Ms. Dorothy,
My daughter's 4th grade teacher is teaching cursive this year, but she is the only teacher in the school who still does.Writing just isn't something I do very often any more, and I know my kids are going to need to do less and less of it. Just holding a pen or pencil is impossibly hard for my 1st grade son. When and how do I help my kids learn to type?
- A Mom
I've written about typing here, but I just came across a couple of sites that you might find interesting. One is a free online resource for learning to type called Typing Web and another is called Fun to Type and is full of games for different levels of typing practice.
You are absolutely right about handwriting being a fading art. I heard a teacher, recently, wondering how much longer we will even hand sign checks.
The brain wants to learn through the movement of muscles, so forming those letters by hand is still really important for your young son's development. If you are interested, I've posted some ideas for helping to develop and strengthen the hand for writing here and here.
My daughter's 4th grade teacher is teaching cursive this year, but she is the only teacher in the school who still does.Writing just isn't something I do very often any more, and I know my kids are going to need to do less and less of it. Just holding a pen or pencil is impossibly hard for my 1st grade son. When and how do I help my kids learn to type?
- A Mom
I've written about typing here, but I just came across a couple of sites that you might find interesting. One is a free online resource for learning to type called Typing Web and another is called Fun to Type and is full of games for different levels of typing practice.
You are absolutely right about handwriting being a fading art. I heard a teacher, recently, wondering how much longer we will even hand sign checks.
The brain wants to learn through the movement of muscles, so forming those letters by hand is still really important for your young son's development. If you are interested, I've posted some ideas for helping to develop and strengthen the hand for writing here and here.
How interesting. I just can't imagine not taking the time to make handwriting skills a priority. Yes, typing is an important skill in today's technological world too but this makes teaching good handwriting skills even more important in the younger years. Can you imagine a teenager going off to fill out his first job application and saying - "sorry, I don't know how to write that out - do you have a keyboard I can use?"
ReplyDeleteDeborah,
ReplyDeleteYou might be surprised how many job applications have to be filled out on computer now! And how many others say "please print clearly or type." I thought this mom was pretty observant to notice how infrequently we are asked to write in cursive any more, though I've yet to meet the motor skill that wasn't worth being exposed to!
Dorothy, I am trying to reach your for the Zoo Picture Book Giveaway, but the email came back undelievered. Please email me at Books4Learning@yahoo.com
ReplyDelete