have I taught my 3 year old to write wrong!

[mrsunreasonable]

My Son is in Nursery Class but between being at private day care nursery and school nursery was at home with me for a short while while on maternity leave. It was then that he decided he wanted to learn to write his name I don't know why but I taught him to write it in capital letters but now I see all the other kids work on the wall in the classroom is in little letters. Have I buggered it up?!

RoadArt that must be tough for her of course that will be confusing, has she settled on one system now and just needs to remember that way now?

Not really, and the school has now started teaching cursive, but in a different format to how she was taught. The confusion continues.......

and also slanting letters appeared somewhere along the line!

I'm a reception teacher. Ideally, I'd would like children to have learned to write lower case letters, formed correctly (if indeed they have learned any at all - I have children who come in writing words, and some who still have trouble with pencil grip). We teach each child according to their need/ability; but the children who still have trouble writing in lower case consistently tend to be those who have been taught to write in capitals first. They will get there though - they all will, so don't worry about it, just model lower case writing from now on.

re: the importance of learning the correct formation - the brain and hand work together and the action of writing a letter becomes a 'motor memory'. It really IS hard to relearn it once it's in there, hence why it's a good idea to encourage children to form 'o' anticlockwise etc etc.

Whoops! I'd would - nope "I would"

Pekkala...do you think that it is harder for left handed children to form some letters correctly? I mean such as the anticlockwise circular letters, I remember my 4 year old when she was 3 doing e's the wrong way round, she has an e in her name so was a letter she learnt first. I know a lot of children do letters the wrong way round, but is it sometimes harder for left handed children or doesn't it make any difference?

oh no so I have buggered it up then! He has now decided writing is boring and doesn't want to do it anymore so I'm struggling to fix this! Children should really come with an instruction manual! :(

Sorry to go against the flow but children who have learnt to write in capitals find it harder to learn to form letters correctly.

Hi evolucy, yes some schools teach and/or allow different formation for left-handers. I haven't used this particular guide so can't vouch for it but it looks worth a look:

www.lefthandedchildren.org/letter-formation.htm

Having said that, most of my lefthanders follow the usual formations. Writing can also be more of a challenge for left-handers as they have to 'push' the pen across the page in front of their hand rather than pull it, and they cover up the written trace they produce. They may need to sit differently with the page at a different angle (and not be sat right next to right handers as there can be elbow clash).

OP - in Belgium we are told to teach the children to write their names in capital letters because capital letters are generally more consistent then small letters.

My eldest child is now learning to write in cursive script, which I can't do at all. I disagree with mrs, my dd1 has learnt to write in cursive in just three months, with the correct teaching.

belgo how old is your dd1?

OP - I don't think you have done anything wrong or different to many other parents out there . How were you to know any better? Chances are the other children in your son's class will have been taught to write their names in all sorts of ways, by their parents or nurseries. Also, unless your DS has a very long name, he will only have learned a few letters in a format different to the one his school uses.

I did a similar thing, and taught my 3 year old DD to write her name, beginning with a capital, then lower case for the other letters. To make sure I taught her to form the letters correctly (or so I thought) I used the jolly phonics exercises. She was so pleased to be able to put her name on her drawings etc. However, on a recent visit to the school she will attend, I discovered they start cursive writing in reception, which requires entirely different letter formation (from the line, rather than from the top). The teachers advised me not to worry, but to focus on exercises that improve pen control, like tracing shapes and wiggly lines. The problem is, my DD has been unimpressed with tracing shapes / lines, as she can identify all the alphabet by the phonic sounds and knows drawing shapes is not writing. I'm now unsure whether to continue to hold back the writing or try and track down some cursive letter formation exercises, if she keeps asking to "do writing". Hmm perhaps a new thread

mrz - in Belgium children spend 3/4 years at infant school, learning to count, write their name, a lot of drawing and crafts. Art is highly valued in Belgium and dd1 has been doodling since she could grasp a pencil at age 9 months (I have her first doodle for when she becomes a famous artist).

real school starts at age 5-6, and then they go at a very fast pace, being expected to read and write fluently within the first term. For example dd1 learnt 13 sounds in the first 6 weeks of school. They still have time for swimming, gym and other activities eg.working in the school garden.