Teaching letters/simple writing to YR1s at home?

[Cortina]

Trying to help DC with writing. They get letters back to front and struggle with the letter a and s.

Are there are good workbooks etc? Am trying to get them to copy my writing at the moment, not great. Thanks!

Their teacher asks them to write about what they did at the weekend etc and DC's writing isn't clear and is squashed together. Want to help but not sure how without undermining confidence etc?

[smee]

Does it matter? I'd bet some will say YES and very loudly, but I've found challenging DS on just one aspect of his writing - so say a backward 's' - is enough. Any more and it's detrimental. I don't dwell on other mistakes and give heaps and heaps of praise. Homework's a much happier time for us because I've stopped being a perfectionist and if you just concentrate on one single problem, you've more chance of them getting it right so feeling good about themselves.

[Hulababy]

Chose one letter a week to focus on.

Draw them in sand, in the air, on in paint = big writing.

Then move onto tracing over yours. You can google for loads of worksheets on this kind of thing (sparklebox for example). Or you can create your own.

Start by them tracing over a very light version that you write - look at formation, starting in the right place, etc.

Then start to dot the letter out for them to trace over.

Then copying underneath yours.

Finally without a visual aid.

For spacing - make him a finger spacer or print one out from somewhere like sparklebox.

[Cortina]

Thanks.

At parents evening I was surprised to see that 'intelligence' still seems to be partly gauged by standards of writing and presentation even in a child as young as 5-6.

I know this used to be the case when I was a child in the 70s (I could never understand this).