Your Parenting Info

I learned to write long before I started going to school because my mother taught me how to do it. Now that I have a child of my own, I would like to do with him what my mother had done with me. I started teaching my son to write when he was very young, when he was only two years and a few months old. Of course, he did not learn because his motor skills were then not good enough for the complex task of writing.

After seeing that it was too early for him to hold and manipulate a pencil, I changed my approach. I taught him instead how to type his name. And sure enough, it only took a few sessions in front of the computer for him to become good at typing his complete name. He saw it as play, and it was fun for him, which is why he learned fast.  A few months later, he became adept at typing the URL of his favorite game websites (Don’t think that he types the way we do, he only uses one finger to do it).

When he turned three my wife and I started to teach him how to write his name on paper. But it was not as easy as what we expected. Though his motor skills were better during that time, it was still difficult for him to manipulate the pencil to form the shapes of the letters. But with lots of time and patience we succeeded in giving him one of the best gifts that parents could give their child, the ability to write.

Here are some points that may help you in teaching your child to write:

1. Make your child see that writing is fun. Make him understand also that it is something that he should learn because it is important in life.

2. It is advisable to teach your child to recognize the alphabet before teaching him how to write.

3. Be sure to have pencils, crayons, and papers around the house. Engage your child in activities that will help him refine his motor skills, like manipulating plastic clay, using scissors to cut shapes, and other things that require little movements and fine motor control.