“If I have done anything, even a little, to help small children enjoy honest,
simple pleasures, I have done a bit of good.”
~ Beatrix Potter
Handwriting Alternatives in Early Education
Writing is more than a pencil and paper.
Handwriting skills begin long before one holds a pencil.
And we tend to really concentrate on this skill in the early learning years in a very straightforward way.
In all honesty though I think it’s far more beneficial to the child to allow creativity in building this lifetime skill. How can we offer creative writing in simple ways? How can we invite in learning without overwhelm or uncertainty?
SQUEEZE
Offer a bottle of glue or paint and show the child how to squeeze out letters, carefully tracing or forming each letter
GRAB
Grab a collection of items and invite the child to create a letter out of the items, no matter how large or how small, using care in formation.
CUT
Allow the child to use scissors to cut out letters either individually or to form a word you are learning together.
TRAY
Create a tray of salt, salt, rice, or dough and allow the child to draw the letters with his or her fingers or an instrument or his or her choosing.
There’s absolutely no timeline for writing with ease and proficiency but there is a dislike for a skill that brings pressure and dismay. The same skills can be built and mastered uniquely for each unique child. And while one may love to draw and write on a sheet of paper with his or her favorite colored pencils or beeswax crayons… another may feel more at home with a shell collection on the beach or with a bottle of white school glue. You do not need any fancy supplies or resources or even a printer to begin sharpening this skill, simply a little creativity.
And above all any small handwork will guide in future handwriting so sometimes just allow the child time and space to create and cut and glue and stick and get sticky... is enough.
How can you encourage handwriting ease?
