shawthorne44 Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 Is this normal? DD scribbles on page when she is done. I am starting extremely gently. All schooling at this point is initiated by DD. We have a variety of things around the house that you guys would recognize as homeschool stuff. Things that are workbooky are with her coloring books. She brings me a workbook and marker and sits in my lap and I read the instructions to her. We will trunk along fine. And then all of a sudden she just wants to scribble all over the page! Is this normal? I take the book away at that point. I tell her if she wants to stop, we will because we are only doing it for fun. But, this scribbling is driving me nuts. The frugal side of me goes "Acckkkk! Wasted page." Am I doing something wrong? Is this normal? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EKS Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 How old is your daughter? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirty ethel rackham Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 I would discourage it because that is part of learning "book manners." Maybe she needs an alternate activity to "celebrate" being done. Perhaps you could have her celebrate by scribbling on a white board or a day on a calendar (or even make a weekly calendar/checklist and the scribble can be her "check - I am done." ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MomatHWTK Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 My artist cannot leave any page unadorned with her own work. No paper is safe here. The good news is that she no longer colors or walls or furniture (very often). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandylubug Posted January 6, 2014 Share Posted January 6, 2014 My girls still just itch to draw SOMETHING once finished. Typically a heart or smiley at this age. I think it's normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hjffkj Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 how old is she? is she done with the page when she scribbles or just done working on it? If you look at any notebook of mine any pages I've used have little doodles in the margins. I of course don't scribble all over my work but I think its normal for kids to. When my ds who is 5 is done math page and I make sure it is all correct he draws huge stars all over it. I don't mind since he's done with it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mergath Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I was still doodling in the margins of papers in high school, so I'm pretty sure it's normal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korrale Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Haha. My son does this! Except it is over his work that I have not checked. I don't reprimand him but I try and make a note about how we are to keep our work neat and tidy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakpak Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 My DD4 does this. She's just putting her personal mark on the page from what I can tell. I let her 'adjust' the page after we've completed it (or even part of it). She definitely wants to do things her way, and I let her as long as she's getting the content. So she wants to make little check marks instead of circling. Okay. She wants to connect 2 things by zooming the lines way around instead of short & direct. Okay. She wants to mark out the things that's aren't true, when circling true things was asking for. Okay. As for pure scribbling, she doesn't do this quite so much anymore, but she does surprise me sometimes doing this. I've put the kibosh on scribbling very quickly in her piano books, even after a coloring page. Other things that are her discretion (like coloring books, find the picture books, etc.) scribbling is okay as they are really hers, not 'ours'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 Ds does this all the time. He fills in the circles in numbers and letters, puts a copyright symbol on the page, writes his name across the whole page, or just scribbles at random. I don't worry about it as long as we are done with the page. If he really gets going I hand him a blank sheet of paper and he will sit and draw for awhile. Then he gets it out of his system and doesn't need to do it for every page. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajfries Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 My DD used to do the exact same thing. It's evolved a bit & is now more productive. If a worksheet says "Circle what doesn't belong" she circles what doesn't belong and draws a check mark on what does. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted January 8, 2014 Author Share Posted January 8, 2014 how old is she? is she done with the page when she scribbles or just done working on it? If you look at any notebook of mine any pages I've used have little doodles in the margins. I of course don't scribble all over my work but I think its normal for kids to. When my ds who is 5 is done math page and I make sure it is all correct he draws huge stars all over it. I don't mind since he's done with it She is 3.5. I wish it were drawings. It pure scribbles. As in just moving the arm back and forth and putting lots of color on the page. I could understand it if I were pushing. I tell her we only do these books for fun, and when it's not fun, we will do something else. I think part of it is this one book has a type of page that is boring to her. It is matching the big and little letters, and each page only has three combinations repeated over and over again. DD has her letters down. I tell her I know that they are boring and why don't we skip them? But, no. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 She is 3.5. I wish it were drawings. It pure scribbles. As in just moving the arm back and forth and putting lots of color on the page. I could understand it if I were pushing. I tell her we only do these books for fun, and when it's not fun, we will do something else. I think part of it is this one book has a type of page that is boring to her. It is matching the big and little letters, and each page only has three combinations repeated over and over again. DD has her letters down. I tell her I know that they are boring and why don't we skip them? But, no. At that age, any scribbling is good for fine motor skill development. She is still experimenting with drawing and writing utensils and colors... if she finds it fun, why not scribble? I would not let her scribble in real books, of course - but I assume you are talking about a consumable workbook/worksheet type of thing? I don't see any problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted January 9, 2014 Author Share Posted January 9, 2014 OK, I won't worry about it. I am generally a pretty laid back mom, but every now and then some things make me go "Ack" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Condessa Posted January 11, 2014 Share Posted January 11, 2014 I'd have a coloring book within arm's reach when doing the workbooks, and when she starts to scribble, immediately stop her and say something like, "Oh, you want to color now? That sounds like fun! Here's your coloring book. We only color in coloring books; which page would you like to color?" That way she knows she is welcome and encouraged to scribble, but she's learning how to treat her workbooks well, and you won't have to buy more because she's filled half the pages with scribbling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bakpak Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I would just move ahead to something more engaging, not ask her input about which page. Or sometimes I put little sticky tabs on multiple pages in a book so you can work on different themes/sections depending on interest. You can tell her she can do those easier things on her own time. Alternatively, I'd just be clear (sometime when you're not working on the workbook) that the rule is no more scribbling in the workbook. You like her drawings, but they should be done elsewhere. I've found just being clear about rules is all that's needed with children that age. If it's stressing you out that she scribbles in her workbook, that's not good :) If it didn't stress you out, I might give you different advice! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 You could use the waldorf approach. Get a pack of nice block beeswax crayons (the blocks make it easier for her to manevour and the colour coming out of them is beautiful) and allow her to create "borders" round the edge of the page. She can decorate the borders after making them. And this would cover handwriting at this stage (of course, I'm only suggesting because she wants to do it). Her using one block to create a solid border round the edge of the page helps with wrist manipulation/turning, decorating it and slowing down and taking care instils good habits with making schoolwork and paper nice. I pretty much let my two youngest do that to singapore math, plus their sketchbooks etc a while ago, and it greatly lessened the need to scribble. In my sons case, further back than that, the scribble meant he really wasn't ready for formal lessons, so I brought it back to oral games, and silliness, that was still checking off the skills, but in a less lesson like format. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alef Posted January 12, 2014 Share Posted January 12, 2014 I would stop a three year old from scribbling in a regular book, but not a workbook. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted January 13, 2014 Author Share Posted January 13, 2014 Do you have a brand-name on "a pack of nice block beeswax crayons"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
La Texican Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 I don't let mine scribble in workbooks. I say, "if you want to scribble you have tons of plain paper to scribble on. You don't scribble in workbooks." I take away the workbook. She goes to the drawer and gets blank paper to scribble on. My cutest scribbling story happened sometime between ages one and two. She has an easel whiteboard with erasable markers. I'd still strip her down to a diaper. She also had a bouncy chair, so she was into bouncing when happy. When she would scribble on the whiteboard her little butt would be bouncing up and down, her legs would be going, her arms would be going. I've never seen anybody put their whole body into drawing like that. So cute. eta: you asked, "is this normal?". Yes. Both of my kids did it. I remember reading that scribbling helps build connections in the brain. I don't see why not. I've also read that handwriting wires the brain to remember what the hand does, and cursive helps build connections between the left and right hemispheres. Of course, I think I read those from companies selling handwriting workbooks. But if either of those are true, then it's probably true that scribbling is building something in the brain too. Just do it where you're supposed to and not in the expensive workbooks, kid. Oh. Now my daughter's writing those lines of scribble that look like cursive and saying, "I write like mommy. Look, I wrote you a story.". She's learning to write real letters from a workbook, and yes, I did find the first letter of her name written beautifully on my wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted January 13, 2014 Share Posted January 13, 2014 Do you have a brand-name on "a pack of nice block beeswax crayons"? Stockmar Beeswax Block Crayons Pack of 8 Cheapest price is from Oak Meadow, but I don't know the difference between postages from different places (I'm overseas), so there also available from Rainbow Resource, and Amazon. They last for ages, and don't break! (Amazing for me considering everything else that used to come into this household (crayons, pencils etc) would break quite easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plmzk Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Stockmar Beeswax Block Crayons Pack of 8 They last for ages, and don't break! Is this really true? :drool: 'Cuz if it is, I'm getting them like.... tonight!! We go through crayons like toilet paper........... Off to search for these! OP: My almost 4 year old just recently stopped scribbling on her work pages. I let her scribble, but pointed out how much nicer the (coloring) page would look if it wasn't all scribbled on, in BLACK! :laugh: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ecclecticmum Posted January 16, 2014 Share Posted January 16, 2014 Yep, its true. I had a hard time believing it too. I saw people mentioning that the stockmar blocks don't break, and my face was in pretty much disbelief. But I have had them for a while and my son has been really hard on them too, and they are all still in one piece! There is also a DVD/Download/Video/Seminar called Coloring with Block Crayons that can help you learn to use them properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawthorne44 Posted January 16, 2014 Author Share Posted January 16, 2014 I just looked at those, they look really neat. I try to make sure DD doesn't hold anything in a pencil grip until she is ready to write because I don't want her to develop a bad grip (like me). I had bought some at BabyRUs that were bulb shaped holders, but they didn't seem to work well. So, it is bonus to me that they are in a block shape. Although, I read the Amazon reviews and one person said that their dog was obsessed with eating these crayons. Our dog does love to eat regular crayons that fall on the floor. Oh, well, we will just have to be careful about putting them away afterward. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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