handwriting with a 3yo?

[brysgal]

Looking for some help here...I have an almost 3yo little boy (my oldest) who is begging for "school". He knows all his shapes, colors, letters & sounds, and some numbers. He LOVES books and will sit and listen to non-picture books too. He's not quite ready for blending sounds yet. 

 

Lately though, anytime he sits down to color all he wants to do are "make letters". I've occasionally done some printable sheets with him on tracing lines and he does really well with both lines and circles. 

I haven't done all that much with him up till this point because I've wanted to focus on playing and just being a toddler. :-) I also have 14mo and 3mo boys - busy! 

I don't know the "proper" way to form my letters myself. haha How big of a deal is it to teach letter forming the right way? 

Should I get anything from HWT or ETC just for fun (and more for me)? Goodness, I thought I had awhile yet... :tongue_smilie: TIA!

 

[Kerileanne99]

I have a 3.5 year old who was desperate to write 'her' letters, and even more so, her numbers at that age. She now writes very well, albeit more slowly, and we are doing AAS because she learned to read primarily intuiting phonics on her own.

One thing that she absolutely loved was the TV Teacher handwriting videos with Miss Marnie...you can do them in little 5 minute chapters by letter, and they are so much fun. They teach a lot more than just the proper way to form a letter, and have fun tracing fun sheets as well.

We eventually moved on to ZB but were able to skip to 1st grade very rapidly. You can see clips of the videos on their website.

[shawthorne44]

When it comes time for that, I plan on getting that CD for making your own worksheets.  StartWrite (?)

I really like the idea of her dictating what she wants to write, then it turning into a worksheet.  My parents are waiting with bated breath for their first letter.

[craftyerin]

We used the HWT PK materials at 3-4 and LOVED them.  Gentle and effective. 

[StartingOver]

Mine loved Handwriting without tears, the Pre K package. Now saying that, only one of them was ready to go on to the K level, or ETC ABC afterwards. All but one of mine read early, but the physical act of writing was tougher.

[Tranquility7]

DD (3.5) loves writing, too.  Every once in a while I will correct the way she is writing something (tell her where to start, which direction to go, etc.) or how she is holding her pencil.  I don't know if I would correct her at this point if she were resistant to it, but she isn't, and I figure it is better to learn to do it correctly from the start than to have to change a bad habit later.

 

For older kids I use A Reason for Handwriting, but for her I just have a bunch of preschool workbooks I picked up somewhere along the way - they have letters and numbers, mazes, matching, etc. - all good stuff for learning control of the pencil.  And even if you don't know the "proper" way to teach her to make the letters, the workbooks generally have numbered strokes and arrows to show directions, so you can figure it out.  Even if you want to use a different handwriting program eventually, I don't think the preschool workbooks are a bad start (and they are often cheap).

[brysgal]

Thanks for the ideas! It's good to know about the preschool workbooks. I see them at the dollar store all the time. 

For the HWT PreK pack, what all do you need to get started? 

[StartingOver]

For what pre k, you need the book and a crayon. Of course you can get all the other stuff, but we never used it.

[StartingOver]

Double post.

[KRG]

I found this in the Target dollar bin. It came in a plastic 'ziploc' bag with a marker(they are dry erase), I punched a hole in it and put a ring in it.  My almost 3 year old is not into writing letters yet but I figure he will be soon enough.

[MommytoFour]

If you just want worksheets, you can make them here free from handwritingworksheet.com. You just enter the child's name or whatever words and print them.

[craftyerin]

Thanks for the ideas! It's good to know about the preschool workbooks. I see them at the dollar store all the time. 

For the HWT PreK pack, what all do you need to get started? 

You need as much of it as looks fun to you. We got the most use out of the wood letter pieces, the chalkboard, and the workbook.  I bought the play-doh thing, too, but that hardly got touched. 

[amyrobynne]

My just-turned-3yo is at the same place - he wants to make letters, knows all the basics, and wants to have school like his big brothers.

 

My HWT stuff finally came in the mail today. I bought the pre-k teacher manual and My First School Book (they revamped them this spring so I bought new when I usually get used). My mom wanted birthday ideas so I had her buy the playdoh kit and he's been loving that. I also spent under $10 making craft foam versions of the wood letter-making pieces, both upper and lower cases, and laminated printouts of the letters to put the pieces onto. I used this:http://tiredneedsleep.blogspot.com/2010/05/updated-build-letter-templates.html and http://tiredneedsleep.blogspot.com/2010/07/build-letter-lowercase-templates.html and it was really easy. 

 

I also got AAR's pre-reading and plan to do MEP reception level with him. We might take 2 years to do it all - I'll see how much he enjoys it and not push it. We won't start our school year for another 2 weeks.

[theYoungerMrsWarde]

You could try the LeapFrog Scribble and Write. Here's my blog review of it.

[Walking-Iris]

For handwriting and letters I use tactile manipulatives over pencil and paper with my 3 year old.

 

She uses the HWT wooden letter pieces. A smily face sticker on a shelf liner works well. did not use HWT play doh, but just regular play doh and tools. Sandpaper letters. http://www.lakeshorelearning.com/product/productDet.jsp?productItemID=1%2C689%2C949%2C371%2C898%2C257&ASSORTMENT%3C%3East_id=1408474395181113&bmUID=1376237428028 A moveable alphabet http://www.montessoriprintshop.com/Make_a_Moveable_Alphabet.html  and the SSRW preschool activity sheets. http://www.christianbook.com/spell-read-write-preschool-activity-sheets/9781567046670/pd/704667 She plays with a Melissa and Doug see and spell and alphabet wooden puzzles. She also does pre writing tracing in a tray of salt and plenty of Practical Life activities.

 

For a 3 year old who wants to do school, I haven't found anything I like better than this. http://www.montessoriathomebook.com/Home.html/  

 

I move into HWT and ETC ABC at 4-5.