Four year old and handwriting

[LlamaMama]

My daughter just turned four years old. She is quite capable in some regards (reads fluidly and memorizes easily), but is not yet writing.

When she colors with a crayon or marker, she prefers to slash the crayon around the paper. At times, I've asked her to color in the lines neatly on a simple coloring book page. She has shown herself capable of that, but doesn't do it on her own.

She holds the pencil well. About a year ago, we did the Kumon tracing book and she did fine with it until the last few lessons.

I bought the Getty and Dubay Handwriting book for her, but she didn't want to even do the first lesson. She seemed scared of it, possibly because it was too difficult for her. I purchased G&D over Handwriting Without Tears because I thought the writing style looked nicer. I'm hesitant to purchase another curriculum, but would do so it would help me teach her.

I'm not making handwriting an issue for her. Lately I've been asking her to use chalk on a chalk board just to practice. We're on Lesson 100 in OPGTR and I'd like to start FLL after that. Yet she needs to be writing at a certain level in order to proceed with FLL, right?

My questions are: what is a "normal" handwriting level at the age of four? If you were her teacher, what steps would you take to get her more comfortable with writing? Do you think I should purchase Handwriting Without Tears curriculum? Would it help?

[Alana in Canada]

The first 100 lessons in FLL are oral. She won't need to write for that.

Motor skills take a while to develop. I wouldn't push it.

The best thing, really, is simply to have her work with playdough and other activities that involve toughening up her fine motor skills, like cutting and pasting, scribbling (it really does help).

Do a little research on the development of fine motor skills. You'll find lots of non-writing things you can do.

[katilac]

I wouldn't worry about it, honestly. She's four, a young four. I'd give her plenty of opportunity to write and practice motor skills, but wouldn't go with a formal curriculum for now. Rather, I'd provide her with some cheapie workbooks that she can do IF she wants, lots of fun notebooks and pencils, and lots of activities for building those muscles (play dough, etc).

Many four year olds are not writing or coloring well. I wouldn't sweat it. Some parents choose to adapt certain programs for the child to do orally, and others just wait for the motor skills to catch up a bit. She's so very young, you really won't go wrong either way.

I would tend to err on the side of waiting. The formal school work comes along soon enough, believe me.

[OneRoomHomeSchool]

If you were her teacher, what steps would you take to get her more comfortable with writing?

If she were my just turned 4 daughter, I wouldn't take any steps to get her writing. I wait until closer to 5, myself, even though my kids did all 'write' before age 5, I never pushed it or required it at all...and my 6 yr old has very good handwriting, for a boy! ;)

Give her fine motor skills and muscles time to develop well, slashes, scribbles, etc, are very normal and all of that actually lays the foundation for controlled writing later.

[Laurel T.]

I am so glad that this was asked. I have a just turned four yo son (leftie). We aren't doing any curriculum, but he likes to practice. He never colors in the lines, and has alot of difficulty forming letters. I am glad to get the confirmation that this is normal.

Laurel T.

[LlamaMama]

Thank you, ladies, for your responses. I don't have any experience with handwriting levels at different ages so I wasn't sure what to expect for her. We'll just continue with our art activities for now. If I don't see any progress by summer (or fall) then I'll start pursuing instructing her more specifically for handwriting.

I'm glad to know that FLL is done orally in the beginning. We do her math instruction orally too.

[Chris in VA]

There are some stages to writing you might want to know--not saying you don't already ("Stop me if you've heard this one!" lol)

The stages of art development and the stages of writing development are very similar. First, you will see exploration of the medium--with crayons (usually the first art and the first writing medium given to a child) you will see random marks. Then, a more deliberate mark appears--usually around 2. Then comes the scribble--big, whole arm scribbling is common, esp in a circular pattern. This is because motor skills develop from the outside in--whole arm to wrist to fingers, iykwim. Then, you will start to see some divergence in the skills. In writing, you will see the linear scribble--scribbling in a horizontal rather than circular fashion--a scribble that "moves" across the page. This usually appears around 3 or 3.5 yo. The next stage of writing is the random shape. You will see a string of odd-looking shapes, vaguely resembling letter forms. Next is the letter form stage--these two stages may include a linear component (may go across the page) or may not. Then, you will start to see true letter forms emerge. Again, these may not be linear in nature. Finally, you will see the letter shapes become linear, and may begin to see invented/phonetic spelling emerge.
That's alot of step, eh? And, kids go back and forth between stages all the time.
So, my advice is to give plenty of writing opportunities, but let them be unstructured--or rather, let them be 1. on unlined paper, 2. using a variety of writing/drawing media, 3. and let them serve a purpose occasionally. One way to do the latter is to put some clipboards in her play area. Allow her to make a sign for the wonderful block structure she just created. Have her make a grocery list in her play kitchen. Allow her to "write a letter" to Granny, or send you a note (make a mailbox--it's great fun to get a note, and you can send her one, too!). There are lots of ways to encourage "writing" that don't involve a workbook.
After she has developed her fine motor skills and pinch grasp (sounds like she has this already), give her stubby pencils to help her maintain a good grip.
Then--THEN--introduce her to letter forms for writing. Have lots of models of letters around from the very beginning (wooden magnet letters--or *shudder* plastic--books, lists, cut out environmental print, etc.), but don't require "proper" writing until she's ready to do it. I know SWB says kids can develop bad habits in letter formation, and that's true, but I think most kids can learn the proper formation even if they have already made some letters on their own. I always say something like, "You are ready for me to teach you the way to make this letter so that everyone can know what you want it to say," so they don't get offended and stuck in their own way. But even if they do, it's not the end of the world. Script/Writing is personal, but we do want to be able to read it!
Anyway, hope this helps.

[LlamaMama]

Thank you! The explanation of the writing development was very helpful. She would love to make signs that coordinate with her playing. That was an excellent idea. Valentine's Day is coming up so I'll try to sneak some writing skills when we make cards.

[Chris in VA]

I made block sign stands when I taught preschool--you just take a large wooden block and hot glue a spring-type clothespin to it. Put two or three (or just one, since it's not being used by multiple children like in a preschool classroom! lol) along with rectangles of paper, a small clipboard, and a marker or crayon (or other writing utensil) in a bin or basket. Put it on the shelf right along with the blocks to encourage sign making.
HTH

[Karenciavo]

None of my children wrote at four.

[ShelzNH]

I am so glad that this was asked. I have a just turned four yo son (leftie). We aren't doing any curriculum, but he likes to practice. He never colors in the lines, and has alot of difficulty forming letters. I am glad to get the confirmation that this is normal.

Laurel T.

My 7.5 yo son just started coloring in the lines. My impression from other moms was that this is very normal for a boy as the nerves in their fingertips don't develop as fast as girls.

[Cindyg]

They did a lot of coloring. They wrote their names. The did a lot of games that involved developing their pincer grip (index finger to thumb) -- like picking up beans to sort, a million things like that. But didn't have a handwriting curriculum. I think that formal study can wait until first grade or until she shows interest.

I think it's pretty impressive that a just-turned-4YO is reading fluidly.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

My DS who is almost 4 likes to try to write letters but gets very frustrated when they don't turn out the way he wants. I recently bought him a Kumon maze book to try so he could just practice controlling the marker. He loved it and is asking for another.

[kimmyandgracie]

I'm not sure how you feel about television, but there is a product that Rainbow Resource Center sells called Write On! Printing DVD Tutor Kit. It is listed for PK-1. My dd4 is very visually oriented and I am planning to get this for her. Here is the link to the product page:
http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Write+on%21+Printing+DVD+Tutor+Kit/037731/1210243487-1585728

HTH!

[8FillTheHeart]

Is there a reason she needs to be sitting and writing at 4? Every child is different and at that age I would not force her to do it unless she wants to. My oldest hated coloring, writing, etc. By 1st grade.......he was used to the idea. :)

My current 2 yod sits and writes on her own all the time. She does it. Honestly, I could really careless. But she is drawing hearts, writing letters, and colors pictures totally inside the lines. I am not going to "make" her do any earlier than any of my other kids. I'll follow her lead.....not the other way around b/c she is little and when it's fun for her, it is positive. If it isn't, it is ultimately detrimental to what my goals are for young children

One idea you might consider if you really want to "do" letters is to make it a game vs sitting still and making it "handwriting." Glue and beans/mac/string, etc on construction paper, shoe-string licorce, playdough, m&m's, etc.

My educational perspective is that 4 yr olds should be having fun and enjoying absolutely everything about school. The time for having to deal with reluctance will be here before you know it. You have the freedom to approach everything with the goal that school brings sparkles of excitement to her eyes. (definitely not the reaction you get when you start discussing research papers. ;) )

[clwcain]

My educational perspective is that 4 yr olds should be having fun and enjoying absolutely everything about school. The time for having to deal with reluctance will be here before you know it. You have the freedom to approach everything with the goal that school brings sparkles of excitement to her eyes. (definitely not the reaction you get when you start discussing research papers. ;) )

:iagree:
Our oldest is almost 5 now and, as a boy, he has the motor control I would expect.

About a year ago, he started begging us to send him to school because he wanted to 1) ride a school bus, 2) learn to read, and 3) learn to write cursive. He felt that he had already, with no instruction, mastered block printing and wanted to do "real writing". :)

To make a long-winded story short, we started a Phonics program after Christmas, and he is now about half-way through the alphabet.

We did try to start a Kindergarten level handwriting book at that time, but my wife got very frustrated. Our son wanted to freehand the letters and refused to trace them as directed. Further, the handwriting book didn't go in the same sequence as the phonics program, so it was introducing letters he couldn't yet pronounce.

We abandoned the handwriting book and focused on phonics, while letting him continue to "draw" and "write" as he wished (freehand) with pencil, pen, marker, crayon, and chalk.

We had a set of the Draw Write Now books given to us by a thoughtful relative at Christmas time. We started using those so that he could learn, in an age-appropriate way, how to draw intelligible shapes (like chickens, fire trucks, etc. -- the sorts of things he wanted to draw). We ignored the handwriting instruction component of DWN, and we didn't even use them as a course. We'd find the thing he wanted to draw and open to that page and let him copy until he was satisfied with the result.

Fast forward to the last 3 weeks -- he' blowing through his phonics and his handwriting is becoming more legible. He's defaulting to a block capital style, and my wife has begun to do Italics with him as a supplement to the phonics program.

Some of it is his age. He's now willing to trace and take direction.
Some of it is that he now has both the desire and the minimum of skills to form letters correctly.

But we're letting him set the pace on writing. No rush since he's not yet officially of Kindergarten age.

On reflection, this is a very long-winded attempt to illustrate that "give them time" is the best advice I've received regarding handwriting.

HTH

[LlamaMama]

MomOf7, nope, there's no reason she needs to be writing as a (young) 4 year old. My original post was because I wasn't sure what was normal at that age. Many of you have reassured me that her skills were developing normally. I decided not to do any formal instruction for her and now that she's 4.5 her writing skills have really blossomed.

Just yesterday, she was creating a little book and wanted to write the name "Elizabeth". I told her which letters were in the name and her writing resembled what it should!

In the fall, we'll start HWT as part of Kindergarten.

[Targhee]

My daughter just turned four years old. She is quite capable in some regards (reads fluidly and memorizes easily), but is not yet writing.

When she colors with a crayon or marker, she prefers to slash the crayon around the paper. At times, I've asked her to color in the lines neatly on a simple coloring book page. She has shown herself capable of that, but doesn't do it on her own.

This sounds exactly like my DD about a year or more ago. And I was probably just as concerned as you are. Because she was reading, conversing, thinking, and problem solving at an advanced level for her age it seemed especially concerning that she was behind other four year olds with her writing/fine motor skills.

BUT, I really didn't need to be so concerned. She's developing fine motor/handwriting skills at a consistent pace (although she's still a bit behind the curve). The advising teacher I work with through our umbrella program, and my sister (who is also an elementary teacher) reassured me not to worry.


If you were her teacher, what steps would you take to get her more comfortable with writing? Do you think I should purchase Handwriting Without Tears curriculum? Would it help?

I would make her feel confident and comfortable about handwriting. Encourage any improvement. We have her choose one or two good letters on the page, and one that needs work (and why). At least with my DD, giving her options helps. I let her do part of her handwriting assignment, then we do other lessons, and then she finishes the other half. I also made sure she had a comfortable place to sit where her feet would touch the ground and she was high enough above the writing surface. This can in the form of a step stool at the dining table.

Also, if the reason she balks at handwriting is that it is tiring or uncomfortable let her develop stronger fine motor muscles in a fun way (play dough, mazes, more Kumon books, coloring, building with legos, etc.) and make sure that not only her pencil grip but her arm and wrist positioning is correct.

Mostly, I think they just need more time to develop. There's no rush. If she's processing language well orally, through reading, and through hearing then I wouldn't worry.