At what age are kids supposed to begin writing? DS1 has begun writing at school. Friday they sent home worksheets to be completed and returned with letters and numbers. I am just wonderng if this is normal for this age group??
Writing skills
At what age are kids supposed to begin writing? DS1 has begun writing at school. Friday they sent home worksheets to be completed and returned with letters and numbers. I am just wonderng if this is normal for this age group??
Me (Chevy), DH, DS1 (RJ)12/11/09, DS2 (Mason) 07/13/12 and Furbabies (Pete)08/18/08, (Peaches) 06/2010
Here, they are expected to that in kinder. Writing letters, drawing square, cross etc. are worked on in the 4 year old preschool classes. Here, if a child cannot write anything on the first day of kinder, it is considered ok, not a problem.
Work sheets with writing assignments for a 3 year old are too early unless he really enjoys them/is into it. If the preschool is child oriented and gives different assignments to different children depending on their interest, then it is great. If they are just pushing them into writing that early, I would be very turned off. Looking at your siggy, he BARELY turned 3. He should be playing with playdo, paint and rocks and running in the fresh air (assuming the temps are not freezing as they are here now LOL)
Yeah, this. DD will be 3 next month, and is nowhere near ready to write. We were talking casually about other stuff, and her teacher mentioned that with few exceptions (there is a child in her class that can), 4 is when they have the coordination to be able to write, color within lines, that sort of thing. They can do activities that would prepare them to hold pencils correctly, develop the coordination, etc.Originally Posted by tanyachap
My DD is almost 4 and in preschool. They work on writing letters at school and most of them write their names in some form. But they don't bring worksheets home and it's not expected they will be proficient at it for awhile. DD has just started developing the coordination to write her letters - she would not have been able to do it at 3 or even 3.5.
Writing assignments are way too early at 3 years old. My 4 and a half year old just had his "kindergarten readiness" assessment and was asked to copy shapes, copy a cross, write his name (he managed "J O" which I was told was fine). Come to think of it... a 3 year old shouldn't have 'homework' either. My 4 year old doesn't bring home homework. I was told that they would have a little homework in kinder but not much.
Megan (28) and Jayson (31) Happily married 9 years
I have no problem with him learning to write. He loves it and is doing really well. He traces the numbers with very little problems. He has only been at this schoolf or 3 1/2 months and i was trying to gage where they were. Everyone speaks highly of the program and i can see why. As a matter of fact, his old school was working on writing before he left, and he wasn't 3 yet. I am excited about the new program. I am a little afraid once he reaches kindergarten he will be bored because he will be proficient in majority of the areas.
Me (Chevy), DH, DS1 (RJ)12/11/09, DS2 (Mason) 07/13/12 and Furbabies (Pete)08/18/08, (Peaches) 06/2010
i guess I have no idea...I have a 4 year old and she can write her entire name as could my 6 when she was 3. All kids learn at different levels...if they don't learn it before they will in kindergarten...
Jenny~ Mama to Katelyn(7), Ben(my angel in Heaven, 6), Megan(4), and Allie(2years)
This! My 4.5 has been writing clearing since she was 3. Not that that's an important skill at 3... she just loved holding pens and pencils and has a steady writing hand. She's had lots of practice because it was something she enjoyed doing, I never pushed it, but I did encourage it (writing in Birthday/Christmas/Thank you cards together, etc) just for fun.
If he enjoys it and doing it so well, he is advanced in that skill.
My DS didn't strat writing until about 4ish. DD1 started writing at a little over 3, but she is my "overacheiver".
*Kimberly* Mommy to Hayden (6), Alexis (4), and the Twins!
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Hmmmm, I'm trying to remember exactly when Katie started working on writing letters instead of just recognizing them, but I really can't remember. She can write Katie and Nathan will a little bit of prompting about what letter comes next, but her K is almost unrecognizable. She doesn't bring home any homework from head start.
Lynne, Grandma to three beautiful girls and one handsome little man!
I don't know what the normal is but, Cody can pretty much write his first name. He just gets the D backwards. He is in PRE-K.
-LINDSAY-
I talked to Mira's teacher about this. She said that if an individual child is advanced in that area, by all means, they should be encouraged, but that it is ridiculous for it to be across the board for an entire class, and worse still if they are handing out homework at that age.
If it is just some fun sheets for kids who like to write, that' s cool. But I would be wary of any school that includes writing words as part of a three year old curriculum. I would have to question the knowledge of the teachers as to what is developmentally appropriate for this age. Other areas of development will be compromised if the focus is on academics at such a young age. It' s not that a three year old can' t learn to write if it is presented to them. It is just a question of relevance and of nurturing the child' s skills in the in the proper order of brain development.
Last edited by Bridget; 01-14-2013 at 04:41 PM.
This.
Me (38) DH (45) & furbabies * m/c 7/08 4/12 11/12
yes, this.
I have had a couple kids who wanted to write and enjoyed doing it at 3. One was closer to 7. If he's doing it and enjoying it, fine. I wouldn't want the homework though. They have soooo many years of homework to come, why push it at 3?
The only writing required in DS's preschool class (which is 3-5.5 year olds - he's actually one of only two 3 year old and all other children all 4 or 5) is their names. They have "sign in" sheets where they practice tracing their name, drawing rectangles, and then a space to freehand their name, depending on the day. His teacher doesn't even worry if they can't recognize the alphabet letters. She is only concentrating on recognizing their names and letters in their names. Let alone actually writing them.
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DS1 started writing letters in his second year of Pre-K, ages 4-5.
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