Guidelines for Handwriting in Kindergarten -
Thoughts on What Works Best –
For Parents
My thoughts along with excerpts taken from ongoing action-research project from Nellie Edge and with kindergarten colleagues -- Joy Patterson
Believe that efficient letter formation is an important gift that you can gently, yet firmly, help young children acquire in kindergarten. Have high expectations, be very intentional, and systematically assess progress. Handwriting matters because it directly supports the writing-to-read process.
- In preschool, children learn to write capital letters. However, in kindergarten, we start learning lowercase letters. If you think about it, lowercase letters are what we see most often in books and what writers use the majority of the time. We start learning capitals only after we have learned and had lots of practice with lowercase letters.
- It is developmentally appropriate to have high expectations. Children do take pride in printing their name correctly so that everyone can easily read it. This is their first important literacy goal. Expect daily improvement.
- Each child begins by learning to correctly form the letters in his/her name. Please help your child practice 3 – 5 minutes per day, writing his/her name three or four times. Consistency is important, but so is creativity!
- Here are ideas for keeping it alive! Children love to practice words using chalk to write big letters on the sidewalk. Use paint, bathtub crayons, glue and glitter, clay, etc. Some learners will benefit from extra practice forming letters in cornmeal trays, shoebox lids with salt or sand, and on finger-painting paper.
- Provide practice by inviting children to write the same letter or word over and over using many different colors of crayons, chalk, markers or paints - like our rainbow writing system.
- Provide an easel or a large white board for writing large letters. Children naturally start at the top (which is of course what we want) and they get to engage large motor skills.
- Give children play dough, coloring projects, finger plays and small muscle games using clothespins to develop those fine motor skills.
- I encourage children to say the letter name and its sound while writing. This is a research-proven technique that develops muscle memory.
- Celebrate when the child can form all the letters in his or her name correctly. "You can make all those letters correctly. Aren't you proud of your work! Next let’s learn your last name." After first and last name are consistently and correctly formed, don’t stop there: move on to the child’s phone number. Even though students may be learning their phone numbers aloud, writing it will personalize it.
- When doing writing activities at home, remind your child that we use lowercase letters unless it's the first letter of a name or the beginning of a sentence - now that we’re in kindergarten. Here’s the Capital Letter Chant that we will learn in kindergarten:
Capital letter starts my name. Then lower case — The rest are the same.
Capital letter starts a sentence. Then lower case — Unless it’s a name.
- Sing this handwriting reminder song (to the tune of If You’re Happy and You Know It).
I always start my letters at the top. (The top!)
I always start my letters at the top. (The top!)
When I write another letter,
I get better, better, better,
When I always start my letters at the top. (The top!)
- Another playful reminder to children — "Letters come down from the stars…"
Do not let inefficient handwriting habits get established. Incorrect muscle memories are hard to unlearn later.
- Give specific and encouraging feedback — emphasizing effort, improvement, and what the child did best.
– "You worked hard."
– "Look at how clearly you formed that letter."
– "Every day your letters get clearer and easier to read."
– "How did you make such a great looking “R”?"
– "It is obvious you care about doing your best name printing. Doesn’t that look sharp and professional?"
– "You are becoming a real expert at printing your name!"
– "What a beautiful round "O" you made." - Encourage self-evaluation and feedback. “Find the very best ‘e’ that you made. Draw a circle around it with your favorite color of crayon.”
- Emphasize correct pencil grip (we call it our kindergarten hold – thumb, pointer, and tall finger).
- The most important aspect of handwriting is correct formation. Yes, we eventually want children to be aware that we have tall letters, short letters, and five that “hang low.” We need to build this awareness and knowledge step by step!
- What about lined paper? We start with no lines. I look for left to right directionality, before we’re ready for one line. Then we learn about seating letters on the line. When letters have ceased to float, we will have a top line. Later in the kindergarten year, we will be introduced to 3-line system that children use in first grade (head-line, belt-line and foot-line).
- Be sensitive, respectful, and patient with the young learner who does not yet have the fine motor skills necessary to form lower-case letters efficiently.
- Keep their joy of learning alive. “Kid writing” is a treasure. I recently saw that one of the kindergartners write “wii went camping.” How precious (and aware) is that?
