Help, My Child Doesn't Want to Write!
Is something that I often hear from moms, especially homeschooling moms. This post was inspired by several queries from our new friends in our Facebook Group - Homeschool Resources Philippines. By the way, if you haven't joined yet and you are a homeschooling family or someone just looking for resources to enhance your kids' learning, please join us by clicking here.
Anyway, back to the topic. My short answer is, don't force them. Just LET IT GO! Cue music!
If your child is 3 to 5 years old, its NORMAL for them to have a hard time writing. I've attended a parenting seminar in our parent school and the speaker was a Pediatrician/SPED specialist and this was one of the questions that came up. One of the moms had a 3-year old boy who didn't want to write. It was so "bad" that they were going to enroll him at a summer writing program. The doctor was horrified to say the least. She said the reason why kids have a hard time writing or hate writing is because their fingers are not ready yet, especially 3-year old kids. Meaning, their fingers are not strong enough to grasp a pencil. At 3, they shouldn't even be writing yet. She further added that if you force a child to write when they are not ready yet, problems will pop up by 4th grade. So what can you do about it? Fine motor strengthening activities! My blog has a lot of ideas to strengthen your little ones' hands. Feel free to browse the activities. Just look for "fine motor activities."
As for us, my son also went through that phase. He is now 4 years old and loves to write. He draws and paints a lot and incorporates words into his drawings. He enjoys writing and gets a pen and paper whenever he sees me write.
We also went through a lot of tears. He needed to learn how to write early because he is advanced in his studies. He is now in Grade 1 and he had to learn how to write when he was 2 years old for nursery. At that time, I still didn't know that I had to strengthen his fine motor grip so what I did was I presented him with different writing and coloring materials to encourage him to write. Here are some of the things that we use:
Yes, that's a lot but these tools really encouraged him to write and to be creative.
Another thing that I found useful are these grips:
They are very comfortable to write with. Even my Panda pen has one
I find it easier to grip the pen with one of these.
These magnetic writing boards are also great. My son started with just drawing circles on them and then he drew cars then the cars had names and numbers on them, just like a real NASCAR car.
I also find these write and wipe boards to be a source of enjoyment without the tears.
I'd give a bunch of dry erase markers to my son and he would spend about 15 to 30 minutes drawing on them. The best thing about these boards is that they are easy to keep compared to the boards on easels. You can also put this in your restaurant kits so the little ones can draw while waiting for the food to arrive. The trick is to just let your kids have fun. Give them activities that will make them think you are just playing or having fun instead of giving them several worksheets and force them to write.
In the coming days, I will be posting activities to help your kids strengthen their fingers to help them get ready for writing but I hope the few tips I gave above will be helpful.
Please join our group - Homeschool Resources Philippines. I will regularly post free resources their and also hold giveaways, promos and events. Happy homeschooling and see you there!
By the way, I'm hosting a giveaway there. Here are the prizes up for grabs:
Anyway, back to the topic. My short answer is, don't force them. Just LET IT GO! Cue music!
If your child is 3 to 5 years old, its NORMAL for them to have a hard time writing. I've attended a parenting seminar in our parent school and the speaker was a Pediatrician/SPED specialist and this was one of the questions that came up. One of the moms had a 3-year old boy who didn't want to write. It was so "bad" that they were going to enroll him at a summer writing program. The doctor was horrified to say the least. She said the reason why kids have a hard time writing or hate writing is because their fingers are not ready yet, especially 3-year old kids. Meaning, their fingers are not strong enough to grasp a pencil. At 3, they shouldn't even be writing yet. She further added that if you force a child to write when they are not ready yet, problems will pop up by 4th grade. So what can you do about it? Fine motor strengthening activities! My blog has a lot of ideas to strengthen your little ones' hands. Feel free to browse the activities. Just look for "fine motor activities."
As for us, my son also went through that phase. He is now 4 years old and loves to write. He draws and paints a lot and incorporates words into his drawings. He enjoys writing and gets a pen and paper whenever he sees me write.
Practicing calligraphy
Drawing in school (back when we attended traditional classes twice a week)
writing practice
We also went through a lot of tears. He needed to learn how to write early because he is advanced in his studies. He is now in Grade 1 and he had to learn how to write when he was 2 years old for nursery. At that time, I still didn't know that I had to strengthen his fine motor grip so what I did was I presented him with different writing and coloring materials to encourage him to write. Here are some of the things that we use:
We have everything! Markers, dry erase markers, twistable crayons, crayons, scented markers, color pencils, fancy pens, do-a-dot markers, pencils, fancy pens, etc.
Fancy pens like the BB-8 make writing fun! (I'm selling BB-8 and Kylo Ren clicker pens. If interested, email me at lifebyladye@gmail.com)
Yes, that's a lot but these tools really encouraged him to write and to be creative.
Another thing that I found useful are these grips:
Crystal grips
regular foam grips
spiral grips (I'm selling all these grips, P50 each pack. I think one pack comes with 6. Email me at lifebyladye@gmail.com if interested)
They are very comfortable to write with. Even my Panda pen has one
I find it easier to grip the pen with one of these.
These magnetic writing boards are also great. My son started with just drawing circles on them and then he drew cars then the cars had names and numbers on them, just like a real NASCAR car.
(I'm selling these - P120 each. Email at lifebyladye@gmail.com)
I also find these write and wipe boards to be a source of enjoyment without the tears.
(I'm selling these - P100 each, comes with a dry erase marker. Email at lifebyladye@gmail.com)
I'd give a bunch of dry erase markers to my son and he would spend about 15 to 30 minutes drawing on them. The best thing about these boards is that they are easy to keep compared to the boards on easels. You can also put this in your restaurant kits so the little ones can draw while waiting for the food to arrive. The trick is to just let your kids have fun. Give them activities that will make them think you are just playing or having fun instead of giving them several worksheets and force them to write.
In the coming days, I will be posting activities to help your kids strengthen their fingers to help them get ready for writing but I hope the few tips I gave above will be helpful.
Please join our group - Homeschool Resources Philippines. I will regularly post free resources their and also hold giveaways, promos and events. Happy homeschooling and see you there!
By the way, I'm hosting a giveaway there. Here are the prizes up for grabs:
I'm sure these will be a great addition to your homeschool!
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