Handwriting goals at end of K

[MomN]

What should a child graduating from K generally be able to do in terms of handwriting? I'm thinking form most of the letters both capital and lower case and numbers. But what about size? My son writes big. Should I encourage him to write smaller? How small? What kind of paper can I use to encourage this? Should he be writing short words, sentences even by the end of K?

 

Just curious as to where we need to progress to. So far, I'm focused on right grip and forming proper letters. Where to now?

[Tanaqui]

I think, truly, that too much emphasis is put on writing and not enough on pre-writing. Kindy is still a baby. When we were in kindergarten, we were not expected to read and write at all, and we didn't suffer from it.

 

I would focus on pre-writing exercises that build hand strength and encourage the tripod grip, and drawing, and would not focus on writing at all at this age unless HE is pushing to work more on that.

 

Edited January 4, 2018 by Tanaqui

[Stibalfamily]

We focus on the proper formation or upper and lower case letters as well as numbers to 20. By the end of k, I will ask my K'er to write them in a random order. "Write an uppercase C and lowercase e..." And then simple short copywork. This would be in keeping with public schooled Kindergarteners. I start writing in Pre-K to make sure we stay on target without the stress. And we do lots of prewriting. My three year old has been doing lots of prewriting and letter formation practice. 

Edited January 4, 2018 by Stibalfamily

[Tsuga]

What should a child graduating from K generally be able to do in terms of handwriting? I'm thinking form most of the letters both capital and lower case and numbers. But what about size? My son writes big. Should I encourage him to write smaller? How small? What kind of paper can I use to encourage this? Should he be writing short words, sentences even by the end of K?

 

Just curious as to where we need to progress to. So far, I'm focused on right grip and forming proper letters. Where to now?

 

My kids did no handwriting in kindergarten. One was in German school for K, the other in Chinese. They did learn the letter shapes, but to draw them and form them with beans and glue on paper and so on. They made collages of things starting with the letter A, B, C... Handwriting was for 1st grade. Write letters and learn capitals.

 

Riding a bicycle, monkey bars, swimming, swinging, building things with sand and somersaults would be my priority for K. That will help the child develop the fine and gross motor skills needed to later build on handwriting. Painting and drawing for fun would also be on the list. Lego is great for building finger strength.

 

I would NOT encourage a child to write smaller. A child who can write letters in K is unlikely to suddenly reach a barrier in 3rd grade and be unable to reduce the size gradually.

[OneStepAtATime]

What should a child graduating from K generally be able to do in terms of handwriting? I'm thinking form most of the letters both capital and lower case and numbers. But what about size? My son writes big. Should I encourage him to write smaller? How small? What kind of paper can I use to encourage this? Should he be writing short words, sentences even by the end of K?

 

Just curious as to where we need to progress to. So far, I'm focused on right grip and forming proper letters. Where to now?

He should be doing whatever he developmentally and emotionally is ready for.  For some children that means forming a few letters reasonably correctly most of the time and maybe even writing in both lower and upper case.  For others it may mean beautiful handwriting and being able to form complex sentences or even paragraphs.  For others this means no writing at all yet.  They just aren't ready. 

 

This is very much based on developmental readiness.  Go at the pace of your child.  And the interest level.  And keep writing lessons very very short.  They have years to gain mastery of this skill.  At this point I would be doing whatever I could to keep writing as a positive experience.  In fact, I highly recommend focusing on what they are doing right, not what they are doing wrong.  For instance, if he is doing copywork, have him go back through and circle any letters he thinks are pretty close to the original.  Talk about the strokes that came out pretty good.  Praise that and very specifically so he can learn from the process but see that he IS doing things right.  The rest will smooth out over time (unless there is some sort of learning challenge).

 

Also, I wouldn't worry about sizing yet at ALL.  It can take time for a child to be able to write smaller.  If anything I would be encouraging him to write in sand and on a chalk board or a dry erase board in bigger movements for better brain/body connection.  Also play with legos, play with clay, etc.  As fine hand coordination improves he will be able to write smaller further down the line.  Whatever you do, do NOT give him college rule paper or even wide rule paper to write on.  It is way too small.  Use the tablet paper that is meant for kinder (see below) if you have to use paper.  If he needs a larger pencil that is fine, too.  Some children that age also need rubber pencil grips to help hold the pencil properly (my brother did).  That's also o.k.  But I would keep writing to a minimum until he is developmentally ready.

 

https://www.amazon.com/Primary-School-Writing-Tablet-Pencil/dp/B0745KYT6L/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1515044836&sr=8-4&keywords=kindergarten+tablet+paper

 

Finally, it can take a LOT of time for all the processes that go into handwriting to smooth out and work together.  Scaffold where necessary.  For instance, he may have some great ideas and want to get them on paper.  Don't short circuit those great ideas by insisting he have to write them himself.  Scribe for him then read back what he said to clarify and polish as he has interest.  Let his ideas flow without the encumbrance of trying to remember how to spell/form the letters/sizing/spacing.  He may stop wanting to use his true vocabulary and conceptual understanding because the writing side is not at that level.  This is normal and expected.  Scribe for him.  Work on handwriting and spelling separately.  

 

Best wishes

 

 

Edited January 4, 2018 by OneStepAtATime

[Tsuga]

 

Finally, it can take a LOT of time for all the processes that go into handwriting to smooth out and work together.  Scaffold where necessary.  For instance, he may have some great ideas and want to get them on paper.  Don't short circuit those great ideas by insisting he have to write them himself.  Scribe for him then read back what he said to clarify and polish as he has interest.  Let his ideas flow without the encumbrance of trying to remember how to spell/form the letters/sizing/spacing.  He may stop wanting to use his true vocabulary and conceptual understanding because the writing side is not at that level.  This is normal and expected.  Scribe for him.  Work on handwriting and spelling separately.  

 

Best wishes

 

Amen! Trust the process. There are many things I would not skimp on, but at five, they need the building blocks of strength, imagination, living language, narration, and the freedom to move. Incidentally, I'm pretty sure the Well-Trained Mind starts handwriting beyond letters in first.

 

I'm too lazy to walk downstairs to get my copy.  :o

[MomN]

Thank you!

[ReadingMama1214]

DD is in a Spanish immersion school and they use handwriting without tears. By the end of the year she expects the kids to be able to form letters correctly, use correct upper and lower case letters, use simple punctuation (period, question mark, etc), and to write on the lines correctly using primary paper (top blue line, blue dotted midline, red bottom line). starting next week she is sending home primary notebooks for the kids to practice letter formation and proper use of the lined paper

[OneStepAtATime]

DD is in a Spanish immersion school and they use handwriting without tears. By the end of the year she expects the kids to be able to form letters correctly, use correct upper and lower case letters, use simple punctuation (period, question mark, etc), and to write on the lines correctly using primary paper (top blue line, blue dotted midline, red bottom line). starting next week she is sending home primary notebooks for the kids to practice letter formation and proper use of the lined paper

What age/grade?

[Ellie]

I would expect a little 5yo person who is just about to turn 6, and whose Mommy has been gently working with him for the last year, to be able to neatly write his first name, with a capital letter at the beginning and lower case letters for the rest. If his last name is not too long, then he could write his last name, as well. Depending on what his mother has been using to teach him how to write, he might also be able to write all the letters of the alphabet, lower case, fairly legibly.

 

We don't do kindergarten, and we don't graduate them. :-) We have little 5yo persons, who become 6yo persons, who become 7yo persons. :-)

[ReadingMama1214]

What age/grade?

Sorry, I should have said. She’s in Kindergarten. DD is 6 and her class ranges from 5-6 yo