Help : how do you teach a Kindergartner writing ?

Question

I have enrolled my son in CLASS (Christian Liberty Academy) for Kindergarten and they sent a workbook (In the beginning ) that seems to have a lot of writing on it. My son cannot write anything yet except his name in uppercase and hates writing. We have to complete this workbook by the end of the year to receive transcripts from them . In my opinion, I think it is to early to teach writing at this age , but we have to do it. So how do I start ? Is there any program that is more fun for him to teach writing letters and numbers ? He cannot write any number either except 1 . But he reads at 1st grade level , he is very smart, he just hates writing .

Answer 1

I think he's just too little to push the writing thing.  You don't want to make him hate it.  Part of homeschooling is doing what you know is right for your kid.  If he's not ready, you have the choice to give him more time.   My son was ready for writing by four years old.  My two daughters were closer to six, even seven, before they were ready for structured writing.  On the other hand, my kids are all at least two math and reading levels ahead.  Where do you live that you have to submit kindergarten work and obtain related transcripts?  I live in western Canada. Kindergarten is not even required, here.

Answer 2

Start by spreading shaving cream on a table (kind of strange I know but, keep reading). Once you have a small area covered have your child practice tracing the letters in the cream with his fingers. As he gets better have him  used a capped pen to trace the letters. It's a little messy but, really fun and a great learning experience!

Answer 3

it is easy... Write alphabets as dotted and then hold their hand and tell them to join the dots.  Its fun and easy

Answer 4

That's too bad that CLASS is so strict.  You may wish to consider another HS'ing curriculum.  You do *not* need transcripts for Kindergarten.  It sounds like you need much more freedom in HS'ing.  This is more like private school at home.  Sorry, JMO.

If you do want to help him, I suggest using Handwriting Without Tears.  It was developed by an occupational therapist (who deal with fine motor delays) for her own son.  It is a wonderful program and we've used it for over 5 years, from 5-10 yrs old for my son.  It is gentle, has fun ways to remember how to form letters, and very good with results.  It's also very inexpensive.

http://www.hwtears.com

**EDITED TO ADD:  this is VERY normal for boys.  It took my son forever to build up handwriting stamina.  For that reason, we did a lot of his work orally for the first few years as he built it up.