Teaching Nursery children how to write

[cori]

DS is four, his nursery wants him to be able to write his name by the time he starts reception in September. He doesnt have much interest at the moment, is only just able to hold a pencil correctly. I am getting quite frustrated with it TBH, any tips or books that i can use to help him. How often should we practice as well?

Just started this with dd, we are doing one letter at a time, she has a simple name, she's only 2 but she loves drawing shapes and pictures so i thought i would give it a go, she's doing realy well. I spend about an hour a day drawing and writing with her.

Before children can write they need to have strong hand muscles to hold the pencil and good fine motor skills to be able to control the pencil. Things like threading beads, playdough, cutting and sticking are all skills that help towards writing...

they say that girls learn to write quicker as they enjoy games where they practice these skills.

he has 6 months or so to progress in this area..
so I wouldn't worry too much...

Forget his name for now and get a book or download patterns of squiggles, zigzags and swirls (like on this site for him to trace over so he can learn to flow the pencil strokes and get the wrist action. As he gets better at them you can start with letters.

This is one of my bug bears with the education system. It is rare for boys to be physically ready to write so young. You would be much better doing lots of activities that develop fine motor skills rather than forcing him to write if he is not ready.

My ds1 is 4.5 and would not even consider writing any letter until recently. He now will only write capital letters. I looked up some research on this and found that in many countries, capitals are learned before lower case as they are easier to write (long straight lines) and have more distinct shapes (''b' 'd' 'p' 'q' are all very similar but 'B' 'D' 'P' 'Q' are all very distinct). The evidence is that chil.dren have no problem converting to lower case later. But in schools they insist on lower case.

Cori - what sort of nursery is it?

I would be tempted to tell them that you don't think he's ready, and would they concentrate on other things.
Not much point in him being able to write his name, but so fed-up and discouraged from being pressurised that he never wants to learn anyhting else!

oh and agree with the general fine motor work described by rummum. Playdough specifically involving using hands to roll out, shape and pinch. You can shape the letters of his name , and get some alphabet cutters to cut them out, use a stick or finger to "write" in the play dough or also in other media such as wet sand, snow and flour, cut them out of sandpaper or foil so he can feel their shape with his fingers, get stampers of letters so he can learn to recognise the letters in it and their shapes without having to write them down.

Drawing letters in sand with a finger or in the air may be easier - but I wouldn't be panicking if he doesn't achieve this goal before school

My d is 3 1/2 and she cant write, shows no interest in writing and I'm leaving it that. If they enjoy writing then go for it, I think its more important that they have fun in whatever they do. Hoever, the playdough sounds a good idea, and I may start that with my dd.

My ds is 4 in April and has no interest in writing his name. Can barely hold a pen correctly. I'm not pushing it. He'll get there eventually.

But kung fu kicks and wrestling, well, he'd practice that all day if I let him..........

boys do tend to have better gross motor skills, (large movements)
girls do tend to have better fine motor skills, (fine movements)..
... I'm doing my NVQ3 in childcare and education...

they won't write till they are ready especially if their fine motor skills are not quite there. The stuff LIZS suggests sounds really good.

4 is really way too early for them to worry about things like this. I know (for some reason) some places like them to be able to write their name before they start school but to me, that seems like a completely arbitrary goal to aim for because some children will already be writing by that stage and some children will still not be interested at all.

Really don't worry about it and don't force him to do it if he doesn't want to (I'm sure you wouldn't!) otherwise it may cause problems later on.

I reckon if hr can recognise his own name that is a big start - can try pointing out the letters in his name when out and about - shop names, car reg plates, or cereal packets etc. at home. I like the drawing in a tactile material too - I use salt, as it is cheap, in a cat litter tray so it doesn't go all over the floor. Once you are fed up of drawing and 'writing' in the salt you can make it into playdo!

This at the Nursery attached to the primary school he will go to. So a state nursery, I dont think he is really ready for it yet tbh. Though he is interested generally in numbers ,letters etc,just not so interested in writing them. I have a meeting at the nursery on Thursday and I know they are going to mention it.
I agree fine motor skills need improvement. It hadnt actually occurred to me that cutting would do that.

Ds1 couldn't even hold a pencil when he started school but this wasn't thought to be a problem. The staff just did lots of work with him to help improve his fine motor skills, eg making shapes in sand, paint etc with his fingers and rolling pieces of playdoh.

Ds2 (3) is the complete opposite and has very good fine motor skills. Some children are ready for writing and drawing at this age but a lot aren't IME.

When your son is ready and wanting to have a go at writing his name, one way to show him is to write out the letters of his name is dots, and then let him write over the top of them.

DS2 wasn't at all interested in writing until he started school this September, and really it's only since Christmas that he has developed the control necessary to make letters that are anywhere near legible (he's nearly 4.5, BTW.0)

Don't worry, do lots of Play-Doh and mixing and cutting and pasting, if he enjoys it, or Lego/sticklebrick type stuff if he doesn't.

I am a nursery nurse. I start by writing the childs name in dots and getting them to write over them. When the child is confident in doing that. I then get the child to copy their name, one letter at a time.I then write the childs name and get them to copy the whole name. This all takes time and it is best to go slowly. We have some 4 year olds who can write thier name independently and some who are just beginning to write over dots. We only do this writing when the child is ready,a child does not have to be able to write his name before he goes to school as they will be taught in reception. Get him to draw shapes in sand.

Thanks for all your advice, I have a meeting with the school tomorrow. I know they must have their own targets to meet, I will just say that he is begining to show some interest but I dont want to pressure him so much as to put him off.