As your child prepares to enter school, it’s essential to lay a strong foundation for their learning journey. One vital skill area is writing. Developing excellent writing skills will help your child excel in school and beyond. Here are the top five writing skills to teach your child before they start school.
1. Fine Motor Skills and Pencil Grip
Before learning how to write, children need to develop their fine motor skills. Encourage activities that involve grasping, pinching, and picking up small objects with precision, such as playing with playdough or engaging in arts and crafts. Simultaneously, teach them the correct way to hold a pencil, using the tripod grip, which involves holding the pencil between the thumb and first two fingers.
2. Letter Formation and Recognition
Letter formation is another fundamental writing skill that your child should master before starting school. Begin by teaching your child how to recognize the letters of the alphabet, both upper case and lower case. Once they can identify each letter’s shape, teach them how to form each character correctly by tracing over or copying them.
3. Pre-Writing Shapes
Pre-writing shapes are essential precursors to letter formation since they encourage proper handwriting techniques and strengthen fine motor skills further. These include basic shapes such as circles, squares, triangles, lines (horizontal and vertical), and even zigzag patterns. As your child learns how to draw these shapes with ease, they’ll gain confidence and readiness for writing letters.
4. Spacing Between Words
Once your child starts forming words, it’s crucial to teach them about proper spacing between words – an essential component of legible handwriting. It might be helpful for young learners to use their finger or a small object as a spacer when practicing handwriting initially.
5. Phonics and Simple Spellings
Finally, introduce phonics: the connection between letters’ sounds (phonemes) and the letters themselves (graphemes). Teaching your child to understand these associations will significantly improve their ability to spell and write words. Begin with simple consonant-vowel-consonant (CVC) words like ‘cat’ or ‘dog’ to build a solid foundation.
In conclusion, teaching your child these five writing skills before starting school will set them on a path for academic success. Remember to practice consistently, be patient, and maintain a positive attitude to bolster their confidence in learning how to write.
