HOW TO TEACH YOUR CHILD TO WRITE
Writing is a fun activity to learn for toddlers, but at the same time, it is hard for them to hold pencils in hand. To learn to start writing, the child first needs to work on fine motor skills, which include the movement of small muscles in the hands and wrists. These skills can be developed by enabling the process of pushing, pulling, turning, twisting, ripping, and playing with smaller objects.
Writing is all about hand posture as how you can put a pen on paper, a child needs sufficient arm and muscle strength to be able to hold a pencil in hand. To teach your child to write, the first step is to enhance their gross motor skills including large arm movements which can be developed by allowing them to move their arms freely in large spaces in a variety of ways, such as moving their arms up, down, front or back directions.
Teaching writing skills to your toddler requires a lot of patience, it is important to wait for them to show their interest instead of forcing them to learn. Make sure to give them enough time to develop their interest and when they start to hold pens, and crayons in their hands, this is their sign to show that they are ready to begin their writing journey.
The toddler first has to learn to hold their grip firm, and for this purpose, they usually start with painting on the walls or any surface. They can’t start writing alphabet or numbers, they may start by drawing lines or shapes.
You can come up with various ideas such as letting them play with sand, flour, oatmeal, or grains, and show them how they can use their fingers or any small sticks to write on them.
You can also give them some crayons or colors, and assign them a specific area to enjoy painting, or provide them some paper and let them paint.
Once you feel that the toddler can write on paper, encourage them to draw lines on paper, let them add some colors to those lines, and learn their angle for holding a pencil.
Let your toddler learn through the process and give time to move at his pace. Make the learning process interesting by introducing some alphabet blocks or letter tiles.
Teaching to write the alphabet gets difficult without guidance. Get some tracing books including alphabets and numbers and let your child trace under your supervision.
To make a firm grip on the pencil, teach your child to hold a small pencil like a pinch between the thumb and index finger while resting the pencil on the middle finger. It will take some time to learn but regular practice will make it easier.
Remember that your child is in the learning phase and needs proper guidance and instructions from you. They need your attention and seek your presence all the time. Your comforting connection with them can make them learn anything without any hesitation in less time period and will be very helpful in raising their confidence level.