should you correct letter formation/handwriting in kindergarten?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You should absolutely correct it and teach them the proper letter formation. Try alphabet beats by TV Teacher, buy the complete set if you can afford it, just make copies of workbook pages as you’ll do each letter more than once. Start with easy uppercase letters rather than going in alphabetical order. I also recommend a lined chalkboard as well as raised handwriting paper and a pencil grip. Practice 3-5 letters each day https://tvteachervideos.com/shop

+1 Absolutely the best handwriting program I’ve seen and my kids loved doing it. It made a huge difference!

[Anonymous]

I wish we'd worked on handwriting in first grade. My son's classroom was a zoo, and the teacher was mostly focused on order. My son learned very little - well, he did learn terrible handwriting habits. Then second grade was online. And his teacher said she couldn't help via Zoom, and that it was probably too late. Now he's in third, and you better bet nothing is correcting itself. I'm just hoping he learns to type well and can move beyond handwriting.

[Anonymous]

Students are not taught letter formation like we did growing up. It's unfortunate. Students are writing letters all different ways now. Plus the writing expectations in K are very high and not really developmentally appropriate, in my opinion. A lot of students are expected to write sentences and no one is really watching over them to make sure they are forming the letters correctly. If her writing is legible/readable, I would leave it alone because even if you practice at home, no one is at school next to her making sure she is doing it the same way you are showing her.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Students are not taught letter formation like we did growing up. It's unfortunate. Students are writing letters all different ways now. Plus the writing expectations in K are very high and not really developmentally appropriate, in my opinion. A lot of students are expected to write sentences and no one is really watching over them to make sure they are forming the letters correctly. If her writing is legible/readable, I would leave it alone because even if you practice at home, no one is at school next to her making sure she is doing it the same way you are showing her.

My DC entered kindergarten forming letters however, but her DCPS teacher has her forming every one correctly now. She still writes some backwards, but forms the letter correctly (albeit backwards).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My kid doesn't write letters the way I think I was taught, and I'm wondering if I should correct this at home or if it's something she'll just figure out.

For example, for 'd,' she draws a full circle and then picks up her pencil and draws a vertical line. For 'e' she draws a 'c' and then fills in the horizontal line to make it a lowercase 'e.' There are a bunch of letters that she does this way--makes one shape, picks up her pencil and then completes it--e.g. h, n, b, d, p. For other letters, such as 'a,' she does one continuous motion, which I think is the correct way (though I honestly can't quite remember). When I try to show her the correct way, she's very resistant and tells me that her teacher says her way is fine. I don't want to discourage experimentation with writing, but I also don't want to foster bad habits. Thoughts?

Get a handwriting without tears workbook asap, and do them all. Your child's penmanship will be legible, plus they will learn to read and write basic cursive. 2-5 minutes daily

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I used to be of the mind thought that it didn't matter. But now I have an 8th grader and his printing still looks like he is in kindergarten. He forms his letters differently than I was taught. We asked teachers about this each year and were told it didn't matter and the neatness would improve as he got older. Then in 6th grade when his printing was not getting any neater we requested an evaluation. Then we were told it was too late to change!! The school will not offer and services for this now since "everything" is done on the computer. We will be spending the summer at home working on this. I would try and correct your child's letter formation this summer. Do a sticker chart and bribe her. I will always regret not doing something when my son was younger.

I would suggest using this: https://www.lwtears.com/resources/screener-handwriting-proficiency

Figure out which book to start with, and I would do four pages per day, spaced out over the course of the day. Many, many kids who struggle with printing do better with cursive.