Learning to write: question for receotion teachers (and anyone else interested !)

[ButternutSquash]

My dd is in reception and learning to write. In her school, they use books to practise their writing that have no lines (rules?) in them. According to the teacher it is the head's policy for the younger children to have unlined writing books. Older pupils do get books with lines.
I think that it would help the children when they are learning to write to have lines in their books, but I am not a teacher, only a parent!
What do teachers (and other parents) think? Are lined writing books a help or a hindrance or neither for young children learning to write?
Thanks in advance for your replies.

Lined books can make it more difficult for children learning to write. Writing is really hard as there are so many things to think about - direction of writing, holding the pencil correctly, trying to remember what you want to write, how to write the sounds/words, forming the letters. Some children have very large writing at this stage as handwriting is not yet a natural process for them. Using unlined books gives them one less thing to worry about for a while. Saying that, girls in particular like lined paper as it is more like "proper" writing. Maybe give your dd some lined paper at home to play about on?
HTH:)

I think sqaured paper is really good for learnng to write on as it gives them lines all around! That's what they use on the continent - and IME, their handwriting is better than ours.

squared..... obviously

it was school policy here that i use plain books for children's work in reception and i agree that it does help handwriting development. however, i also had a writing area with a variety of types of paper and pens for children to do free writing. I also gave them a choice of plain or lines for display work and it was amazing how many chose the lines - i think it just makes them feel older!

I sometimes draw lines for DS2, 4.5, because otherwise his sentences all run into one another (one sloping this way and one sloping that way) so you can't read it, and also he loses his place in the sentence.

The books they have at school are plain, but they do writing for wall displays on lined sheets.

I think its important to learn to form the letters before restricting the space they are formed in, if you understand?
You wouldnt give a baby a colouring book and expect them to stay in the lines would you?

I guess it depends on their general policy about learning to write. When dd was first learning, the policy was to encourage "emergent writing" which means a child making any sort of marks that the child herself feels is writing - without any sort of rules about how to do it - so as free and undemanding as possible. Unlined books would fit in with that, I think.

Lined books have come later.

I would ask?

Thanks a lot for all your replies.

I would tend to agree with Tommy, but then on the continent children tend to start learning to write later than in the UK, so the idea that lined books come later also makes sense I suppose.

I was going to give dd lined paper to practice on at home anyway, that is, if she wants to.

I have asked the teacher about it and basically what she told me is in agreement with the idea that the children should be given as much freedom as possible to learn to write, and also that in any case there was nothing she could do about it as she has to use the books supplied by the school.

Ds1 is in reception - they have lined paper. When he is writing cards I draw pencil lines in as it keeps his letters smaller, otherwise they go too big and he can't get one word in a line

His writing is pretty good anyway but it looks great when he's done it with lines - I think it helps tbh. He gets annoyed when it goes to big and wobbly!