How to Teach Your Child to Write Neatly
Writing, as you may already know, is one of the most important forms of communication, and it makes up a key part of education for young children. The problem is that in today’s technology driven world, while we are affording so many benefits because of technology, we are losing the simple art of writing. Children are not given as many opportunities to practice their handwriting and improve their ability to write. They’re using iPads and computers at schools, which is taking away the muscle memory they should be building to be able to shape letters.
If one day somebody decided that all of the Internet and technology should be shut off and shut down, how will the children of today understand how to go back to pen and paper basics if they are not being encouraged to write? It takes a lot of time to develop strong writing skills, which is why it starts at a very young age at school.
Parents even who home school can gain tips for teaching uppercase letters and lowercase letters. Phonics still has a place, and it’s not just verbal phonics, but written phonics. From fun activities to daily reading and writing sessions, you can work closely with your children at home if you don’t think they are getting as much in the way of writing practice at school. So let’s take a look at some of the ways that you can encourage your kids to write so that they build those skills that they so desperately need.
How to Encourage Your Kids to Write
- Make it as fun as you can. It’s important that you explain that writing should be fun and not seen as a chore. Playing games and activities that encourage writing is going to show your kids that it’s not just another class or another lesson that they have to learn. Crossword puzzles, for example, and word games that are not on an iPad are great for everybody. Those papery weekly magazines that your mother or grandmother may have had should be something that you also buy because they are packed with puzzles.Little ones will love the ones. Where they can write the word where they search for items and write down the word when they find each one.You can also do a lot of tracing, especially with younger children. If you don’t have any tracing paper, you really don’t need it. You simply just need to be able to write the letters in the form of dots and then ask them to trace over those letters that you’ve written.
- Print off or create writing worksheets. Creating worksheets where they can trace letters and words or printing them out on a computer can help your children to learn to write. You can also create connect the Dots games by having your child trace along the dotted lines and then tell you which letter or word they find. Something as simple as this can make writing much more fun for them, and it can encourage them to do more because it’s outside of the box of what they would do at school.
- Don’t just use pens or pencils. Sidewalk chalk on the driveway, finger painting, and even PlayDoh letter forming can help your children to feel happy about writing. If you’re making it an activity and not a chore, the information that they’ve taken is also most likely to resonate. It can help to build their writing skills, their lesson formation, and their ability to continue writing long term.
- Teach them to write letters. We’re not just talking about tracing over the alphabet here, but writing actual formal letters. One of the best ways to do this is to start with a thank you card or a note every time they get gifts from family or friends. Encouraging them to write letters to distant family members can also be a wonderful thing to do because it encourages the family to also write back. Having pen pals will help your children to feel excited about writing and also about checking the mailbox for any post that they may get. It’s rare that children receive any letters, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start helping them to do so.
- Get them a journal. Keeping a journal is a great way to express ideas and thoughts while also helping them to improve their writing skills. If you can build it into their daily routine, you’re going to help to improve their writing skills and improve their handwriting at the same time.
