Learning to write - can I type dotted letters for dd on my computer?

[MrsFogi]

I'd like to be able to type dotted letters (eg of dd's name) on my computer and then print them out? Is this possible? If so - how?

Butterpie, I'm sure you don't mean it that way, but your posts are bordering on self-righteous. Just because you have decided to take your child out of school and are in a position to do that doesn't mean you shouldn't at least try to see the argument from the other side - what it's like if DC is in mainstream education.

And that, plainly stated, is that it probably a royal pain for schools to have to untangle the mess created by parents teaching their children phonics and handwriting systems of their own in nursery or reception. The problems may not emerge till later, but even the familiar alphabet song is a help rather than a hindrance, as the letter names don't correspond to phonemes. And letter formation is very specific, for example, in the widely-used read write inc. system developed by Ruth Miskin. This is taught from years R to 2.

if a child's handwriting is legible, does it really matter if it's not exactly like the prescribed method? (genuine question)

after all plenty of adults have perfectly legible writing but they don't all do it the same way?

I would ask parents not to teach children to write their name using all capitals (I know that is the way they are taught in the US) as it makes it really difficult for them to learn to write especially if the school uses a cursive style or begins joining in reception.

I dislike writing over dots as it encourages bad habits (it's tracing not writing) much better to sit down and show your child how to form letters properly

MathsMadMummy I would expect some three year olds to be making straight and curved marks writing for most comes much later when they have developed the physical skills needed to control a pen or pencil.

oh god mrz. on 'threads I'm on' all it showed of your post was 'I would ask parents not to teach children to write their name' and I was

thanks she's making various marks, so it seems she's doing ok. she loves (and is very good at) following dotted lines (wavy, zigzag etc) and mazes though, should she not be doing this? I thought it'd be a good way of getting her better at controlling where the pen goes. or does it not matter until it comes to writing actual letters?

I personally hate workbooks.Most are dreadful quality,the wrong font and sooooo dry I'm amazed they don't put most kids off for life.

Obviously you teaching her formation would be better but make sure you are teaching them exactly right as she'll have to relearn later for joins.

I personally don't have a problem with dotty writing if it isn't the only method. Some children need a lot of practise with handwriting and I think dotty writing can help as mundane as it is continuously going over a letter you've been taught how to form correctly can help.

My ds had dreadful handwriting,could form them all beautifully but his handwriting was very untidy.The continual repetition did help him.Putting a black dot where the correct places are to start is good. I bought the font his school uses for £5 and it helped enormously,I did do proper formation sessions with him too though. The dots were only to reinforce.

That link you liked didn't look like the correct font most schools use to me,don't know if there was a choice.

I don't know how old your dd is and paint,chalk,sand are fantastic but for older children that have learnt the correct formation I do think there is a place for boring old repetitive hand writing practise. YOu get in a rhythm and the letters become 2nd nature.

Get her to clean the windows and sweep up outside much more effective use of time for learning movements for forming letters than tracing over dotted lines ...seriously!

we recently started painting our pavements with water and a big brush. she's getting good at it

will it do her any harm though, to be doing the dotty line thing? she really likes it - absolutely anything dotted-line-like she draws on...

no it won't do any harm

check this site out. I wrote the story at the bottom of the page for my daughter!!!

MathsMadMummy, don't worry about fine motor skills too much yet. Overall strength and muscle tone is good as children eventually have to sit to write. So are climbing frames, throwing, gripping and making big, expressive movements in sand or mud with a stick, sweeping, painting on an easel or big sheets of paper, and so on.

It's too early to worry about holding a pencil yet. Just give her a really strong foundation and she'll be ready for writing when she hits reception.

Our preschool recommended playdoh for strengthening their fingers. They are also encouraged to draw curves, straight lines and zig zags to enable them to form letters later on.

We have been given sheets telling us how to form letters properly as many of the children can write their names and their friend's names.

So as not to get complacent with just being able to write their name, they have to form the letters properly. eg my son has an "r" in his name which he draws from the bottom up and just curves it over. He needs to learn to write it correctly.

Am I allowed to say that I don't really buy into the whole learning the letter sounds rather than the letters?

I say that because I can read fluently and very quickly and yet I struggle to work out all the sounds and rules of phonics when DD asks. So how did I learn?! I am ready to be educated here....

JarmanDotted is a dotty font (suprisingly enough ). Jarman is the standard un dotty font. They are not great, but are free to download.

Any form of pattern making is great to practise, as that helps hand eye coorination so much. Don't forget about colouring in (staying inside the lines) is really quite a tricky skill to master, and fun to practise.

I agree with the hand eye co-ordination thing,it does have a place which is one I'm a little surprised at the sniffy attitude to tracing.

Colouring,following/continuing patterns,tracing etc are good at helping children gain control when putting pencil to paper.

Concentrating on letter formation is obviously the most useful but young children can only take so much in short bursts. Said pencil control activities are good at helping children gain control and practise using a pencil in a fairly undemanding way.

They have their place in the same way as other fine motor and gross motor activities.

Playdough,Lego,forming letters in sand/shaving foam,picking raisins out of small containers will all get the right muscles moving but don't underestimate the value in a bit of tracing,colouring and pattern copying too.

The one I've got is CCW Precursive Dotted

You could just write in a yellow felt tip for her to trace over.

Try to put a dot and a line/arrow to show where the pencil should start and in what direction.

On the website you can pick either with or without arrows which I wish I'd spotted as the arrows are useful as a memory prompt.

It's good to do the yellow writing in front of them sometimes so they get to see you write. Mine used to do 'magic writing' for each other

Another nice tracing activity is those pens that change colour. Mine used to love going over the letters I'd done in one colour with the magic white pen,very satisfying. Even dtwin1 (my left handed reluctant writer) loved doing that. They also used to love going off after a bit of tracing with those pens to do their own 'creative writing' in glorious patterned technicolour.

You can get metallic,smelly,glitter pens all good for getting a bit of enthusiasm for going over the dotty font.

The dotty font is a good addition as it's a real time saver if like me you had a 4,4 and 3 year old

Leaving paper,notebooks and a variety of writing tools around is good for encouraging free scribbling and writing on their own.

'are' not 'is'

Another good activity with the computer font is you can blow them up to A4 size and get them to either paint over the dots or take an animal/tiny toy car for a walk along the dots. Model the letter in the air first.

lots of great ideas on this thread! looking forward to trying more. DD is really into this sort of thing ATM (still in between frantic scooting/running/football etc so plenty of gross motor stuff too )

I think nursery has made her want to do all this as she's one of the youngest so she's wanting to be like the older ones. now if only she'd feel that way about potty training we'd be all set...

ooh ooh milamae funny you should say that. we did /h/ the other day (after seeing a helicopter!) and I laid out a rope in the shape of the h which we walked along in the same way you'd write it.

we also used her wooden train set to make a really good h - the forked pieces are perfect for this so we'll make other letters too. she drove her trains along it

DD is a very physical learner so far so any more ideas like this, do share!

My dd starts nursery in September and in the information pack they'd included a sheet with letter formations for right and left-handed children. Never knew left handers form their letters differently.

MilaMae tracing is fine. It's a great fine motor activity that many children enjoy which is great as long as parents don't think it helps their child learn to form letters correctly.

Gosh this must be one of my most successful threads! Thanks for all the replies. Dd really wants to write her name (and her school ask that she be able to do so before she starts) so the reason I want the font is to type her name on pages for her to practise. My writing is barely legible and I don't want to inflict my wonky diy attempt on her!