My dd was playing with her magnadoodle and drew a circle and said ‘o’ drew another half circle thing and said ‘e’ ten drew a straight line and said ‘i’ I was wondering if anybody knew how I can encourage this and how i can turn this into actual writing?
any thoughts would be much appreciated.
Kimba
its easy. you can tdraw something and to ask him to one like yours. if you want him to draw some thing specific like square then draw one and tell the features like
it has 4 side
all straight lines
4 coners
and draw on with him.
you need to be patient and should always encourage.
this is how i did for my E and now she can draw many things and write almost all the latters
hello, I work with children when it comes to this skill you do not want to get the child to the point where they loose the drive to learn the skill I would start with the basics of the letters such a curves and straight lines. If you feel as if they have the basic shapes down I also suggest to parents to get a marker any color like yellow and draw a letter and have the child to try to trace over the letter the parent has written. And lastly remeber to praise any attempt they make. it may not look like the letter but they are trying. :clown:
Drawing and writing takes a lot of commitment in my opinion.
Last month I set myself a ‘goal’ of showing my daughter how to circle. She was unable to do so until i gave her pencils instead of crayons and she now circles away and I was quite proud of her as they were very neat circles lol
I give her many sheets of white paper and either thick markers or pencils.
But I doubt she’ll be able to draw letters any time soon though.
I wonder if it’s a matter of practise or if so children are more gifted with their drawing abilities.
Any taks a child learns becomes better the more they have a chance to practice that skill. some children develop skills quicker than others. the more they get to work on a skill the better the become at it. 
For writing ,our muscle fingers need to be ready.That is way we prepare them by doing fine motor activities that helps our children to mature and strength our muscle fingers. It is true some children develop faster some skills than others.
Before writing letter we make children to do writing excersises like:
Most of the time a three and a half year old, close to 4 years old can start writing. If you provide the correct education and motivation.
There is a reason that art work develops the way it does in children and mostly it has to do with fine motor control. My daughter drew a reasonably well differentiated human being at 26 months of age - the person had a head and eyes and a stick body with legs and even arms. This is fairly advanced.
I worry about whether teaching her to write would prevent her from developing in an artistic manner too, but she seems to be trying both. These are the things I have done with her - provide a LOT of paper for free art work. Let her see me draw and write cards - she then draws pictures and pretends to write in the middle (its just scribbles but she tells me what she is writing) I have done worksheets where you must be able to draw a straight line from one object on the left to the object on the right and I also did one today where she had to circle the correct picture - while she manages this it is not neat enough to manage to write.
Apparently a circle is the easiest shape to draw followed by vertical and horizontal lines, then a square (age 3/4) or rectangle and finally a triangle which the average child can manage at age 5. Obviously there are many children who manage this earlier.
So far I have only taught my daughter how to write an “L” - the first letter of her name. I do also worry that teaching them too early will result in very messy handwriting later on (I have no proof of this though) I think I will do some tracing with her when she has more fine motor control before doing writing with her. I also like to write words on the blackboard and then see what she does - when she starts trying to trace over them I will know she is ready.
Hello Tanikit,
As you told, it´s your child who wants to write and not you trying to teach her, so what I use with my child 3y is dot letters, she just pass the pencil on it, and now she is writing her name. If you need some materials I can send for you. Good luck!!! you child is very smart!!!
Mari
Hypatia said: “I wonder if it’s a matter of practise or if so children are more gifted with their drawing abilities.”
I think it really is a matter of both. My son has always been great with fine motor skills ie putting tiny screws into holes etc. But he is not good at drawing and a bit better at writing at nearly 4.5 yrs old. He has always been very interested in writing, and pretends to write all the time. He has also been able to write his name for about a year now, as we started with X O X O on cards to grandparents, and his name has only T, O and A… in lower case t is just an X on its side, an o is an O and an a is an o with a line on the side. So he’s very proud he can write his name. But he can’t draw things… I have never seen him make a man (head with eyes, nose, face and arms and legs), only once or twice ever a circle with a line for a mouth and two dots for eyes. Other than that he scribbles colors back and forth in a blotch of color (like you’re trying out your crayon) and declares it is a helicopter, or a man, or a dog.
On the other hand I, and my little sister, could both draw pretty recognisable objects at even 3 yrs old. I am now an illustrator for a living (so my son does have a drawing table in my studio and pretends he draws all the time… so the practice doesn’t equal any talent!)
He is better at making recognisable letters, and some like the T, O and A evolved out of easy shapes, and now he is doing ReadingEggs they have online dot to dots for the letters, and we have the printed materials and like others have suggested, they contain tracing over predrawn letter shapes, following letter shapes made out of dots etc. They start with the easiest ones like a, t, s, l, i. And though he is very motivated (begs to do it) he still is very very wavery in his lines and all over the place.
Some other suggestions I have heard are 1) putting some poster paint in a ziploc bag so that it makes a thin opaque layer in the bag, tape it down on the sides to a table, and the child can trace letters with their fingers, and then “erase” by flattening out again 2) drawing letters with fun tactile things like pudding on a baking tray or table 3) drawing letters in sand or snow 4) having one letter per page, that is large and can be filled in or outline, and have child put magnets along the letter shape (I hotglued wee pompons to magnets and we put the page on a cookie tray) 5) using cookie cutters (we got a set made for jello jigglers!) in alphabet shapes to cut out playdough, cookie or pie dough (or jello!) If you made cookies, the child could stick on raisins, chocolate chips or other “dots” along the letter shape in the same order as one would move a pencil to write the letter.
There are many other fun really tactile ways to have a child “write” letters, learn their shapes etc. But really, so much depends on an individual child’s motor controls and interest.
Hi all
I think it largely depends on the kids whether they’re ready or not. My elder one does not really fancy writing, when he’s with us. In school, the teachers said he can write by himself and the worksheet that the schools gives shows his writing skills - quite good actually. And he did it himself. Point is he knows nobody will help him in school.
My younger one, at the age of 2, is already very fond of writing. He can sit there by himself and grab a marker by himself and trace on the printed alphabets and numbers that I print for him.
The key thing is praise also. I praise my son when he write something by himself… and you can see his gleaming face, smiling all over. Encouragement is important.
Kids like to scribble on papers and some on walls, etc. Parents will typically scold their kids and said they should not write on the table, etc etc. Actually, the scribing is good for their motor skills and writing skills. First, they need to learn how to hold the pen, then how to control the direction and strength. The more they write, they better they get. (maybe can get mahjong papers and get them to write or draw or scribble whatever they want to improve their writing skills). Practice makes perfect.
Cheers!
KC
Forgot to mention. Start with having dotted or grey lines for them to trace over. It’s easier for trace over something than to try to follow the same drawing or writing on a blank piece of paper.
I started printed lots of Alphabets and Numbers for my sons to write as and when they want to. My son knows how to open the drawer to pull out the one he wants to write and start writing with the marker color he likes.
So get ready your tools - papers and their favorite marker or crayon or pencil or pen. I find that they tend to want to write in their favourite color, so marker is ideal. (get those washable markers so even if they draw on their clothing or sofa, we can still wash off - I got mine from Crayona)
There are some pencil or crayon that are shaped triangular (3 sides) - it’s meant for easy holding as it forms a natural holding posture especially for kids who just start to learn how to hold the pen. It’s easier to hold than the normal round types. I saw some from Crayona too. Can check it out.
I know of a place that sells Crayona stuff quite cheap. Cheaper than Popular the last I checked. It’s at Depot Heights on 2nd floor. Just next to Zion Babies. You can check it out if you want cheap prices. Happy shopping.
Cheers!
KC
My daughter has learned and improved a lot from Kumon workbooks. My First Book Of Tracing got her started initially and we have a few more. She also loves when I write things with dots and she connects them.
Hi All,
Following is a condensed version of what I would send home to my kindergarten families. It has been taken from a “Handwriting without Tears” book - I would highly recommend it as an excellent place to start. They also have hard blocks (long straights, short straights, big curves, little curves) that you can manipulate into the letter shapes - if your child needs a different tactile experience.
I’d suggest you looking up their website and reading what they say about upper vs lower letters. I did teach upper first, but it was very quick. Lower case is seen more frequently so I focused more on that, but if you follow their suggested order using “the magic C”, “the Divers”, etc. it makes sense to the kids and much easier to learn to print their letters in a very short time span.
I’d also recommend snapping the triangle crayons in half before you give them to your child. The shortness in length makes it mandatory to hold it with a correct grip. Don’t let them use regular sized pencils or pens until they have a proper tripod grip (you can google this, too for a good picture of where fingers should be). This is the best position for muscle development of their little fingers.
The (edited) quote:
"Capital letter instruction is divided into four groups of letters, taught according to similarities, level of difficulty and frequency of use. The first group, the Starting Line Capitals (L F E H D P B R N M K) can be taught as a group, and could be completed in a one to two week period. The second group of letters, the Center Starters (C O Q G) can be taught as a group, and completed in one week, or a few days, and so on. Using the slate and gray blocks, capital letters can be reviewed and the child’s mastery level assessed, as early as four weeks into the school year.
Putting letters into words and words into sentences, immediately, is critical so that the children do not lose the skills they have developed.
Handwriting Without Tears teaches the capital letters in a developmental sequence, in order of difficulty. The harder ones are those which have diagonal lines, are reversible, or change direction during a stroke. When taught in this sequence, children learn to master skills and build on what they have learned. The result is beautiful letter formation.
Why Are the Letters Not Taught in Alphabetical Order?
The Handwriting Without Tears program is set up to teach letters in a developmental sequence. Let’s face it, some letters are more difficult to form than others. The harder ones are those that have diagonal lines (A K M N Q R V W X Y Z) , are reversible (B C D E F G P , etc.), or change direction during a stroke (S). Through her research, Jan Olsen has realized that children gradually develop the ability to copy forms in a certain order; the child begins with a vertical stroke, horizontal comes next, then the circle, a “cross” - like a plus sign, the square, then the triangle (diagonal lines) is last.
Consider most other handwriting programs that teach the letters in alphabetical order. They typically begin with the letter A. This letter contains two diagonal strokes and can be very difficult for children to form. HWT begins with strokes that are easy for the child, then allows the child to build on what they have mastered. Handwriting is taught like piano lessons!
For example, consider the “Magic C” letters. These letters all begin with the “c” stroke; when a child masters this stroke, the letters a, d, g, and o are easily learned.
Young children should use large writing or painting tools for better control. Don’t be concerned about letter size at first, instead, emphasize form, letting them draw on blank paper with easy-to-hold ““fat”” markers, crayons, or paintbrushes which allow less pressure to be used in drawing a solid looking line. Be sure the children use the same grip required later for paper and pencil work. For those children that insist on using adult pens and pencils, add a finger grip (available at many educational supply and office supply stores).
Begin with lines and shapes, encouraging children to draw all vertical lines from the top to the bottom. All circular shapes should begin at the 2 o’clock position, moving up, left, and around-like the letter c. (Kids tend to start at the top and make egg shapes.) Shapes using straight lines-triangles, rectangles, and squares, should always use individual lines that meet, not a single stroke with an attempt to make ““pointy”” corners. Every line should be drawn left to right or top to bottom. Vertical lines are drawn first, left side, then right side, and then the connecting horizontal lines. The horizontal lines on top are first, and all horizontal lines should begin at the left. Kids have their own short cuts, so these basics do need to be taught."