handwriting for a 4 year old

[kvmck]

This is a problem I did not have with my oldest two kids. My 4 year old is writing words and looooves to write her letters. Should I be concerned about proper technique? She starts all her letters at the bottom and writes the "o" parts of letters the wrong way. I certainly don't want to discourage her but I also don't want her to have to "un learn" and then re-learn the correct way later. Any advice or personal experience? My older kids didn't start writing until they were 5 or 6 and they both had a hard time with it.. they are still trying to overcome some early handwriting "wrongs". When we came to HOD we found Happy Handwriting and Cheerful Cursive which my older kids LOVE and they have been so helpful but not sure how to effectively help an eager 4 year old.

[mommadonna]

Bump....I am interested too. My dd likes to try to write letters and such, but I am not sure if I should be correcting at this point. Good question. Hopefully someone will chime in with some advice.

[KristinBeth]

I personally would (and did) start training in proper letter formation when the child begins writing real letters (as opposed to scribbles and doodles). Handwriting Without Tears has a preschool workbook that teaches how to form letters, and they also have nice wooden pieces that you can use to show your daughter which comes first in letter formation (e.g. big line) and which comes next (e.g. little curve) one step at a time. That way the child doesn't have to unlearn their own method. My daughter is also 4 and so I don't have a big handwriting success story to tell but she has enjoyed the preschool workbook - she needs a lot more work on her fine motor skills and it seems just right developmentally. We plan to switch over to A Reason For Handwriting in 1st grade for the bible verses (I don't think the K book has them).

[Daph]

My daughter started writing at four too, and she really enjoys the Explode the Code books. They're interesting and a little silly.

[krismoose]

My dd started writing at 4 as well, very different from ds , and she loves the Get Ready for the Code Books A,B & C. I've been giving her some instruction before we start each new letter, and it seems to be sticking, at least a little.

[my3sons]

Hooray for your little sweetie! Writing one letter at a time on a markerboard in black marker is a good way to begin teaching little ones proper letter formation. I agree that once dc are starting to write actual letters, it's a good idea to try to teach proper formation, though the size of the letter is not important (big letters are fine), and writing on the line is not so important either (floating letters are just fine to start with) . It's easier to slowly acquire good habits of formation than to undo improper formation later on - HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[moedertje]

Great question! I have a dd3 who writes letters all the time as well. We are starting LHTH full time in August (she will be 4 than) so she will get lots of good formal instruction with each letter. Thank you Julie for your advise. I try to catch her before she goes the wrong direction for her "o" type letters.

[raceNzanesmom]

We used (and still use) HWT to teach letter formation. It's gentle and easy, and inexpensive. I like that it has verbal and visual prompts. Even now, at almost 7, he'll occasionally say the verbal prompts to remember which way to go- like a /d/ he'll say around, up and down. No reversals that way.

[mamaduke]

Hi Angie, What is HWT?
Thanks!

[kvmck]

The dry erase board is a great idea-- she will love that and hopefully with 3 teachers (myself, and her older brother and sister) we will be able to keep up with her She loooves to do worksheets and workbooks--she just can't get enough of them-- so I'm getting to use up the workbooks I bought for my older kids when they were that age b/c they didn't have the slightest interest in them!
Verbal cues are a good idea too, something she can say out loud to help herself remember.

[Heidi in AK]

Julie, I just saw this as I was thumbing through the boards asking the same question. "HWT" is Handwriting Without Tears, a great handwriting curriculum.

[raceNzanesmom]

Oops, sorry, I didn't see Julie's question when she posted.

Btw, I didn't buy all they offer. It seemed a bit overboard to me. I do like the wooden pieces (you can make them), small board and student book. I bought regular chalk and broke it in half and cut up a small sponge. Worked perfectly. I do recommend the TM the first time you use the program just so you understand the whys and hows of HWT.