Hi,

I have a little guy who is 3-1/2 and is showing keen interest in learning to write.

He's able to write M, H, T, O so far on his own. He practices on his own at the chalk board and mostly taught himself except for the letter M which I helped him with. Looks like I have a bit of a window here so I'm wondering if there is anyone who can give me tips on how to teach him how to hold a pen or pencil and any other tips on teaching him how to write.

I bought a few write on/wipe off books tonight that have the letters that you trace and the lines to write on but would love some other suggestions.

Thanks!

By Jjb on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - 08:36 pm:

Handwriting Without Tears has a great program. You can order their workbook online and it's only $5 or so- get the preschool one. They emphasize using a small chalk board and writing big letters at first. You write the letter, have him move his fingers over it as if he were writing it, erase it in the same manner with a tiny piece of sponge and then write it again. Over time the size will come better. There is a lot more to the process. The workbook has some other things that go along with the chalk board. That is what was recommended to me by an OT. I hope it's helpful.

By Amecmom on Wednesday, September 12, 2007 - 11:20 pm:

get some washable dry erase markers or a magna doodle. Have him copy and practice one or two letters at a time that use the same strokes as he knows. Holding the pencil is different for every child. Mine just naturally seemed to hold it between their first two fingers and balanced it on their third. In fact the preschool teacher was showing them something different - a fist - and my son got very confused, as did my daughter. I had to keep showing them that they were doing it the right way.
Just keep it light and fun. You are right. You di have a window. If there's too much stress or pressure, it just may close.
Enjoy!
Ame

By Dawnk777 on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 12:23 am:

Emily was 3-1/2, when she started making letter shapes, in her scribbling. So, I showed her how to write her name! I don't remember much of what I did after that, but I think learning the rest of the letters just came naturally after that! I know that when she went to preschool, at 4-1/2, she could write her name quite well, on the work she did.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 07:56 am:

Ditto others -magna doodle, dry erase(that doesn't stain and is low odor-sometimes you have to really look for these but I finally found some at Walmart), hair gel in a ziploc bag with the eraser end of a pencil, chalk on dark construction paper...that's all my brain is thinking of right now! I agree with Ame on the holding of the pencil - Natalie is now starting to hold it correctly but did NOT like me showing her the correct way and she would shut down when I tried. I let her go and now she's doing it naturally most of the time. Work on it when you can and when he's open to it, but if not, don't stress about it. One way that helps is by breaking a fat crayon in half, providing a smaller area to hold. It almost forces them to change from the fist grip to fingers because of lack of space. I use this frequently in developmental therapy. I wish I had known that trick when I taught K though, because it does seem to help.

That sounds great that he's interested and doing well with it! Natalie can do an 'x', 'o', and a pretty good stick person and I was thrilled with that!

By Crystal915 on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 04:30 pm:

Hair gel in a Ziploc? Please explain!! My kids are in Kindy, and now I feel like they are way behind because they are just learning to write their names well. They could do some letters before, and knew how to spell their names, but I never pushed writing. I usually make up the little "trace" dots, like the practice pages from school. They seem to work well, with either the pencil or a crayon. My kids are learning the D'Nealean method (or something like that!!), it's unlike anything I ever learned, but I will post a link when I get home tonight.

By Angellew on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 04:47 pm:

Thanks Jen... those Handwriting Without Tears look great! I just ordered three!!! My daughter knows only how to write "Sue", not her whole name and isn't really good with shapes either. When you ask her to draw a person, it's always the same person... all head with stick legs and arms, but she does include everything, right down to the belly!!! But, when you ask her to write anything other than her name, she cries and whines, unless I dot it out like Crystal! It's been frustrating! So, I'm trying something new, though her new kindergarten teacher hasn't said anything yet, about her being way behind!

By Kateg on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 05:49 pm:

Hi there. Let me explain the link below. My DH, several years ago, designed a tracing paper program for our DKs. It was a great tool to help them learn how to write their names. Now, please all understand that the link is on our business website. I am in no way, shape nor form, trying to promote our business in no way shape nor form on this message board. The only thing I want to share is the tracing paper. We have it on our web site because of the nature of the business. DH has had several people contact him from around the world that individuals learning English and kindergarten teachers, etc. have used the tracing paper to great avail. I'm really proud of him. I ignored this thread for a bit because I'm afraid that you all will think I'm trying to promote the business. I'm not. Here it is...I hope it is utilized by any and all in the heartfelt manner it was created in.

http://www.mymoondrops.com/info/spelling.html

Good luck,
Kate G.

By Chai~latte on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 07:03 pm:

Thanks everyone so much for all the information, I too will like to know what you are supposed to do with gel and a ziplock.

Kate that is awesome! Thanks so much for sharing. I printed out my child's name and the alphabet, we'll try it tomorrow.

By Reds9298 on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 07:57 pm:

Ziploc deal - Fill any size ziploc with generic, cheapest-you-can-find colored hair gel. Don't overfill, just enough so that you can spread it out and gel is layered over the whole bag. Seal, then re-seal with duct tape on each side. When you write in the gel with your fingertip, it stays there so you can see the letter you made. It's not holding a pencil, but is great for understanding the motion used. You could also use the closed end of acrayola marker, then you would be making the letter while holding a real pen. I had a basket of these bags in one of my centers in K. The kids could get one and just practice.

Sandbox writing is another great one - any shallow cardboard box will do, add a think layer of sand and again write with fingertip or closed pen/pencil. Shake back and forth to erase.

Shaving cream on a placemat is a great one and more common, and the letters/numbers really hold until you erase them. I did all three of the above with my K's and they were a big hit for all levels, and reinforcement even for the kids who could write pretty well.

I'm going to check out the site Kateg! Thanks!

By Reds9298 on Thursday, September 13, 2007 - 08:01 pm:

Kateg- Has your DH sold that to a font company? I only ask because we had that one out of many similar fonts in our Windows program when I taught. I used it ALL the time, literally! I made individual sheets for all my kids. I could use dotted tracing lines, dotted with arrows to show direction, and solid on writing lines. I'm not sure where it came from, but everyone had that font throughout the corporation - in ball and stick form and D'Nealian.

By Kateg on Friday, September 14, 2007 - 07:21 am:

Deanna ~ No, he didn't sell it to a font company. Sad to say. When he designed the program 8 years or so ago there wasn't anything else out there that he had found. But, he said that 3 or 4 years ago someone came out with a tracing paper program like you described.