This week, I added a new type of activity to our literacy shelves, for the children to practice their handwriting. Some of them still find it very hard to hold their pencil properly and to keep a steady hand when tracing or colouring. So I printed a collection of
activity pages/sheets that can be used for pre-writing practice. I laminated them all and bound them together. The children can now use them with a dry erase pen and use a brush to clean each sheet as they have completed the exercise. Needless to say that the brush has added a great point of interest to the activity!!
Some preschool teachers will
find these useful, and some will not. Montessori advocated the use of the salt/sand box to teach the child how to write. I think that variety is a key element in a classroom and the children really like this new activity. The eye-hand co-ordination required for writing/tracing is
a very important developmental physical skill and I have found that requiring a child to
trace lines and draw from dot to dots when they are not ready is the fastest
road to fight with boredom and frustration. Children who are ready for this
work, however, can enjoy a great deal of satisfaction and a sense of order when
completing the pages too!! So it works for everybody!