to think this is the most patronising school shite yet

[moogster1a]

My ds came home from nursery with a sheet of printed letters of the alphabet. I assumed it was for him to copy, but no. There was a letter attached explaining it was for parents' info. to show how they write the letters. each letter had a helpful arrow on it " to demonstrate how at nursery they begin to write the letter". I assume in case I write letters upside down or begin from the middle of the "W" and work outwards for instance.
Also "for my reference" she had written the initial letter of ds's name in the corner.This had extra arrows to show in what order the lines of the letter "H" should be tackled. In case I've forgotten what I called him or what his name begins with; or how the fuck to write it?
She "hopes this helps so we are all writing in the same way when helping our dc ".
AIBU to think patronising cow? I am of course going to thank her on Monday for her helpful advice as otherwise I would never have been able to form the letters of the alphabet by myself.

People have different hand writing habits. They are hard to change once established. This is the best way to ensure your ds learns good ones.

It's fine! Don't worry.

YABU
And a bit arsey, too.
Not everybody forms letters in the same way. Also, some children learn to write in a way that means they are behind at school, as they have to'unlearn' it and start again.

I have a left hander age 5. Seeing arrows when he first started school was useful to me, if only for me to point out that he found them difficult. Also as he is my first child, I do need to know how they are teaching things- however simplistic. I would rather have too much info than too little. So although I do understand what you are saying I'm afraid I do think YABU...sorry!

YABU. It's better that all the children in the class begin to write in the same way.

When DS was at Pre-school they didn't do writing at all. Some of the parents were worried that their child couldn't write before starting school, though God knows why, and taught them themselves. When they got to school they had to relearn it as, for one example they had been taught to write in capitals. The result was some very distressed children because they thought they were "doing it wrong".

It is slightly patronising yes, but they have your DS best interest at heart.

yabu -I was really glad to be told how stuff should be pronounced in phonics - honestly didn't have a clue (this despite having a masters degree..)

YABU. In Belgium we are told not to teach our children how to write letters, as we will do it wrong. The teaching methods are very specific. Consistency is very important when learning how to read and write and it sounds as though your teacher has gone to a lot of effort to ensure this consistency.

Hmmm. Yes, we also got a letter inviting us to a phonics workshop next week.
I will refrain from being insulted and feeling patronised until I've actually been!

You might be taking it a bit personally - but teachers' can come across patronising - that's true.

Some of the teachers on here infact talk to us like we're their pupils.

moogsterla you are lucky. I had to figure Phonics out for myself. Would have loved some instruction.

Ok, so for a letter "c" for instance, are you telling me there is more than one way of writing it? Or an l, m,n and most others?
If so, I'm genuinely interested.

My DS has a terrible job forming letters and I would have appreciated any help from his teachers when he was at school. Incidentally I didn't know that letters had a correct way and an incorrect way of being formed; it's been many, many years since I learned to write. I'm obviously a complete tool . I only found this out when I asked on here.

Please don't be sarcastic to the teacher on Monday. She can hardly pick and choose which parents she thinks could do with a few tips. If you don't need the sheet then just bin it.

yes of course there are different ways of writing all the letters.

I think the teacher has been incredibly helpful and taken a great deal of time about something fundamentally important.

Yes there is. Putting your pen at the wrong starting point (ie, starting at the bottom of an I and drawing upwards) is incorrect. As far as I know anyhow.

My ds struggles with his handwriting (he is dyslexic) and all the handwriting guides we have used have this style because he needs to learn it, and he needs to do it instinctively. So the more practice the better really. For children that struggle it is really really important that the approach is consistent, and there are lots of different ways to write (look at the difference in the way that a French person writes compared with Copperplate as an example - very different letter formation).

I wouldn't say there is any wrong or right way of writing letters, just different ways, and consistency is important when learning how to write.

your kid is obviously right handed. I am right handed so yes the arrows ok. But my son - he naturally goes in other directions...

Starting at the bottom of a letter is obviously wrong but I don't believe anyone would try telling their child that's the way to write it.
I await a flurry of responses from people saying they start at the bottom of letters.

Belgo, DS's handwriting is appalling. When I asked his teacher she insisted that the letter formations must start from the top and work across/down.

Anyone else know if this is correct or not?

Moogster, I doubt anyone would tell their child to write like that, but some children develop the habit anyway. If you don't know it's wrong you wouldn't know to try to correct them.

It's a bit patronising, but not every parent will have been taught how to write. I've learned languages with non-Latin scripts as an adult, and found it really helpful to be taught how to form the characters...

I haven't got a clue Reformed - my handwriting is appalling, dd1 already writes more beautifully then me and she's only 6.

Moogster I have a degree but had no idea that the childrn in DDs school were meant to form letters in the same way/direction. What you received is usual.

I do have to check. As after a year in reception and printing it switched to cursive. Now all letters start on the line. Totally different. Luckily ds is learning to switch between the two ways to form letters.