We have been homeschooling for a little over a year now. It has been an amazing journey. One of the things I have liked the most is being able to see the steady progress the Nuthatch has made. One of the most remarkable areas of improvement has been his handwriting.
Writing has been a difficult task for him. I didn't worry too much about it, they say printing skills often take longer to develop in boys than in girls. Also, as this was his Kindergarten year, I kept my expectations low. We have just worked away at it, for 5 minutes a day. I didn't want him to do any more than that, I knew it would only make both of us frustrated.
Here are photos of his work, one picture per month. I apologize about the quality of the photos, they're a little dark.
Writing has been a difficult task for him. I didn't worry too much about it, they say printing skills often take longer to develop in boys than in girls. Also, as this was his Kindergarten year, I kept my expectations low. We have just worked away at it, for 5 minutes a day. I didn't want him to do any more than that, I knew it would only make both of us frustrated.
Here are photos of his work, one picture per month. I apologize about the quality of the photos, they're a little dark.
I was having trouble convincing him to write at all.
He agrees to trace a few uppercase letters and try a couple on his own. He turns 5 years old.
He tries to write simple words several times.
I read about the technique of copywork and tried having him write from his easy readers. It was too hard for him and he was very frustrated.
I'm still stubbornly trying the copywork, despite the fact that it isn't working well. He hates writing.
I back off and we start tracing individual letters. I find the Handwriting without Tears website.
More tracing. Lots of stickers for positive reinforcement.
We start working on correct letter formation. I discovered Charlotte Mason and her focus on forming one perfect letter per day.
I learn about Charlotte Mason's idea of erasing poorly formed letters. He writes a few letters each day.
Now he is able to write a word somewhat perfectly.
He writes one word a day.
I think it's time to move on to the next step, when I figure out what that is. He will be 6 years old next month.
As I scroll through the photos I can hardly believe that the last four photos were from the same kid. I showed Nuthatch his work from a year ago. He couldn't believe that was the way he used to write. It was a great moment. Looking back, I can see not only his growth as a student, but also mine as a teacher. We have learned how to work together to find that magic spot where he is challenged but the work is not too difficult.
5 comments:
It's neat to see your children's progress over time. Something that worked well for our boys was writing a verse from the Bible during handwriting time. Ruth Beechick wrote three booklets on the 3 Rs that contain a list of verses that can be copied. Our boys seemed to write better when copying the verses.
Yay! I have that book. I'll get it out tonight. Thanks!
Soccergirl and I (Biobabe) found this posting enormously interesting and now I wish that I had dated and retained some of our eldest's writing over the past year or two. I had been focussed on saving her art, which has been very interesting. Soccergirl started this morning to form perfect numbers, since she has a hard time remembering how to do them.
I can so identify with you here! My son is just about to turn six also, and he resists any intentional handwriting practice. (I can sometimes trick him into making lists for me.) He recently told me that practicing writing, "is EEEVIL, Mom! It's EEVVILLLLL!" :o)
Jonnia
www.giggleswigglesandwonder.blogspot.com
Wow! What progress. Handwriting was such a chore for my son too. He just turned 6 yr also. I bought a dry eraser board and that helped alot. Only problem is that I do not have the wonderful paper memories that you have. Thank you for sharing.
Post a Comment