Handwriting at 3.5 yo

[Syllieann]

I thought I would teach my little guy using a pre-k ball and stick workbook but after looking into it more I've decided I simply must teach him italic. Unfortunately, italic doesn't have a pre-k option and I don't think he's ready for the A book.:banghead: Should I just scrap handwriting until next year or try to make my own italic prewriting for this year? His math/reading are about mid k level right now so I'm kind of worried that skipping writing will work us into a corner a year or two from now but I guess I could worry about that when the time comes. The prek book is going ok but I really want to do italic long term. Would it really screw things up to let him practice ball and stick for now and switch next year?

[regentrude]

At 3.5, I would make sure he has plenty of opportunities to practice his fine motor skills - without following a structured writing program. I would have him color, paint, use finger paint, play in sand, shape play dough, real dough, string beads, manipulate small objects... this will go a long way towards making writing easier at some later time.

[cottonmama]

I'm going to get tomatoes thrown at me (or something), but I've been doing a mix of HWT pre-K activities and homemade D'nealean worksheets with my 3.75yo dd for the last month or so. She CANNOT be stopped from writing letters (she is learning to read and wants to spell words all the time now), so I decided that she needed instruction so that she doesn't form bad habits. I feel like it's best to teach her the stroke order that she will use in her formal handwriting work later, so we are skipping the HWT workbooks.

 

She does have very good fine motor skills and is able to trace the letters accurately as long as she is not going too fast. She has good focus and is generally able to slow down when I remind her to.

 

I have the HWT pre-K teacher's guide with a homemade version of some of the manipulatives (foam letter pieces instead of wood, a $1 slate and cheap sponge from the craft store) and a free set of handwriting fonts from here. We do whichever she asks for, and lately it's been nothing but writing the letters. I sit by her side the whole time to make sure she is forming them correctly; I believe this is important at whatever age you start at.

 

Of course, the verdict is still out on whether I'm ruining her by starting her this early ;) but at least you're in good company!

[boscopup]

I agree (ETA: with regentrude). Kids can be absolutely brilliant, but their fine motor skills are often on a more normal time table. Don't worry. Expect ability level input and age level output.

 

I don't have my 3 year old write yet, even though he can do some letters. I didn't formally teach my current 5 year old to write until the last month. He does do well with his numbers though, so he does his first grade math no problem.

 

My oldest was reading and doing math early, and he couldn't physically write until age 5. This year at 8, it's finally coming together, and he can write a significant amount. Last year, there was zero original writing, though he did all his own math writing. He still learned tons, and we've had no problem with curriculum choices.

 

I know it's hard with your oldest, but sometimes you just have to have patience and let development happen. :)

Edited July 24, 2012 by boscopup

[Syllieann]

So I guess you're all saying that if I go ahead w/ the prek ball and stick it won't ruin him and if I skip writing until next yr (do prewriting now) I won't have major problems in a yr or two. I think that's what I was hoping to hear. Thank you! :grouphug:

[Dmmetler]

I don't think it will be a problem at all. My DD learned HWT at home because she wanted to learn to write and was crying because she couldn't, and HWT with the manipulatives and pre-writing activities was what she needed, then learned ZB manuscript at school in her one year of K at age 4, and then came home and announced she wanted to learn cursive, so has been doing cursive ever since. It hasn't seemed to mess her up at all. I do think lots of pre-writing activities are the ticket-but if your child wants to write, by all means, teach them to write! Actually HWT was the only formal preschool curriculum we did, but it was a lifesaver.

 

My one suggestion-make copies of the workbook. My DD ended up going through, I believe, three copies of the Pre-K one and two of the K one, because she liked doing the worksheets and coloring the pictures :).

[Nan in Mass]

One of mine was determined to write but also determined to do it his own way. I wrote out the capital letters (in print, not cursive) and let him form them any which way. That way, they didn't interfere with his writing later. Some of his capitals are still a bit funky but that doesn't matter. With the youngest, who wasn't interested in writing, I did things orally until the writing caught up with the reading.

 

Nan

[Tracy]

I was spoiled with my dd. When she was that age, I gave her a Kumon book and a pencil, and that was that. I knew that ds4 did not have the same level of fine motor skills, so I did not expect to start writing with him until age 5. But shortly before his 4th birthday, he started to write his name on his own. I did not want him to practice the wrong way, so I have started to apply principles I gleaned from the Cursive First program to teach him to write.

 

1. Start with finger tracing. I made letters the size of a standard sheet of cardstock paper using glue and lentils (most people use sand). He started by tracing those with his fingers.

 

2. Air writing. I then made sure that he could remember the strokes by writing the letters in the air.

 

3. Salt box. Now he is writing letters and combinations of letters in the salt box. (You can also use sandbox, shaving cream, finger paints, pudding, etc.)

 

This has developed over a period of six months, and now he can write his full name in cursive without any help. But I have found that he generally struggles a great deal if he has to write with any writing utensil. That is okay, since he is still just 4yo. But the next step will be to gradually give him exposure to a writing utensil using the chalkboard and whiteboard. Eventually, I will add the lines to the boards. Once he can write within the lines on the big boards, I will start to give him lined paper.

[laf919]

don't worry. It will all be okay.

Do lots of pre-writing. If she really wants to write more, I would encourage some regular work on proper letter formation - but do that in sand or shaving cream or pudding on wax paper or on a chalk board or whitebord - make it fun. Use markers or crayons or gel pens in different colors on black paper - and don't expect too much out put. Writing one word a day may be enough - or she may want to do more.

I have found with my gifted dd's that they wanted to learn to write early - they read early and wanted to write down things for others to read. However, even though they both had generally good find motor skills for their age, they weren't developmentally ready to really write a lot more than any other kid their age. Even though their little minds thought they were. :001_huh: So we had lots of long talks to encourage them, reminded them of the progress they were making, talked about doing things (like playing with playdough, finger knitting, etc.) to make their fingers and hands stronger so they could write better. Some might say it is better to hold off until the child is really developmentally ready - but that would have squashed something in my dd's - so we went ahead. And I think that is valuable too - they had a regular experience of not doing something extraordinarily well - and learned some important emotional resilience from that. All that is to say that unless your bright/gifted/whatever preschooler is pitching fits about not wanting to learn to write - I wouldn't push it if I was getting tantrums and such every time I mentioned it - I would go ahead. Encourage them to do something a little difficult, praise real achievement - and know that with time and maturity it will all come out in the wash.

HTH - if you've read this far! :)

[Embassy]

If he is writing on his own and practicing poor habits I would start something now. If not, I would wait.

[laf919]

a more helpful comment might be to get the A workbook - for you. Use it as your guide to teach him the letters in a more sensory way - using sand box or shaving cream or tracing on sandpaper (I went through a short Montessori phase and found some nice sandpaper letters on etsy -) then move to chalk board or white board and then unlined paper and then lined paper. Keep doing this sort of stuff until he's ready for the more formal workbook. That way he only has to learn one way to make letters - and he's not trying to do a workbook that you think would overwhelm him. And - when he's suddenly, overnight, ready for the workbook, you already have it on hand :D

[Syllieann]

Thanks for all the tips! He is interested in writing his name...um, on everything...but is pretty neutral aside from that. He likes to write with markers but would be just as happy to simply doodle.

 

a more helpful comment might be to get the A workbook - for you. Use it as your guide to teach him the letters in a more sensory way - using sand box or shaving cream or tracing on sandpaper (I went through a short Montessori phase and found some nice sandpaper letters on etsy -) then move to chalk board or white board and then unlined paper and then lined paper. Keep doing this sort of stuff until he's ready for the more formal workbook. That way he only has to learn one way to make letters - and he's not trying to do a workbook that you think would overwhelm him. And - when he's suddenly, overnight, ready for the workbook, you already have it on hand :D

I was actually lucky enough to receive a hand me down GD instruction manual from a local mom so I was thinking of using that as a guide for some prewriting activities.

[Dealea86]

I don't know how you feel about D'Nelean, but I've found these workbooks to be pretty good practice for a preschooler. We only trace with fingers. Eventually I might start putting the pages in page protectors and let her try it with dry erase markers.

 

But for now, we really don't push writing. Her fine motor skills are waaaay behind her reading skills. She's a pretty fluent CVC reader, and she's starting to recognize sh, th, and some blends. But nowhere near that with writing, though she does sometimes like to try to write. It usually ends in frustration when she can't get her letters perfect. :tongue_smilie:

[bakpak]

My daughter's been learning to write (not quite 3) for a long time, but she loves practicing. But she loves spelling names the best, especially the pets and family. She has me write words for her every day. She adores writing and can write all the letters using the Kumon books, but is only mildly interesting it doing it without something to trace. For months the Kumon tracing letters books were her preferred bed-time routine book (seriously!). That led into the Kumon mazes, etc. But she's always held a pencil/crayon correctly, I think the first time was around 13 months old?

 

I agree that let them do what they're interested in, especially given the age of your child. I'm not a fan of workbooks at that age, unless your child is (and mine is). She still loves sandpaper letters, but has only been mildly interested in writing letters in sand/paint/etc. I think one of the most important things is getting them to go slowly and carefully, with fingers tracing first, and return to finger tracing each time they start getting sloppy. I think manipulatives like magnetic letters, Montessori moveable alphabet, large stuffed cloth letters, that the child can handle, trace, and put together to form sounds/words is the best thing you can use while you wait for their physical dexterity to catch up. And if you want to do script, Montessori has cursive moveable alphabets as well.

 

Ugh...my dd wants to type every day :(, but again it's the concept of putting letters together that;s driving her interest, which is easier than writing.

 

I don't think exposure is bad for a child, but pushing can backfire. So see where your child leads after you give him choices :)

[La Texican]

Here's my limited experience. We used Kumon Mazes (it's not really mazes). I got him to follow my finger through the channels. It was much more forgiving to practice drawing and controlling the lines, curves, squiggles, and zags through the wide maze than tracing fine lines to start with. Help a kid out though, let them follow your finger. We started with a fat marker (fist grip), then a thin marker (gun grip), then an ink pen, then a pencil. Takes finger strength out of the equation as you build it up. Now we use a tripod grip (ask google images) and we angle the paper and he writes nice handwriting without tears copywork letters neatly on a line. He also does step-by-step how to draw lessons independantly, which he mixes, adds to, and creates his own pictures. I have been told my kids have good fine motor skills. Still maybe some of the steps we took had something to do with that, maybe it's useful steps to share with someone else just starting.

[Greenmama2]

Personally I would go with Pp's suggestions of getting the books as a guide for you to make other, easier writing activities such as writing in sand etc. I regret not doing a little more formal handwriting with my dd at that age when she was more eager. Now at six she isn't so interested in fixing the bad habits she has taught herself ;) I'm planning to be slightly more formal (but still gentle) with my just turned three year old.

[Tanikit]

I don't think you will do harm so long as you teach both and not expect too much independence. I taught my 4 year old ball and stick with unlined paper so she could write as big as she liked and then we moved to writing on lines (a single line) and finally between lines (we are still working on that) - she never used tracing paper as the letters were too small for her when she needed them.

 

My niece at six is able to write both ball and stick and cursive - her mother taught her one and she learnt the other at the school she went to and copes well with whichever she is asked to do. She also started around 4 years of age with ball and stick and cursive at 5 years of age.