Get your child to form letters correctly from the get go. It is important for the letter to look clear and legible and also equally important that the child learns to start and stop the letter construction at the correct point. This will make it easier in the long term for fluent and efficient handwriting. Here are two letter formation printable worksheets that describes where to start and stop for Upper Case and Lower Case letters.
It is helpful to start off with practicing one letter at a time. Little M related to letters in her name so we used that as her starting point and from there we moved to the sequence of the alphabet song. Have a ‘Letter of the Week’ and use any opportunity to reinforce it. For example in the kitchen with flour on the table top, shaving foam during bath time on tiles, in the sand and of course with traditional writing tools such as chalk, crayons and pencils. Start off with big spaces like an easel or chalkboard.
Teaching Steps:
First show the child how you are constructing and forming the letter and sound out each stroke. Example: Letter A is a big line down, another big line down and a little line across. Exaggerate your tone and movements.
Then with your hand gently over your child’s hand give her support as you go through the movement and description. This will help your child feel the movement of the letter with you hand over hand prompt. It is important that the child is not reliant on your hand over hand guidance as it serves as only a brief prompt.
Lastly allow her to give it a go and don’t forget to sound it out. Having a visual for her to refer to will help as she practices and then you can slowly remove the visual prompt.
In the HandRight APP I have described a very useful FIVE step technique using a chalkboard and sponge to reinforce letter formation.
Upper Case
Lower Case
