Monday, March 23, 2009

Need Some Help

Only 141 days until my oldest starts kindergarten! I can't believe it. I am very excited but also very nervous. In California the deadlines are December 2nd, so my son makes it this year but he will be one of the younger ones in the class.

I am not too worried about this as he is super tall, already knows all his letters, colors, shapes. He can even sound out lots of words and his memory is scary good. After I read a book one or two times to him he will be correcting me if I read words wrong.

My one big concern is writing. In all honesty at times he doesn't write much better than my two-year-old. Some of his trouble comes from not wanting to sit still but he is also too much like me and a perfectionist, so if he cannot do something he often will not try rather than fail.

Picture from staffweb.wwcsd.net
not my even close to son's writing

So I am wondering does anyone have any fun/different ideas to help someone learn to write and to make it fun. I am open for just about anything! Thanks!

12 comments:

  1. Oh my goodness, he writes wonderful! As for the wigglies... wellll...hahaha. He still has a 141 days! It will come. Thankfully, out here, kindergarten is just half a day. I think he will do awesome!

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  2. I realized the picture was a bit deceiving so I edited it, that picture is just one I found on the internet, if Lucas wrote that good I would not be one bit worried. His writing isn't enough close to that.

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  3. Thanks for stopping by my blog! I appreciate the comment love.

    Good luck with kindergarten!

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  4. You could get some mini m&ms and put them on the paper at the points of where the letter should be. Then he has to draw the letter (connecting the m&ms) and then he gets to eat them . . . does that make sense? Good luck. I can't believe he's already old enough for school!

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  5. That is a good idea Rachel! I am sure he would like that all too much :)
    He will sometimes trace letters for me but I often feel like I have to pull teeth to get him to do it. I don't think there would be any teeth pulling with that approach.

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  6. I honestly don't remember how I learned to write, and I've never taught anyone. But, my mom, being a teacher, used to get us these workbooks that we did for fun. (not sure why they were fun...) You can get them in different subjects and different grade levels. I think I enjoyed them because it made my mom happy and I liked the praise. :) Did you ever go into Chalkboard in Joliet? They have supplies for teachers and stuff, and they carry them. Maybe a store like that...

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  7. Or, just be like all the other parents today, and send your kid to school knowing nothing, so the teacher has to waste time on crap they should already know. Not.

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  8. I thought of something else. I sometimes watch a show called Between the Lions on PBS. (I like some kids shows.) It focuses on reading, but it's really entertaining. Perhaps if your son sees the words and letters on a show like that, he might want to write them. Often, they use songs to highlight the sounds different letters make, and he might like singing along. Just a thought.

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  9. Thanks for all the great tips. I do have a bunch of the workbook type things. If I catch him in the right mood he will do them a bunch. World World, another show on PBS is what helped him a lot with starting to read, it is a cute show.
    Thanks again everyone!

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  10. I let Ethan use a whiteboard and dry erase markers- a special treat. He likes to practice with those!

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  11. I asked my mom for ideas and she gave me a website with writing worksheets and you can make your own. You can type words, such as a name, and it will allow you to print the word in dotted lines to trace. I think the website is meant for ESL children, but it could help anyone learn their letters. www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com

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  12. Thanks!! I will definitely check out that site

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