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#1
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Drawing/Writing question
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 |
#2
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Drawing/Writing question
If they are doing it wrong, it is better to show them the correct way.
Otherwise, the bad habits get ingrained. My youngest , in kindergarten, holds the pencil way up in the middle of the shaft, and with his fingertips not down near the end. We put a pencil grip on the pencil so he knew where to grasp it, down near the pont for better control (the teachers suggestion). There was no way he was going to self-correct this. My brother teaches guitar, and this is one of his pet peeves...self-taught guitarists usually have terrible technique and it's difficult to re-teach them the correct way to use place their hand on the neck. 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 |
#3
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Drawing/Writing question
"dejablues" wrote: If they are doing it wrong, it is better to show them the correct way. That leads me to ask, is there *a* correct way to do it? Or several? And will future early-grade teachers expect uniformity? I suppose I learned wrong, as several have pointed out that I don't hold a pen right. I honestly don't know what was wrong with it, and I was a writing teacher! However, they were teenagers by the time they got to me, so holding a pen right wasn't exactly an issue by that point. P. Tierney |
#4
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Drawing/Writing question
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. I'm not sure what's best, but I can tell you what we did. I did show how to hold a pencil, but I never harped on it at all. Both of my boys seemed almost instinctively to hold it properly, so it was almost a moot point. I don't know what I would have done if they had insisted on holding the pencil differently. I probably wouldn't have done anything early on, but as they get older there's obviously a point at which you have to encourage a proper grip. Best wishes, Ericka |
#5
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Drawing/Writing question
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 |
#6
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Drawing/Writing question
You can get pencil grips at any Staples or Office Max stores. Staples
online has them 2 for 1.29. I found them at a dollar store, 6 for a buck. toto wrote: 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 |
#7
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Drawing/Writing question
"toto" wrote in message news 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 Thanks for the tips. Another file saved. BTW, were the "tips" geared towards a particular age? Most of my educator conference sessions were grade or agge specific, so I'm wondering if this was the same, or broadly refering to any young writer/drawer. FYI, mine will be two at the start of the year. P. Tierney |
#8
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Drawing/Writing question
On Mon, 24 Nov 2003 06:55:46 GMT, "P. Tierney"
wrote: BTW, were the "tips" geared towards a particular age? Most of my educator conference sessions were grade or agge specific, so I'm wondering if this was the same, or broadly refering to any young writer/drawer. FYI, mine will be two at the start of the year. We are preschool teachers, so this was geared to ages 3 to 5, but I would think that if you teach your child earlier it can't hurt. -- Dorothy There is no sound, no cry in all the world that can be heard unless someone listens .. The Outer Limits |
#9
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Drawing/Writing question
Dorothy wrote:
We are preschool teachers, so this was geared to ages 3 to 5, but I would think that if you teach your child earlier it can't hurt. My impression of MOST two-year-olds is that they scribble for such short periods that it would be futile to correct their grip, because you'd be using up all their scribbling time. I don't think I bothered at all until my kids were old enough to be drawing for some time, and/or copying letters. But of course this will vary wildly by child. --Helen |
#10
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Drawing/Writing question
"H Schinske" wrote in message ... Dorothy wrote: We are preschool teachers, so this was geared to ages 3 to 5, but I would think that if you teach your child earlier it can't hurt. My impression of MOST two-year-olds is that they scribble for such short periods that it would be futile to correct their grip, because you'd be using up all their scribbling time. I don't think I bothered at all until my kids were old enough to be drawing for some time, and/or copying letters. That was a thought of mine too -- that it might be more important once actually things (like letters) were being drawn, therefore requiring more control of the writing instrument. I don't think I'll worry about it just yet, but she's trying to do some finer things like trying to copy a circle, so perhaps I'll give it a closer look a few months down the road. P. Tierney |
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