The Write Start (5 page)

All the Write Moves

Preparing Your Child to Write

A
RE YOU AS
excited as I am to set up your kids for writing success? If you are reading this book, the answer is probably yes. Well, I have good news; since you’re looking for information, you’re already ahead of the game. Preparing children to write isn’t very hard at all, but it does require a little bit of know-how. Luckily, this chapter can be your everything-you-ever-needed-to-know guide to helping your child progress from Scribbler to Speller, and beyond.

So if it’s supposed to be simple, what’s there to know? Basically, it’s a matter of pointing our kids in the right direction. When it comes to teaching the skills that support writing, my motto is this: teach them right, right from the start. Learning the best strategies, right from the get-go, prevents children from getting into bad habits or expending more effort than necessary on writing tasks (and, as a result, thinking that writing is hard or that they don’t like it). Steering them onto the right path, however, makes learning to write so natural that children will think they were born to write.

Write Now

As parents, we want the best for our children in many different ways. Why not give them the best possible start on their journey as writers? Starting them off right can mean the difference between struggle and success. It can also be the deciding factor between children who work hard at writing and children who write so effortlessly that their ideas all but leap onto the page. Happily, for children who embrace writing, a lifetime love of learning is literally right at their fingertips.

Here are the top ten things you can do to get your kids ready to write.

1. You Can Teach a Child the Best Way to Hold a Pencil (Yes, You!)

My son showed an interest in pencils early on. He liked to feed them into the sharpener, wear one behind his ear like a carpenter, and mark his wood blocks before “cutting” them with his pretend saw. But when it came time to write with a pencil, his enthusiasm was tested. Why? Because holding a pencil is an acquired skill, one that requires practice.

Most children learn to use a pencil between the ages of three and a half and five. More important than age, however, are signs of readiness. Look for a consistent hand preference, interest in coloring and drawing with crayons, coordinated use of eating utensils, and ability to handle clothing fasteners. Mastery of these tasks means that your child’s little fingers have pencil-holding potential.

When teaching your child to get a grip, demonstrate these important pencil pointers:

∗
Pinch
the pencil (low on the shaft, just above the zigzag part) between the pad of the thumb and the tip of the index finger. The space between the two fingers should form a wide-open circle. Check to see that your child is using a light touch (no white knuckles!).

∗
Tuck
the third finger behind, so the pencil leans on the side of the first joint.

∗
Squeeze
the fourth and fifth fingers into the palm, and rest this side of the hand on the writing surface.

 

At first, it’s best to have children practice this new grasp by doing things other than writing. For example, tracing stencils and drawing activities sharpen pencil skills without the added challenge of forming letters.

Children who can’t get their fingers in the right position may need more time with tools that encourage a three-fingered grasp. The best pencil prep is having your child use tiny broken crayons or pieces of chalk to color or scribble. Other activities that strengthen the pencil-holding muscles are: stringing beads, spraying a spray bottle, manipulating play dough, and cutting with scissors.

What’s the point of all this practice? An efficient pencil grasp lays the groundwork for fluid writing. And holding a pencil right, right from the start, prevents a child from getting into bad habits that may interfere with writing success down the road. Let’s just say, it’s a big step in the “write” direction.

DIY:
Give Me a Break Crayons

 

If your child has a shaky grasp on pencils, it may be time for a little break. Time for a little crayon breaking, that is.

Scribbling, coloring, drawing, or writing with crayons broken into small pieces encourages a three-fingered grasp. Simply peel and break some crayons into pieces to give the little muscles involved in holding a pencil a fun (and colorful) workout. (Caution: tiny tools can be a choking hazard, so exercise care with the under-three crowd.)

 

2. Tweak the Rules for Lefties

I am often asked if there are any special considerations for left-handed writers when it comes to holding a pencil. The answer is a resounding “Yes!”

Because the English language is written left to right, writing with the left hand is not simply the reverse of writing with the right one. When it comes to writing, lefties encounter a couple of unique challenges. First of all, their hands cover up the words as they write, making it difficult for them to see their own work. And second, they have a tendency to smudge their writing with their hands as they move across the page.

To help left-handed children overcome these challenges, teach them the three important rules to improve their view (and prevent smudging):

∗
Pinch it higher:
Pinch the pencil slightly farther up on the shaft (about one to one and a half inches from the tip).

∗
Position the paper:
Shift the paper to the left of center in front of them and tilt it slightly toward the right.

∗
Point it:
Hold the pencil so that the eraser points toward their left shoulder; this helps to keep their hand below the writing line.

 

These simple writing rules will make a big difference for lefties, helping them write with greater comfort and ease. And if it seems a little frustrating at first, assure your young writers that they are in good company: many famous authors (including Hans Christian Andersen, Lewis Carroll, and Mark Twain), artists (including Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and Picasso), movers and shakers (including Albert Einstein, Benjamin Franklin, and Helen Keller), and eight U.S. presidents were highly successful southpaws.

3. Every Writer Needs a Helping Hand, Literally

While one hand gets a grip on the pencil, what’s the other hand doing? Certainly not twiddling its thumb. The role of the nondominant hand is to stabilize the paper during writing tasks. The importance of this seemingly simple contribution cannot be overemphasized. Without a helper hand, the paper slips and slides, making the process of writing unmanageable and the product unreadable.

DIY:
Handy Helper

 

If your children need frequent reminders to use their nondominant hand, this trick may help. First, have them trace their nondominant hand on a piece of colored paper. Then, have them cut out the hand shape. Not only are tracing and cutting two great activities that reinforce the use of the helper hand, but the resulting cutout can be taped to the top corner of a piece of paper as a visual cue reminding children to steady the page as they write.

 

You can help your children get accustomed to using a lead-assist pattern with their hands by cueing them to use their “boss” hand and “helper” hand during everyday activities. For example, you can remind your children to stabilize their bowls with their helper hand when eating cereal or mixing cake batter. Or remind them to hold the bottom of their sweatshirt with a helper hand while their boss hand pulls up the zipper. The more aware children are of their helper hands, the more likely they will use them to get ready (and steady) to write.

4. Strong Writing Starts with Strong Hands

Mastering the use of their hands is one of our children’s greatest and most rewarding accomplishments. Children use their hands to interact with the world. They use them to play with toys, feed themselves, show affection, get dressed, cut with scissors, paint a picture, and scribble their thoughts. Children’s hands help them perform all the meaningful occupations of childhood. For this reason, time spent building fine motor skills is, without a doubt, time well spent.

Moreover, where writing is concerned, strong hand skills are the very key to success. Creating a hands-on home is not only the first step toward raising competent kids, it’s also the best way to prepare little hands for the big job of writing.

FYI:
Squeeze Please

 

Our favorite, no-fail play dough recipe:

2 cups water

1 cup salt

2 tablespoons cream of tartar

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

food coloring

2 cups flour

Heat all ingredients except the flour in a saucepan until warm. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour. Scoop the dough out of the pan and onto a cookie sheet. Let it cool for a few minutes, and then knead it well until all the color is evenly distributed and the dough is a smooth texture. Store the dough in an airtight container for up to six months.

 

There are countless opportunities for kids to be hands-on throughout their day. From making their own meals to making mud pies, children who are encouraged to experiment and explore gain the upper hand, so to speak. They become proficient in the small, refined movements needed to accomplish tasks with skill and precision. And they learn that they can do it themselves, figure it out, make it work, and get it done. Essential for all children, these experiences are especially important for young children who are getting ready to write.

Some of my favorite fine-motor activities include the following:

making and playing with homemade play dough

cutting coupons or junk mail with scissors

picking up small objects with kitchen tongs

using small stampers with a stamp pad

stringing beads

watering plants or a garden with a spray bottle

clipping clothespins on a line

 

Then, of course, there are the everyday activities that provide great fine-motor challenges. Make sure you help your children learn to do the following things independently, and they will reap the benefits on a daily basis:

buttoning, zippering, and snapping clothes

fastening shoes

opening containers

opening and closing resealable plastic bags

using eating utensils

helping with meal preparations

wiping a table with a sponge

 

The bottom line is, where kids are concerned, a hands-on home is a happy home. Children who have abundant opportunities to develop their fine-motor skills are well prepared for writing, and for life. Wherever they go, they’ll take with them the confidence that comes from experience. And however they make their mark, they’ll do it with broad strokes and self-assurance.

5. Cutting Isn’t Just a Frill

Everyone knows that young children should learn to cut. We all realize that cutting is necessary for many classroom tasks and some daily activities. Yet there is another reason why cutting is so important that may surprise you. Did you know that when done correctly, cutting can actually improve your child’s handwriting?

When children are taught to cut the “write” way, every snip helps to strengthen the small intrinsic muscles of their hands. These are the same muscles that control that all-important tripod grasp, the most efficient pencil grasp for writing.

The “write” grasp of the scissors is the one that exercises the small muscles that are needed to achieve a mature tripod grasp. Children should be taught to hold the scissor with the thumb and
middle
finger in the loops. The index finger should be placed on the
outside
of the handle to provide strength and to direct the cutting activity. Fingers four and five should be curled into the palm for stability. The scissors should be held loosely against the hand, resting on the joints of the fingers closest to the fingertips. The scissors should always be held in a “thumbs up!” position and pointed away from the child at all times.

How do you know if your child is ready for scissors? Cutting requires hand strength, eye-hand coordination, and finger dexterity. If your children are able to manipulate play dough effectively, activate squirt toys or spray bottles, string beads on a lace, and rip paper into small pieces with ease, then they have some important prerequisite skills. But the most important prerequisite skill, by far, is your child’s establishment of a hand preference. Wait to introduce scissors to your child until you see your child favoring one hand over the other during tasks such as eating, playing, or coloring.

Cutting, at least initially, is a one-to-one activity, and parents make the best teachers. Remember, even though scissors are available at your child’s preschool, teachers have many pairs of little hands to watch at the same time. Give your little snippers individual attention at first, and you will find them sharpening their scissor skills in no time.