i dont know where to turn here, My 4 year old is now the legal reception(first) year age and there for would be in school if she were not homeschooled. so this year ive included her alot more in the lessons. because i have 12, 10 and 8 year olds we mainly have to do sit down work at the table. This is driving Me and my 4 year old potty! she is not ready for this style of learning and yet begs for her workbooks, refuses to do any work in them. she cant write yet ( she can do her name ) but refuses to do any writing practice, even the tracer lines aimed at pre schoolers/pre kindergateners shes great on the pc amazingly and can type in anything if i tell her wich letters to use. she knows them all visualy but can not and will not write them. how can we progress with her english books if she cant write in them????? she holds her pencil fine so its not down to poor fine manipulative skills. Shes clever She can do science work for example thats designed for 2 years above her age but she can not prove that by writing it down. Id love to say lets leave it for now and go chase butterflys ect, but i have to think of my older ones at the table who still need my support and come up with some proof of what alyssa is learning for when we get our educational visit in december. help! any ideas???
Does she like to draw pictures? If you give her blank paper she could draw pictures of whatever she wants, using crayons, colored pencils, etc. Then ask her to tell you about the picture and at the bottom of the page you could write what she says. After she has made a few, these could become like books for her to read and start to learn to write herself. Also, if she does like to catch butterflies have her draw pictures of them, you could label them for her. Their are lots of fun nature studies to do.
I haven't done a lot of "schooling" with my kids at that age; my oldest is 7 and just sitting down to her first semi-official year of school. At 4, we did a lot of crafty-type stuff. www.first-school.ws has a lot of alphabet/numeric crafts that gives her a chance to color, paste, practice writing, work on sounds, etc all in the guise of fun. It's the kind of 'school' my kids begged for. I also didn't like stressing the motor skills because IMO they are just not ready for that detailed "seat work" - that is one of the reason we chose to HS, because when I started in GA, they were treating kindergarteners like high schoolers (can you say 'no recess'?!?!). I like the aforementioned website because they have big chunky letters that they can easily trace the insides of. Anyway, that is my opinion on 4 year olds, take it or leave it.
I have this same problem with my 5 year old. She HATES to write, or to color anything extensive. She likes to draw, but won't color worksheets without an incentive. Sometimes I tell her she can have a reward when she finishes a lesson, whether it be computer time or a special treat. Sometimes I will switch the lesson up so that instead of writing the letter P, she has to construct it somehow. So playdough, small blocks, even dry beans will work for her to form the letter with. Or maybe she likes to paint and would rather paint the letters than write them. I don't think its as important to write them as it is to know them and how they are shaped. I was reading the other day that it is easier to learn to read than to write, so we need to be focusing on the sounds the letters make more than the writing. Sorry for the novel, but I am just trying to send suggestions your way. I hope they help!
Keep a bunch of learning activities for her to work on. Sorting pictures, lacing beads, counting objects, etc. Whatever your older kids are working on, keep an extra worksheet handy. If she wants to work on it, fine. If she doesn't, that's OK, too. When you read to your younger ones or do a lesson, you might want to have a paper handy for her to color while listening. For example, if you are doing lessons on plants, have some pictures of plants to color while you read.
Try making the writing more fun than just using a pencil on paper. Try chalk (or a wet piece of sponge) on a chalk board (a Handwriting Without Tears method), dry erase markers on a white board, tracing letters with her finger in a baking pan filled with flour/sugar/sand.
We really got into preschooling through that age. I started with the cut and glue letters, to form words. Mostly that was the "I want to go on PBS kids.com" era. Which was fine. That was really when I dropped the trace on workbooks and started writing my own. I also did the mailbox sticker letter/number wordlists. They are extra durable and big even for that fragile clumsy stage.
Let her paint her letters, or write them in shaving cream on the table, or you can let her write her letters in chalk on the chalk board, or let her write them on the driveway in chalk or driveway paint, just try and get her to write the letters anywhere but on paper with pencil...see if that improves her opinion of writing.
You've gotten some good advice about activities to facilitate her writing/letter building. Both my older sons were "behind" in their fine motor dev. With my oldest son, he was willing to work at dot-to-dot puzzles, cutting paper (just random cuts) and crayon drawing. I didn't require him to "work," I'm just noting these were things he didn't mind making an effort at, whereas even tracing was arduous for him. At nearly 6, he will now willingly trace and is beginning to actually write letters on his own. My middle guy is almsot four and cannot hold a pencil or crayon. But, we have a couple sets of foam letters and he is happy to build words using these. Unless the activities in the workbook are handwriting, you could have her dictate the answers. You would write them. Were I in your situation, I would consider having her dictate them to an older sibling, and then count the writing of her answers towards the older child's handwriting practice.
Thanks for all your advice all. We kinda had a mini breakthrough today, she got a free gift pen and notebook on her magazine and stated to scrawl away. She asked what our phone number was and after me explaning how to do each number she tryed her hardest to write it down she then asked what number our house was and asked her sister how to do a number 6, She was on the pc at the time so pointed out the number 6 on the key board and so alyssa copyed it direct from the keyboard, and realy well too! she then asked how to do an F and once showed on the key board proceded to do a perfect F in her book.
I suggestion is to have them do artwork that is cutting and gluing of shapes of the letters, yes this means more work for mom, or mum but this also means the child will have the letters known by the time they need to. I would cut out a letter a week and use it for tracing work, or cutting out letters themselves depending on dextarity.... there are many things you can do.
We started homeschooling when my older kids were 4 just mainly routine, to provide structure in their day to day schedule. But the younger ones who were 3 then, caught on pretty quickly and wanted to be involved. My husband did letters with them, no pressure. And they seemed to be more eager and animated in repeating the sounds than their older siblings. They got so involved, so enthusiastic... I guess it was like Sesame Street came alive for them. The rest is history. You have a good student there, I'd say. For some children, education has to be shove down his or her throat because time is running out, 'age wise.' All I'd say is, you know Izzy ... go with your gut and at your own pace.
