Handwriting Practice

Though M is nearly 5 (October!), her handwriting is still difficult to read, even when traced.  She has another year before kindergarten, but it is still important to practice writing on occasion.  Though she does like workbooks, real-life application is best for practicing.

M has a special little notebook.  One day she asked to make a list (similar to lists I've made for her to read at the grocery store) of some suggested words.  I wrote the list in yellow.  She traced the list using a blue marker.  It was fun for her to see the colors mix together to create green.

We also made a list in a similar manner when we were preparing for NYC.  This time, the list contained family members' names and special things about NYC that we already knew about.

Now I'm curious about other lists we can make.  Any suggestions?

Tracing Letters

My 3 1/2 year old just recently started tracing her name in a way that it can be read.  With the six letters in her name closer to being somewhat mastered at the tracing level, I was excited that we could finally tackle the other letters in the alphabet.

Big Skills for Little Hands: I Can Trace is a great choice for letter tracing for us.  We put each page into a page protector and then made our own book.  M loved putting the foam stickers on it for a title, and it helps her to know how to ask for it by name.  (See her pride?)  (I love that I am trying to purposely NOT be stingy with our foam stickers!  So unlike me!  Let me know how you use foam letters, too!)

We use dry erase markers on the pages.  I have found that as long as the pages are wiped off before putting the book away, it wipes off easily.  If the marker stays on the page for longer, it's hard to clean.

Another thing I like about this book is that it has a picture for the child to trace for each letter and a predictable sentence to read.  Numbers are also included in the book.  Though I love this for my child at her developmental readiness, there is no opportunity for writing the letters/numbers, just tracing them, so it may not be for older children with good writing skills.

I know this is not a unique idea, and I even shared it before for dot-to-dot pages, but I wanted to share it again now that we were using a book.  She just loves it!  M will trace about half the alphabet pages in a sitting, which pleases me.  I let her set her own pace and tell me when she wants to write and when she is done.  At this age, I think that is important.  I don't care how often we work in the book.  I allow her to set the pace.

When appropriate I try to encourage relevant real-world writing, too.  This past weekend when company came, she traced, "Welcome Grandma and Grandpa."  Father's Day is coming up and she will trace a message for four grandfathers, too, I suspect.

Pre-writing Skills

M is 3 years, 4 months.  She LOVES to trace her name.  However it is pretty difficult to read what she writes unless you already know what her name is.  We had her sign all of her classmates' and grandparents' Valentine Day cards to make it purposeful, but she does like to just do it for fun, too.  I wonder if the other parents thought I was crazy to do it, since only one (a 4 year old with nice writing and 3 letters in her name) of her classmates did the same.   At this point  we don't have her write any other letters/numbers, but we do ask her to draw lines, circles, rainbows, and smiley faces at times when she seems in the mood.  Using a variety of materials definitely motivates M.  Chalk, paint, and markers are her favorite.

To trace her name, we do what her preschool teacher recommended.  We use a highlighter/light colored marker and write her name in all capital letters with paper in the "landscape" position.  Then she traces it.  The reason this is thought to be better than tracing dashes is so that the child (at this age) sees the letters as a whole.  I really do agree that it seems effective!

We have two books that also assist with prewriting skills.  (We just wish something could help us with her left-handedness.)  The first is a workbook called Kumon's My First Book of Tracing (Ages 2-4).

 The other is My First Wipe Clean Farm (by DK).  This is a board book and M's preference (shown above with M).  Though the marker no longer works, we just use our dry erase markers.  There are several books in this series.

In another month or so we will probably start tracing all letters (1-2 at a time) just to help with her fine motor skills.

If you have any suggestions for helping a left-handed little girl and her parents, please share your thoughts!