.

Right now the 2 girls are learning the letters of their name and to recognize them. We also cover colors, shapes, numbers. Everyday we do something that has to do with one of these subjects but all of the are tied together in some way. For instance if we do something with colors they have to find that specific color, we count their markers and go through each marker and their color.
I print off the tracer sheets for the 2 girls with no expectation at all. My daughter can trace all the letters in the alphabet and has even started printing them on her own, she can write H, N, V, X, O, I, J, E, F, A. I haven't showed her at all how to do the letters I have just been lettinh her trace over the letters at her own pace.
For the 2 1/2 year old we are just making strides in her coloring, staying focused on the task at hand and we have now worked up to sitting at the table for 1 hour and a half twice a day, thats a total of 3 hours. We also are not strict about the time we stay at the table, I am not forcing them to learn and we are having fun doing it.

And by the way yes daycare is an absurd amount but us daycare providers do not get paid nearly enough for the time and effort we put in to other peoples children, W.

To add to what I have already said these websites I have given have both Zaner-Bloser (the way we learned how to write our letters) and D'Nealian. My daughter will go to the Independence school district and they use D'Nealian, the other girl will go to Blue springs and that district uses Zaner-Bloser. So does KC, MO but that will probably change next year since Independence took over 7 of KC schools.

Your daughter is very smart! Most 3 year olds have trouble holding a pencil correctly without getting tired quickly. Try eye-hand coordination activities such as: Legos, puzzles, play dough, using a spoon and fork at mealtime. When I was teaching my daughters in homeschool they enjoyed a "sand pan". In a 13x9 metal(not aluminum)pan, pour about 1 inch of clean sand. Let her practice drawing letters with her finger in the sand. When she begins to master the letters with her finger, move on to 1/2" or thicker dowel rod or stick. By the time she is ready for kindergarten, she should be able to write simple words as well as her name. Caution: only use with supervision away from younger siblings!

Hi J.,

Most children at the age of 3 do not have the hand eye coordination and fine motor skills to be able to write free hand. If she has interest, have her practice cutting paper on lines that you have drawn,tracing letters, and teach her the sounds of the letters. Between 4 and 5, she will be able to write. Make all the activites fun and enjoyable. You can get some great art ideas on www.familyfun.com .

Your daughter is a little young for trying to write. Her small motor skills are still developing. Keep plenty of paper anc crayons handy and show her what her name looks like. She will let you know when she is ready to tackle any other writing.
I am so proud of you and your husband for caring enough about your children to make all of the sacrifices involved in working opposite shifts. This way, the children get the best of both of you. We did this while our son was growing up, and do not regret any part of it.
Since she has a sibling, the wait for preschool will do no harm. While many day care facilities are excellent, the children that I observed having been exposed to day care for a length of time seemed to be noisier and less disciplined than those who had the benefit of round the clock parenting.
I was an older Mom (40 when junior arrived) so had some strong feelings about his schooling and care. The result was that he obtained a Masters degree in near record time with a 3.8 GPA. Time invested in your children is time well used.

Last Christmas my son was 3, turning 4 in March. My friend got him an AquaDoodle with a letter book attached. It was a little one so my son could hold it in his lap. It showed how to write each capital letter, line by line. My son would trace the full letter in the little book and then write it on his board. The board would also flip over, so while one side dried, he could write on the other side. The letter book was also laminated so the water from the special pen wouldn't ruin the pages. I think it's a great gift because you don't have a mess to clean up and you don't use up paper.
I'm pretty sure she got it at Wal-Mart, but I'm not sure.

I would encourage coloring. We always had colors and coloring books with us all of the time. In the winter, they were allowed to have colors in the car. Come springtime, I cleaned out the car thoroughly and replaced the colors with colored pencils. (Melted crayons are awful)
I would also suggest getting an inexpensive chalkboard and hang it in the kitchen (or your most used room of the house). This type of drawing/writing uses different muscles needed for the writing process.
Also, read to her... a lot. While you are reading, follow with your finger. It won't take long for her to see how the different letters are shaped. If she can "see" the letter in her mind, it will be easier for her to write.
Have fun!!!

You are doing the right thing. When your daughter is good at tracing what you have drawn, you can start to have her trace regular handwritten letters. I have all my kids trace what I write for about a year.

I don't teach them to write with the alphabet and in order. I choose simple 3 letter words and write them many times on a page. I help them with the sounding out with me doing most the work. If they trace 2-3 words 10 or 15 times each every day for a year, guess what? By the end of that year not only do they have great handwriting skills, they will know how to read. You are combining phonics lessons with writing and you will find that you will instinctively know when to start adding in blends and longer words.

S.

I think at this age that's about all you can do. I too have a 3-yr-old (son) and have been doing the same thing...having him trace worksheets I print off or just trace what I've written. And that's really enough for now. When your daughter gets to pre-school...just knowing her letters may put her ahead of some. I teach pre-school Sunday school and there are some 4-yr-olds in that class who don't recognize all the letters, and who get messed up counting after 10. So my advice to you is not to worry about it at this age...just being excited about "writing" is enough. Also, exposing them to other things (cutting and gluing, for example) will help to develop the manual dexterity required for writing.

One thing I use with little ones, I am a teacher, is het a baking sheet and shaving cream so something similiar. Kids love to use stuff besides a pencil..they have their whole lives to use a pencil so make it fun. Playdough, glitter, etc...

We made a couple mistakes when working with our daughter at home, so you might want to think about these. We taught her to write her name with all capitals because I thought it would be easier for her to form the letters, but when she started Kindergarten this year, she had to retrain herself to write it in upper and lower case. I would think that the first thing you'd want to have her practice writing would be her name-- she'd probably be more excited about learning that than just letters.

Also, our school district uses D'Nealian, so she's having to learn that instead of the more traditional letters used in most workbooks you find at the bookstore. So you might want to ask your local elementary for a copy of the letter style your school uses to make it a bit easier on her later. Good luck! You'll be amazed at how quickly she catches on to these kinds of things.

PLease don't forget the art and playdough. Just learning to write isn't enough. Let them fingerpaint, color, cut with safety scissors, just rip up some paper or magazines. This is such a big thing in early childhood. And also read, read, read, she's at the age where she needs to see you running your finger across the bottom of the words so she picks up the simplicity of "we read left to right" I know my sister has worked so hard on her oldest on trying to write that now that he's in Pre-k he's having trouble b/c she taught him one way and the school doesn't do it that way. I understand the staying home but I hope you do playdates or some kind of regular socializing with children of similar ages. My mom stayed home with us but kindergarten was a culture shock for me and my brother. My sisters are twins so it made it easier for them. Even though I had siblings and a few neighbors, spent time with cousins every few months, it doesn't make up for regular socialization.
YOu can stretch the alphabet into learning the sounds the letters make. Also finger play songs are good for little fingers and hands. I just feel that sometimes too many worksheets are too many. Sign language is a good thing to teach also. It's the 3rd most used language in the US.
You can also start teaching them their address and phone number, parents full names, siblings full names, city they live in, state they live in. Those are some things I know they teach in public school.
Most of all remember to have fun! Those are the memories they will have forever. Think back to your early years and try to remember the best parts.

Hello! I'm the mother of 2 boys and a full-time Soldier.

My advice is to drop by Borders or Barnes and Noble and check out the home-school section. There are TONS of fun workbooks with all kinds of activities for them to do. My 5 year old is currently working through the Summer Before First Grade book (I think it's called "Summer Link"), which helps them work on letters, sounds and math in a very simple way. He loves "doing his homework" while his six year old brother works on his. They make these books for children who are getting ready for preschool, head-start, and kindergarten as well.

The books are vey simplified to start off with, but get more difficult as your child moves through the book. Don't be fooled by the simplicity of the first few pages and go buy a level higher...if you do it will be frustrating for your child when you get to more difficult work that they are not yet ready for. The books make it easy for your child to work on writing and then, later, penmanship, because they are having fun while working on it.

We usually only do a few pages of the book at a time. Taylor always begs to do more, but since children cannot truly retain more than a few things a day I usually cut him off (LOL!). The books are pretty repetative and do have reviews of things previously learned in order to help solidify the new information in their little noggins. :o)

Soooo...good luck! Have a fabulous day!

SGT P