Reading is fundamental for your child’s success in school — and then throughout life. Writing well is also a foundation-level skill that will fuel success, and here are tips to help your preschooler advance from early writing skills such as letters and numbers to more advanced skills.
BabyCenter.com takes a practical approach, offering tips on how to help a child who is a physical learner, as well as an auditory learner and a visual learner. So, if your child clearly fits into one of these categories, try those suggestions first. If you aren’t sure, or if your child seems a blend of types, experiment with all of them to create the best strategy.
Physical Learners
When you’re writing (a grocery list, a check, a letter), give your child a piece of paper and let him or her “write” along with you. This helps your child realize that writing is an integral part of daily life. Or let him or her create letters and words from glitter or pancake batter. Find more tips about teaching your physical learner how to write in the BabyCenter.com article.
Auditory Learners
Encourage your child to tell you a story, then you write it down. Even though your child isn’t physically doing the writing, it strengthens the connection between the spoken and written word. Or have your child describe a picture and then create captions for him or her. Find more tips in the article!
Visual Learners
Help your child start a diary, even if he or she only writes one or two words about an event. Make it fun, using crayons or markers. You can even create a photographic journal together. Read the rest of the article for more fun suggestions.
Continue to Strengthen Prewriting Skills
You’ve long since mastered the physical requirements needed to write, so it can be hard to remember how much fine motor skills are needed. Some children pick this ability up early — as young as 2 or 3 — while others still need to work on the skill in early elementary school. If your child needs practice with fine motor skills, EarlyChildhoodNews.com offers fun suggestions.
Remember finger plays? As you listened to a poem or story, you did hand motions along with them — and your child will likely enjoy participating in them, too. If there are standard hand motions (such as those to “The Eensy, Weensy Spider”), then teach them. If there aren’t — or if you want to mix it up a bit! — make up your own.
You know how easily crayons break? Rather than throwing away the stubs, keep them. Then encourage your child to color a picture using just these short crayons. This causes your child to hold them in a way that pencils are held. Also help your child understand the correct way to hold a pencil. It isn’t intuitive. Hold it by the thumb, the side of your middle finger and the tip of the index finger. Let your child practice in a non-stressful environment.
Play dough and clay are excellent tools, as well. Read a story and have your child mold the material into shapes that mimic characters or objects in the story. Have fun!
Looking to enrich your child’s learning and life through writing and other effective methods? Horizon Education Center provides affordable quality care, including educational and enrichment opportunities for children in the following Northeast Ohio locations.
