writing letters and numbers

I encourage writing a lot at preschool - I make sure there is adequate paper, pencils, erasers, envelopes, markers and clip boards available in different areas of the room. This encourages writing, which includes scribbles and marks that are not recognizable (that's the beginning of writing and equally important), and children really enjoy pretending they are writing grocery lists, letters to a friend or family member, notes to a teacher, and with prompting, real words. In the MWF class, I'm often asked how do you spell ______? And I either write it down for them to copy or I tell them the letters verbally. Either way, I love the interest children have with writing. It is fascinating to watch this skill evolve. Along with writing comes the skill of holding the writing utensil using the tripod hold/grasp (pointer, middle man and thumb). This skill needs to be mastered first before a child can feel confident (and comfortable) writing. It is encouraged through various fine motor activities (stringing beads, finger plays, putting pegs in peg board, finger whole punchers, etc.) and emphasized during the first year at preschool, and second if needed. Once they have strengthened their fine motor grasp, then they are ready to move on to writing.

My small group activity with the MWF class this week is practicing (and learning for some) how to form letters (using the Handwriting without tears format I talked about in an earlier post) using a small chalk board and chalk (of course!). A lot of children already know how to spell their name and use capital and lower case letters. I focus on capitals first and then we learn lower case.

Can you tell what letter we were practicing? (hint: T)

Not only do I encourage writing on paper, I also have white boards available (with markers) for children to write and draw on as well. The only down side of white boards is that the picture or words get erased before I can get a picture of what they have been working on! 

Writing numbers and working together. Yes!!

Encourage writing at home as well, even if your child doesn't seem that interested. You might be surprised with what happens if you make paper, pencils and markers available.