image by melissa
Did you know that all letters and numbers are made of four, simple movements? I didn't either until I started teaching handwriting to my children.
Thus, it makes sense that being able to successfully follow a straight, diagonal, or circular line would be a requirement prior to teaching letter and numbers.
The Pre-Writing Worksheets are best for children ages 2.5 to 3-years-old who are no longer fisting a crayon and thus are used in the 2 and 3 Year Curricula.
Use broken crayon to develop a tripod grasp. Do not use markers or pens as the use of them does not build muscle strength. Discover the process of correctly holding a pencil.
Green and red dots on the circles and lines provide the starting and stopping points. The yellow lines provide guides for the child to trace.
Using hand-over-hand, train the child to place the broken crayon on the green dot, draw along the yellow, and stop at the red dot. As the child traces the yellow, say "Gooooooooooo....Stop" as the child moves to the red dot.
The Pre-Writing Worksheets are available to order in the 2 and 3 Year Workbooks or in the Handwriting Curriculum.
Important: Some children will not be ready for the handwriting activities when presented in the Curriculum. That is okay. It is imperative that the child's fine and gross motor skills be to the level required to hold a broken crayon or short pencil. If not, continue to work on fine motor activities (small muscle movement like in the fingers) and gross motor activities (core strength) to increase the child's motor control.
