If your child doesn't like to color

[meggie]

I'm trying to plan out next school year for DS5. For science, TWTM suggests the main books on plants, animals, and the human body. Then most of their supplemental books are coloring books. Which I would love to do, I could see myself sitting down and coloring some every week :lol:. But apparently I'm supposed to school him and not myself, so I need some suggestions as to what else I could use to supplement. Because to him, coloring = scribble, turn page, scribble, turn page and so on :glare:.

[Aubrey]

If your child doesn't like to color, don't waste your $. I did. They STILL don't like to color, & now there are 4 of them, lol.

 

For other books to supplement--at that age, I think it's hard to predict their attention spans or what they'll like. I'd get books & project/craft books from the library. For me, it's hardly even been worth printing stuff off--they'll say, "Yeah, that looks fun," but then? Nope.

 

The books, though, they'll look at over & over again. Magic School Bus movies are good.

 

One thing I've enjoyed this year that I didn't try at that age (but now wish I had) is the guide books. Like spotting birds & bugs & plants. Buy/borrow ones *you* like & make the nature walks be for your enjoyment. It creates enthusiasm & teaches more than the coloring books would anyway. I didn't do this when mine were smaller because they were too little to use the books themselves. :tongue_smilie:

[MsAlimar]

Both of my children are like this. They don't like to color what somebody else has drawn. They are more than willing to draw their own pictures, most of the time. She is balking at drawing pictures for her copy work; she would rather just copy the words.

 

I didn't start science until 1st grade. Then we did/are doing a nature notebook (Charlotte Mason style) and an experiment kit from Academy of Science for Kids (Chem 101). She loves the hands on experiment stuff and also looking up things that she found on our nature walks.

 

Next year we will be doing Answers in Genesis which doesn't have any coloring.

 

I have to avoid anything that requires them to color.

[Tsutsie]

My son was the same, until about 3 months ago. (He turned 6 in January.)

There is hope.

 

He especially likes using gel pens to "make designs" on the pictures.

[robsiew]

I have one who hates coloring too. Always has... always will (he's 7)!

 

I would just skip it. We use Elemental Science so I had him cut out the picture for the narration, but not color it. Then he told me one sentence about what he remembered from what we read. That's it.

 

Now I've actually changed gears with my 1st grader since the Chem is too much for him. We just read "real books" that are science in nature. That's it... I don't even have him narrate at this point. He enjoys this and it's easy to get some exposure. I'm learning as I go that K/1 and even 2nd grade can be about exposure!

[meggie]

One thing I've enjoyed this year that I didn't try at that age (but now wish I had) is the guide books. Like spotting birds & bugs & plants. Buy/borrow ones *you* like & make the nature walks be for your enjoyment. It creates enthusiasm & teaches more than the coloring books would anyway. I didn't do this when mine were smaller because they were too little to use the books themselves. :tongue_smilie:

 

Do you think there is much to see if you're stuck in suburbia? My husband has the car all day everyday and I wonder how interesting plant and animal life is from the sidewalk. I guess long walks could always count for PE instead

[Spy Car]

I will tell you, my son went to Kindergarten last year and we got the super-star veteran teacher. She had the kids coloring so much that I made a few skeptical comments to my wife about our son going to "coloring school."

 

I had to eat my words. His "scrawl" and the equally poor handwriting of his classmates transformed over that year. The fine motor skills and hand strength and dexterity was built up from lots of coloring (with small movements) with colored pencils (not crayon, markers, or gel pens).

 

I did a 100% turnaround in my thinking as I saw the results. Every child in the class had very nice handwriting by years end. It was quite an accomplishment (given where they started) and all the skills gained from coloring was a big par of the equation.

 

Bill

[DawnL]

My 7 year old loves to color what HE likes. If it's a superhero, it will be beautiful colored. Anything from a plant to something from Sunday School, it's a scribble.

 

I wouldn't waste money if they don't like to color, either.

 

And you'd be surprised what you might find in suburbia. I remember taking a long neighborhood walk with the boys. We could hear a bird somewhere. As we walked and looked at everything, we found it was a mama crow, trying to protect her next from a hawk, way up high in a tree. We have found tree frogs, salamanders, garden snakes, and lady bug larvae (but we didn't know it at the time) and all kinds of stuff. My sister was thoroughly grossed out that we let a giant spider reside right outside our front door for weeks, just so we could watch it eat. LOL The possums and racoons usually only come out at night, but it's been a hard winter. One of the racoons was raiding the cats' food dish on the front porch in broad daylight, at 5:30 in the evening, last week.

 

And yes, long walks are definitely good PE! Bring chalk

[meggie]

I will tell you, my son went to Kindergarten last year and we got the super-star veteran teacher. She had the kids coloring so much that I made a few skeptical comments to my wife about our son going to "coloring school."

 

I had to eat my words. His "scrawl" and the equally poor handwriting of his classmates transformed over that year. The fine motor skills and hand strength and dexterity was built up from lots of coloring (with small movements) with colored pencils (not crayon, markers, or gel pens).

 

I did a 100% turnaround in my thinking as I saw the results. Every child in the class had very nice handwriting by years end. It was quite an accomplishment (given where they started) and all the skills gained from coloring was a big par of the equation.

 

Bill

 

Thank you for that insight, I'd never thought of that. That would be excellent to help with his fine motor skills.

 

My 7 year old loves to color what HE likes. If it's a superhero, it will be beautiful colored. Anything from a plant to something from Sunday School, it's a scribble. Also a very good point. Maybe I'll take him to the dollar store and let him pick out some fun ones for him. As for the beautiful museum quality ones, well maybe DD will enjoy coloring in 5 years.

 

I wouldn't waste money if they don't like to color, either.

 

And you'd be surprised what you might find in suburbia. I remember taking a long neighborhood walk with the boys. We could hear a bird somewhere. As we walked and looked at everything, we found it was a mama crow, trying to protect her next from a hawk, way up high in a tree. We have found tree frogs, salamanders, garden snakes, and lady bug larvae (but we didn't know it at the time) and all kinds of stuff. My sister was thoroughly grossed out that we let a giant spider reside right outside our front door for weeks, just so we could watch it eat. LOL The possums and racoons usually only come out at night, but it's been a hard winter. One of the racoons was raiding the cats' food dish on the front porch in broad daylight, at 5:30 in the evening, last week.

 

And yes, long walks are definitely good PE! Bring chalk

 

Thank you, we will try it and hopefully find some cool things. Although, I will agree with your sister, I could have never let a giant spider stay there for so long. I'm getting creeped out just thinking about it :tongue_smilie:

[Aubrey]

Do you think there is much to see if you're stuck in suburbia? My husband has the car all day everyday and I wonder how interesting plant and animal life is from the sidewalk. I guess long walks could always count for PE instead

 

You know, it depends. I read The 79 Squares as a kid (older kid--don't read it aloud!), & it has had an impact on the way I think about suburbia. But I"m a stay-inside girl, so don't get intimidated or anything. This is pure theory. ;)

[Aubrey]

I will tell you, my son went to Kindergarten last year and we got the super-star veteran teacher. She had the kids coloring so much that I made a few skeptical comments to my wife about our son going to "coloring school."

 

I had to eat my words. His "scrawl" and the equally poor handwriting of his classmates transformed over that year. The fine motor skills and hand strength and dexterity was built up from lots of coloring (with small movements) with colored pencils (not crayon, markers, or gel pens).

 

I did a 100% turnaround in my thinking as I saw the results. Every child in the class had very nice handwriting by years end. It was quite an accomplishment (given where they started) and all the skills gained from coloring was a big par of the equation.

 

Bill

 

:001_tt2: <--- He looks too happy, but it was the closest to a "Pbbbt" I could find.

 

First it's The Cartoon Road to Reading.

 

Now it's A Reason to Color. :svengo:

[Osaubi]

My ds 8 didn't like to color. He will color at most 1 picture per week if pressured. He also hates to draw.

 

For our nature study we would do walks around the neighborhood. There are plenty of things to find in the city. When we got to something that he wanted to know more about I would help him take a picture (then a couple myself). If we saw something and forgot the camera I would have him take a picture in his mind. He would have to describe it back to me and we would look for a picture on the internet. If it was something we found on the ground we took it home and added it to the page of our notebook.

 

He still loves to take pictures. When he got his Nintendo DS this year he spent more time taking pictures than on the games :lol:

[blondeviolin]

Maybe you could find models and build those? Or will he cut? My son HATES to color but LOVES to cut. So we trace the pictures on construction paper and then cut and reassemble on another paper.

[Jay3fer]

to him, coloring = scribble, turn page, scribble, turn page and so on :glare:.

 

:lol: Just lol bc this is my ds3. Good to know there are bigger kids like this, too. :-)

 

p.s. Were you on DiaperPin 4 or 5 years ago? Your name sounds familiar...

[annlaura]

About suburbia - depends where you are. We are close enough to water and forest that we do get plenty to look at, although obviously not as much as in the forest itself. About coloring - does your son do better if you color with him? My DS4 sometimes goes for the scribbling, but will do better if I color with him. Which, honestly, I love to do.

[meggie]

 

p.s. Were you on DiaperPin 4 or 5 years ago? Your name sounds familiar...

 

nope, must've been someone else :001_smile:

[meggie]

About coloring - does your son do better if you color with him? My DS4 sometimes goes for the scribbling, but will do better if I color with him. Which, honestly, I love to do.

 

I've never really tried it, since he hogs the books to himself. It seems like such an obvious thing, I feel silly for not doing it. I will have to try and see how it goes. Maybe there's hope for me and the beautiful museum quality coloring books that I really really want to buy!

[annlaura]

You're braver than me. ;) I've already succumbed to the Dover allure. lol!

 

I've never really tried it, since he hogs the books to himself. It seems like such an obvious thing, I feel silly for not doing it. I will have to try and see how it goes. Maybe there's hope for me and the beautiful museum quality coloring books that I really really want to buy!

[Targhee]

 

I had to eat my words. His "scrawl" and the equally poor handwriting of his classmates transformed over that year. The fine motor skills and hand strength and dexterity was built up from lots of coloring (with small movements) with colored pencils (not crayon, markers, or gel pens).

 

 

 

I wish I could have said the same thing when I sent my DD to 1st grade and she had coloring EVERY day (multiple times). It did not help. It only made her and the teacher frustrated (teacher suggested she go back to K because she didn't color in the lines!). DD has always been slower with fine motor, and she did not enjoy coloring, so this was torturous and tear-provoking almost daily. Now she's in 3rd grade, still has marginal handwriting (though cursive is helping), BUT she likes coloring. She likes coloring her own pictures, not in the lines someone else has put out there. For her, it just took time and the right opportunity.

 

My suggestion is to try BFSU for science. It doesn't require the "output" of other science programs, but still teaches science in a gentle, sound, kid-friendly way.

 

Teaching to your child's modality/learning style and gently helping them where they are weak so they can become stronger (and not by demanding they learn in the "weak" way) is what I love about homeschool.

[meggie]

 

My suggestion is to try BFSU for science. It doesn't require the "output" of other science programs, but still teaches science in a gentle, sound, kid-friendly way.

 

Teaching to your child's modality/learning style and gently helping them where they are weak so they can become stronger (and not by demanding they learn in the "weak" way) is what I love about homeschool.

 

Oh no! the abbreviation sticky doesnt have that one, what is it?

[Rosie_0801]

Do you think there is much to see if you're stuck in suburbia? My husband has the car all day everyday and I wonder how interesting plant and animal life is from the sidewalk. I guess long walks could always count for PE instead

 

Don't people have front yards where you live? :svengo:

 

The last place we lived in was a dodgy rental property, and, can you believe, we were required by contract to keep the front yard mowed! I had a serious sook one day when dh went out to mow and I spent the rest of the day in mourning for the eight different types of grass I had counted out there. Murdered, they were! Their heads cut right off!

 

:tongue_smilie:

Rosie

 

P.S BFSU is Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Bernard Nebel. You'll find it on Amazon. :)

[Targhee]

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. It's geared for K-2, requires minimal materials, and has everything laid out for you. It's flexible in its order of lessons in order to allow for interest-led lessons or teachable moments. However, that can be overwhelming if you aren't a science-y person. The yahoo group for BFSU, as well as some people on the WTM board here, have suggested lesson schedules.

 

Good luck - have fun - color outside the lines (or not at all!)

[meggie]

Don't people have front yards where you live? :svengo:

 

The last place we lived in was a dodgy rental property, and, can you believe, we were required by contract to keep the front yard mowed! I had a serious sook one day when dh went out to mow and I spent the rest of the day in mourning for the eight different types of grass I had counted out there. Murdered, they were! Their heads cut right off!

 

:tongue_smilie:

Rosie

 

P.S BFSU is Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding by Bernard Nebel. You'll find it on Amazon. :)

 

Well, we don't have a front yard, but I suppose the neighbors won't mind if I go traipsing about their yards, counting the varieties of grass. :tongue_smilie: In all seriousness though, PLANTS!! How could I forget about plants?! I think of nature walks and think of looking for animals and insects :ack2: Yeesh, can you tell I'm brain dead and sleep deprived?

 

And thank you, I will look at that book.

[Rosie_0801]

Well, we don't have a front yard, but I suppose the neighbors won't mind if I go traipsing about their yards, counting the varieties of grass. :tongue_smilie: In all seriousness though, PLANTS!! How could I forget about plants?! I think of nature walks and think of looking for animals and insects :ack2:

 

Hehehe. Maybe you need to make friends with your neighbours. If you have any old lady gardeners, they'll be happy to talk about their gardens. I suppose you know you've reached the next level in friendship when you feel comfortable asking about their grass :tongue_smilie::lol:

 

There's a lady a few streets over who has a fabulous garden in spring and summer. I'm looking forward to seeing whether she works so hard in winter, or if she leaves it dormant. It's also fun, now we've moved to a new place, to see what the iconic plant of the area is. Where we used to live, everyone had roses, lavender and rosemary. Down here, everyone seems to have hibiscus.

 

:)

Rosie

[PeterPan]

I will tell you, my son went to Kindergarten last year and we got the super-star veteran teacher. She had the kids coloring so much that I made a few skeptical comments to my wife about our son going to "coloring school."

 

I had to eat my words. His "scrawl" and the equally poor handwriting of his classmates transformed over that year. The fine motor skills and hand strength and dexterity was built up from lots of coloring (with small movements) with colored pencils (not crayon, markers, or gel pens).

 

I did a 100% turnaround in my thinking as I saw the results. Every child in the class had very nice handwriting by years end. It was quite an accomplishment (given where they started) and all the skills gained from coloring was a big par of the equation.

 

Bill

 

What Bill has latched onto here is that sometimes kids don't color because they have fine motor delays, hand strength or muscle tone problems, vision problems, etc. There can be REASONS they aren't coloring or refuse to. I would ask some serious questions and consider it a red flag. I blew this whole issue off when my dd was 4, 5,6, figuring it was just personality; she sculpts quite well, so why would she want to mindless color, yes that must be it. Well no, it wasn't it. At 10 she STILL had the hurting hand and vision problems that had been underlying the not coloring.

 

I certainly wouldn't blow it off. Really, with the op it sounds like she just has a wiggly dc who isn't interested yet. Have you seen the Kumon books with very small targets for the coloring? Not like they start big in K5. I worked in K5 all through college, and yes, we made them color every day at the start of school. They started them off with one page that would require minimal focused work, just say some triangles and circles to color and paste onto a page. They sell reproducible Trace, Cut, and Paste workbooks like that. Then they moved into pages with say a letter and a picture using the letter. Finally they moved to full pages of coloring.

[GoVanGogh]

If you have any old lady gardeners, they'll be happy to talk about their gardens.

Hey! I resemble that remark!

Seriously, though.

I'm one of those crazy old gardeners, like Miss Rumphius.

I often walk out to get the paper in the morning and find strangers in my front garden. And the young male cashier at the corner grocery store once recognized me and told me that his mom always drives by my garden to see what is blooming. (And they don't even live in our neighborhood. She just spotted it one day while out walking.)

I love to share my garden! I honestly don't know a single gardener that doesn't. So don't be shy if you are out walking and you spot a garden that looks 'inviting.' Ring the doorbell and ask if you and your child/ren can have a tour.

[mom2scouts]

I'm happy to hear that I'm not the only one who has children that hate to color. All five of my children have hated to color. In K they would do the absolute minimum coloring required to please the teacher and move on. My daughter loves to draw and write but she hates to color. She just makes a scribble and moves on to the next thing.

[Tracy]

My dd doesn't like to color but will cut and glue stuff. So we sometimes print out stuff from the internet and cut them out and glue them. Sometimes stickers are appropriate.

[meggie]

What Bill has latched onto here is that sometimes kids don't color because they have fine motor delays, hand strength or muscle tone problems, vision problems, etc. There can be REASONS they aren't coloring or refuse to. I would ask some serious questions and consider it a red flag. I blew this whole issue off when my dd was 4, 5,6, figuring it was just personality; she sculpts quite well, so why would she want to mindless color, yes that must be it. Well no, it wasn't it. At 10 she STILL had the hurting hand and vision problems that had been underlying the not coloring.

 

I certainly wouldn't blow it off. Really, with the op it sounds like she just has a wiggly dc who isn't interested yet. Have you seen the Kumon books with very small targets for the coloring? Not like they start big in K5. I worked in K5 all through college, and yes, we made them color every day at the start of school. They started them off with one page that would require minimal focused work, just say some triangles and circles to color and paste onto a page. They sell reproducible Trace, Cut, and Paste workbooks like that. Then they moved into pages with say a letter and a picture using the letter. Finally they moved to full pages of coloring.

 

Now I'm starting to wonder about a fine motor delay. I'm not really worried or freaking out, but just wondering if that's more of the problem. Because he's not really a wiggly boy. He's always been very laid back and mellow. (DS 2 on the other hand :willy_nilly::svengo:) He will sit for a long time and do reading lessons. Loves to read. He will sit for 2+ hours, yes HOURS, doing his math. And it certainly is not me saying, "You will stay here until you finish your math page" not even close. I'm saying after every problem, "Do you want to stop or keep going?" and he says, "Keep going" so he does the next one.

 

But looking back, things with fine motor seemed to bore him. He'd sit with the lace and trace for 10 seconds and then start playing with them. He loves stickers but always has me peel them off for him. He only barely learned how to do buttons (because I made him) but had kept saying they were too hard and he couldn't do it. And writing lessons is the very last one he wants to do. Well, I guess I'll have to figure out a plan to get him to do more.

[kalanamak]

 

I had to eat my words. His "scrawl" and the equally poor handwriting of his classmates transformed over that year. The fine motor skills and hand strength and dexterity was built up from lots of coloring (with small movements) with colored pencils (not crayon, markers, or gel pens).

 

 

Well, I'll match your experience of one to my experience of one. My son hated to color (and is the child of two people with terrible handwriting). He has very nice handwriting and did from the get-go. Coloring wasn't part of it, and what a horror it would be for force a child to do something they really didn't like at that age. (My son's handwriting has to do with competitiveness. He wants to be "the best". He only really likes art if he can make something better than the kids in the Atelier video, and he really works at WWE so that his narration can be "better" than the "kid's examples SWB included. :))

[boscopup]

Meggie, my oldest was like that. He's getting better with the hand strength. One thing he does enjoy is the Draw Write Now books. We do one drawing each week, and I do it right along with him. We use color pencils. He just does one of the copywork sentences. This has improved things, along with other copywork, and just gradually working up to more writing.

 

It's not uncommon for boys especially to not like coloring. It probably is related to fine motor skills. My oldest has definitely done fine motor things on the later side of normal.

[MeganW]

What Bill has latched onto here is that sometimes kids don't color because they have fine motor delays, hand strength or muscle tone problems, vision problems, etc. There can be REASONS they aren't coloring or refuse to.

 

 

Hmm. That would explain why my kids were great color-ers last year, and now are terrible. They had the coloring/cutting/gluing queen for a teacher last year, but this year's teacher isn't into it at all. I guess I was assuming the worse performance was lack of effort, but now I am wondering if their hand strength is suffering again (that has been an ongoing problem here).

[PeterPan]

Now I'm starting to wonder about a fine motor delay. I'm not really worried or freaking out, but just wondering if that's more of the problem. Because he's not really a wiggly boy. He's always been very laid back and mellow. (DS 2 on the other hand :willy_nilly::svengo:) He will sit for a long time and do reading lessons. Loves to read. He will sit for 2+ hours, yes HOURS, doing his math. And it certainly is not me saying, "You will stay here until you finish your math page" not even close. I'm saying after every problem, "Do you want to stop or keep going?" and he says, "Keep going" so he does the next one.

 

But looking back, things with fine motor seemed to bore him. He'd sit with the lace and trace for 10 seconds and then start playing with them. He loves stickers but always has me peel them off for him. He only barely learned how to do buttons (because I made him) but had kept saying they were too hard and he couldn't do it. And writing lessons is the very last one he wants to do. Well, I guess I'll have to figure out a plan to get him to do more.

 

Actually, it could be something totally different, not a delay. If he is low muscle tone (often inherited), it could make him lower in energy. When my dd was that age she did the same thing, lying down a lot, listening to books on tape for hours on end, etc. The lower muscle tone makes them wear out more easily, because it takes more effort to accomplish the same thing. She'd take a long walk and be tired the next day, as in so tired I could hardly get school work out of her. I still have to be careful. She slept 11-12 hours a night at that age and still sleeps 10 1/2-11 hours a night.

 

Buttons and writing both take a lot of finger, shoulder, and core strength. You just don't think of it that way. Look at how he sits when he writes. Does he put his other hand up to bear the weight? Does he LEAN on it? My dd would tend to hold the hand in, almost as if she was just getting it out of the way. Turns out she wasn't shifting her weight onto that hand, so all her weight (that should have been borne by the other hand and supported by her core/stomach muscles) was going onto her writing hand. That's why it hurt and was so unpleasant to write. In OT the found this, did exercises for the weight-shifting (it's actually neurological), core, shoulder strength, finger strength, etc. There are specific things an OT can do to work on this.

 

All that was a ramble on what *our* cause was. I have no experience in developmental delays to help you there. As far as how we figured out, well I went in sort of the opposite of normal order. We knew she needed OT, based on things the eye doc had said, so we went and got that evaluation. Then we went backwards to the ped to get the referral slip for the OT. The OT said she was low muscle tone, told what code the ped should put, and the ped put it. The ped saw it just fine when she was told what to look for. So one route for you might be, on an upcoming ped visit, to talk about it and ask him/her to check for muscle tone issues. The ped isn't an OT, but he/she should be able to screen. If the ped doesn't find that, maybe he'll have other recommendations on what is going on. Or read the books on this stuff, do some online searching, and decide for yourself what evaluations you want. Just be aware of the need for referral slips for insurance purposes.

 

Hope you get it figured out. Unfortunately, in some kids these issues don't go away, and worse, it turns out the increased coloring is just a patch, that you have to deal with the deeper issues that caused it in the first place.

 

Again, I'm not wanting to scare you. I'm just saying that the things you're seeing CAN be early signs of problems that need help. Read about them and decide for yourself. You're looking for terms like hypotonia (low muscle tone), SPD (sensory processing disorder), etc.

[Guest Momlovesbooks]

I will tell you, my son went to Kindergarten last year and we got the super-star veteran teacher. She had the kids coloring so much that I made a few skeptical comments to my wife about our son going to "coloring school."

 

I had to eat my words. His "scrawl" and the equally poor handwriting of his classmates transformed over that year. The fine motor skills and hand strength and dexterity was built up from lots of coloring (with small movements) with colored pencils (not crayon, markers, or gel pens).

 

I did a 100% turnaround in my thinking as I saw the results. Every child in the class had very nice handwriting by years end. It was quite an accomplishment (given where they started) and all the skills gained from coloring was a big par of the equation.

 

Bill

 

 

:iagree: I didn't make my oldest color because he hated to, and now he tires easily when writing a lot. I read somewhere on the importance of coloring for this reason. It might have been The Core or TWTM?

I have made my middle son color and he has grown to like it. Already his handwriting is better than his older brother's writing.

[MeganW]

I will tell you, my son went to Kindergarten last year and we got the super-star veteran teacher. She had the kids coloring so much that I made a few skeptical comments to my wife about our son going to "coloring school."

 

I had to eat my words. His "scrawl" and the equally poor handwriting of his classmates transformed over that year. The fine motor skills and hand strength and dexterity was built up from lots of coloring (with small movements) with colored pencils (not crayon, markers, or gel pens).

 

I did a 100% turnaround in my thinking as I saw the results. Every child in the class had very nice handwriting by years end. It was quite an accomplishment (given where they started) and all the skills gained from coloring was a big par of the equation.

 

Bill

 

I talked to the OT today about this thread. She completely agreed that for any kid who has writing challenges, coloring is important. The only difference she had was in the writing instrument. She felt that CRAYONS were more appropriate than colored pencils until good control is gained. The reason was something about the crayon having more resistance against the paper and proving more input back to the hand. That's kind of the jist of it - it was a LOOOOOONG speech about sensory stuff and the relationship to fine motor skills, and I was trying to control 4 kids in the waiting room while she was talking about it, so I may have missed some of the finer points! :)

 

She said there is NO REASON to worry if a kid doesn't have perfect handwriting before age 7, as long as there aren't any other concerns.

 

And she gave me her favorite line that she repeats weekly: "every preschool and lower elementary child should be working with Playdoh every single day for hand-strengthening!".

[Spy Car]

I talked to the OT today about this thread. She completely agreed that for any kid who has writing challenges, coloring is important. The only difference she had was in the writing instrument. She felt that CRAYONS were more appropriate than colored pencils until good control is gained. The reason was something about the crayon having more resistance against the paper and proving more input back to the hand. That's kind of the jist of it - it was a LOOOOOONG speech about sensory stuff and the relationship to fine motor skills, and I was trying to control 4 kids in the waiting room while she was talking about it, so I may have missed some of the finer points! :)

 

She said there is NO REASON to worry if a kid doesn't have perfect handwriting before age 7, as long as there aren't any other concerns.

 

And she gave me her favorite line that she repeats weekly: "every preschool and lower elementary child should be working with Playdoh every single day for hand-strengthening!".

 

Our former Kindergarten teacher and Bruce Smith (of the SmithHand handwriting program) were both adamant about using colored pencils and not using crayons.

 

The reasons both gave (independently) were that crayons got the children gripping and pressing too hard, and that they tended to scrawl rather than using small up and down motions of the sort colored pencils tend to promote.

 

Bruce Smith was particularly adamant on the necessity for small movements and suggested using fairly detailed coloring books for this reason.

 

But what do I know? :D

 

Bill

[Wheres Toto]

My son loves to color but only if you let him do it his way. You cannot tell him what color something is supposed to be (he colored a panda orange and purple last week) or that he can't add his own embellishments. He likes to be very creative and colorful with everything he does.

[Soror]

My son has started to love coloring as well as his fine motor control has improved. I need to get more for him to do really and have been lusting after lots of Dover books myself!