Handwriting in Kindergarten?

[indigomama]

DS#2 turned 5 in Aug. and we have recently started his Kindergarten year. Knowing his personality and given he is a younger K'er, I decided to go slow and easy. We are officially doing phonics, math and handwriting, he may listen in to older DS and I when we do science and history.

 

Our problem is handwriting. He is awful. He can't draw a remotely straight line or a circle. We do the practice/tracers and then I have him try his own and they are just bad. I was thinking of shelving handwriting till later in the year.

 

Just wanted some opinions, should we just hold off for a while or should we keep plugging away? Which would be more productive in the long term?

[MeganW]

Does he WANT to write? I thought it was best to wait, so I didn't instruct my young-4-year-old when she insisted on learning her letters. Now, she has approximations for every letter (like a circle with legs for an R) and does NOT want any instruction from me. I wish I had just taught her even though she was so young.

 

Check out Handwriting Without Tears - they have a preschool level that is very gentle and yet gets them started correctly.

 

In the meantime, do the prehandwriting work with him - playdough and cutting with scissors every single day for strength, coloring to get the hang of aiming and putting color where you want it, as well as pressure control, getting the pencil grasp right, etc. Make SURE that when he practices, he makes his circles counterclockwise - that is a HARD habit to break later!!

Edited September 27, 2011 by MeganW

[MusicMama]

I would shelve handwriting practice. Just have crayons, markers, watercolors, pencils etc out, and develop fine motor skills that way. Stringing beads, building with the tiny legos, kneading play-doh, are great ways to strengthen tiny hand muscles.

 

My daughter is a bright child who loves school. But in her own words, writing practice "makes me nervous." We shelved it immediately. She has her own mini white board, and will often write the letters she feels comfortable "drawing". I'll give help when she asks, and MAKE her put it away when I see the dark clouds of frustration on the horizon. Just my two cents!

[justamouse]

In no way would I start handwriting with a 5 yo boy. No. Recipe for disaster. Thier gross motor skills are so far behind girls at that age, they shouldn't even be in the same classroom, it's unfair to the boys.

[kristinannie]

I would get some of those tracing books for him to gain confidence. Focus on him holding his pencil correctly and then wait until he wants to write. I wouldn't force it if he isn't having any success. Handwriting can definitely wait! You can do everything else orally.

[twoxcell]

I agree with everyone else! Have him spend time cutting, playing with playdoh, lacing, tracing, writing in sand with fingers, etc. Also use dry erase boards and/or chalkboards for writing practice.

[acurtis75]

Check out Handwriting Without Tears - they have a preschool level that is very gentle and yet gets them started correctly.

 

!!

:iagree:HWOT pre-k book is a great start. It probably won't take you the whole year to go through it but I thought it was great. I tried all kinds of stuff before discovering it and the name was very appropriate because we went from tears to loving handwriting. Although the multi-sensory stuff they sell is cool if budget is an issue I wouldn't worry about buying anything other than the workbook...and possibly the Get Set for School CD with the handwriting songs on it. It really lightened things up for my daughter and she enjoyed it.

[trlt]

We also used HWOT Pre-K for my 3.5 yo dd. She was ready for it and we were pleased with the gentle introduction to handwriting. She loved the wooden pieces and the cards that you used to shape letters. She is now 4.5 and although she doesn't have a lot of control with the size of her letters (sometimes her capital letters and lower case letters will be the same size but correctly formed), she does make them correctly. I don't push her too hard, I figure that her fine-motor skills will progress to allow her to have more control over the letter size but I felt it was more important that she learned how the letters are supposed to be formed. I hope I made sense!

[Aurelia]

I second the recommendations for tracing or maze books, and HWT Pre-K. They are very developmentally appropriate, and you might even consider getting the teacher's guide for HWT, to have more ideas on how to work on handwriting outside of a workbook.

[acurtis75]

I figure that her fine-motor skills will progress to allow her to have more control over the letter size but I felt it was more important that she learned how the letters are supposed to be formed. I hope I made sense!

:iagree:One of the main advantages for us with HWOT was the step by step instructions for each letter. Her handwriting didn't get much better until she was well past 6 years old but she was at least forming the letters correctly. For some reason she just couldn't get it on the tracing sheets. She needed the specific step by step instructions and also did better once we moved to K with the HWOT 2 lined paper. The standard handwriting paper with the dotted line in the middle just didn't work either. Once she learned a letter on the 2 lined paper she could do it right on other paper.

[indigomama]

Thanks everyone. I didn't have this problem with DS#1, so I feel a little lost.

 

We do lots of coloring, play-do, white board and dry erase markers, etc. But he doesn't like to doany of it really. He is just now getting excited about coloring. Most of the time, he says "he can't color, make anything with the play-do and so on. I tell him, it doesn't matter how well he does those things, it's just about having fun. But if I'm nor looking he'll ask his brother to draw him something or write his name or make him something with the legos.

 

We also have A reason for Handwriting K and lots of preschool-age prewriting books. I will look into HWOT, but I'm still thinking I should just put it all away for a little while.

 

I appreciate the feedback.:001_smile:

[Splinter]

I also have a young K'er (he'll be 5 in December) and we won't be starting handwriting until at least after Christmas. He can write his name, but he's definitely not ready to sit still and learn 22 other letters. So, for now, his only academic subjects are Reading and Math.

[meggie]

I strongly disliked A Reason for Handwriting. Not enough instruction. It was just a complete disaster from day 1 (and I think we only used it one day.) I highly recommend HWOT for when you do start. I would even recommend getting it and just using the blocks to form the letters and letting him trace those. The teacher workbooks have the patterns for the blocks if you don't want to buy the wooden ones they sell. I made ours out of foam. I guess a lot of it will just depend on your son. My son was trying to write, he just didn't know how and so developed a lot of bad habits (like the clockwise O). Now we're on the second workbook and I just have him practice a page of letters a day and then every few days we go back and start over. I think it's only about 8/day.

[didadeewiththree]

My son's handwriting started out awful looking when we started having him write the phonograms back in February. We have been pressing on, having him hear me say the sound, and then he says it as he is writing it. I give him specific instruction on how to for each letter, for example, writing an "o" is like starting at 2 o'clock, just below the mid-line, rounding it out, touching the baseline as we go, and back to 2 o'clock.

 

We looked at a clock first and I explained this to him and after repetition, he caught on and at least knows where to start his letters. His handwriting has greatly improved after daily work, but we only do abt 20 minutes a day drilling sounds and writing a few, as much as he can do. We have worked on just letters and their diff. sounds for each and writing them, before I have just now started giving him vowel teams like aw, au, oi, oy, etc. The Spalding method we are doing has you write it, say it, read it, and isnt much on sight words. Some are skeptical, but I am seeing real results from a boy that I really didnt think could have such pretty handwriting. Now, my only problem is getting him to do it, and know that I know he is capable, Im starting to expect more.

 

I would just do as much as the child is willing to do...maybe 15 min or so and then more on to something more hands on, like building words with block, or phonics bingo, etc.

[Tracy]

It sounds like you are having him write mostly on paper. Many (if not most) kids at that age do not have the fine motor skills to start with paper and pencil. I would encourage you to have him do all of his writing using large motor skills--white/chalk board, shaving cream, sidewalk chalk, salt box, sandpaper letters, bathtub crayons, etc.

 

I would also suggest teaching cursive, especially if he is really struggling. Cursive is a lot easier to do than print. It is physically easier because there is less up and down motion. It is mentally easier, because there is less decision-making involved--the child does not have to constantly figure out where to place the pencil. Cursive also remediates many common writing issues, such as reversals and incorrect spacing.

[Zuzu822]

In no way would I start handwriting with a 5 yo boy. No. Recipe for disaster. Thier gross motor skills are so far behind girls at that age, they shouldn't even be in the same classroom, it's unfair to the boys.

 

I think this is an overstatement unless the boy in question is seriously resistant.

 

My 5 yo has been doing cutting and pasting, play dough, tracing, mazes, etc. since he was two. He does as much or as little as he likes whenever the mood strikes. Lately, he's been interested in learning how to sew and weave, woodwork, and model with clay.

 

As a result, he enjoys handwriting (I try and limit him to 5 minutes) and "writes" books in his spare time.

 

My three year old son has been following in Brother's footsteps as far as cutting, pasting, etc.

 

I certainly wouldn't force it so young, but to say that all boys have (did you mean fine?) motor skills far behind girls is a bit of an exaggeration.

 

I agree that a whiteboard, sand tray, chalkboard, chunky crayons or colored pencils, etc. are all better first steps than pencil and paper.

 

To the OP, what about the Waldorf technique of form drawing? I've been considering it as a way to try and pace my son so he doesn't burn out but still satisfy his desire to "do school."

Edited September 28, 2011 by Zuzu822

[RoundAbout]

All of the advice about boys being delayed in fine motor skills and writing here made me concerned so I really emphasized fine motor work with my son starting when he was 3 (he's now almost 5). Like yours mine has never been much into making things with playdoh or coloring. Instead I did things like cutting paper, lacing beads, mazes, picking things up with tongs and then tweezers, embedding a tiny toy in clay and making him dig it out with his fingers, etc.

 

He has absolutely excellent fine motor skills for his age now and is often the only kid in his play group - boy or girl - who can do his crafts independently. He absolutely loves anything with string and will tie elaborate knots. Now, suddenly he's really taken off on drawing and writing! Maybe this would have happened anyway but since he has perfectionist tendencies I think, even now, formal handwriting would be a mistake.

 

There are tons of things you can do other than writing to develop fine motor work - just keep trying different things until you find something he likes.

[Bluegoat]

DS#2 turned 5 in Aug. and we have recently started his Kindergarten year. Knowing his personality and given he is a younger K'er, I decided to go slow and easy. We are officially doing phonics, math and handwriting, he may listen in to older DS and I when we do science and history.

 

Our problem is handwriting. He is awful. He can't draw a remotely straight line or a circle. We do the practice/tracers and then I have him try his own and they are just bad. I was thinking of shelving handwriting till later in the year.

 

Just wanted some opinions, should we just hold off for a while or should we keep plugging away? Which would be more productive in the long term?

 

I think it is pretty common for kids to be ready to start songwriting at really different ages. If his fine motor control isn't up for it yet, I'd switch to other activities to improve that - things like writing in sand, brush work, and just playing with small manipulatives.

 

You also might try teaching cursive, which many kids find easier.

 

Also, I'd start with very very short lessons - 5 min or so.

Edited September 28, 2011 by Bluegoat