On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 00:57:50 GMT, "P. Tierney"
wrote:

Is it generally advisable, when a child is in the early stages of
drawing, to teach or model what might be a proper way to hold a
pen/pencil/crayon? Or, is this something that they generally
figure out for themselves, making it best just to let them be? Thx.


P. Tierney

You will know get the benefit of the NAEYC writing workshop
that one of our teachers attended

The leaders of the workshop said several things. One tip
was to use the thinner crayons and to break them in half
because you cannot grip a shorter writing implement incorrectly.
I would suppose that a shorter pencil might do the same thing.

Or you can buy pencil grips and show the child how to grip
the pencil on those. They are available online, but they come
12 or so to a package, you can't just buy one.

The way to teach the child is to say, the pointer finger points to
the end of the pencil and the pencil rests on *tall man* You
can demonstrate as well of course.

There was a great wooden puzzle that had pieces that can
be used to trace the letters. She suggested that children
should definitely learn to write the capital letters first and not
worry about the small letters until after this. The letters can
be described easily as straight lines and curves Also the
importance of moving right to left and top to bottom was
something that was stressed.


--
Dorothy

There is no sound, no cry in all the world
that can be heard unless someone listens ..

The Outer Limits