Scribble For Success
The
very best thing you can do to set your child up to become a good writer someday
is to set your child up - literally - with crayons, coloring books and scratch
paper in the early years.
That's
right: what looks like a pointless activity for little people is actually one
of the most powerful skills training activities of childhood. The main benefit,
besides providing fun and a sense of accomplishment, is that your child's hand
and arm muscles, and all-important hand-eye coordination, are slowly and
effortlessly being developed for handwriting.
That
will be very important in the early grades of school. The more quickly and
accurately your child can write the alphabet letters, the more quickly and
accurately your child will be able to write words, smoothly and legibly.
Children with good handwriting can get their ideas down on paper better, which
causes less frustration, and encourages them to write more and more.
Many
preschools today are making a mistake by minimizing time they give the children
for plain, old-fashioned coloring and scribbling, in favor of doing more
hands-on play that works on their large-motor skills. Sure, those are
important, too. But if your child isn't getting that developmental practice at
home, nor at preschool, you are shortchanging him or her.
So
make time for coloring and scribbling, every day. Have a big box of crayons and
markers available, and plenty of scratch paper and coloring books. Sit down
with your child and color away, too: make it a special part of your day
together, and color both of your worlds with fun.