Anonymous wrote:My 4.5 year old can't. She knows all her letters but has zero interest in writing them. She is in preschool 5 days a week as well. OT has evaluated her and determined it's not that she lacks the fine motor skills to do so because she can cut with scissors, peel and stick scissors, hold a writing utensil, etc., she just does not want to do it. I am guessing that, like many things for her, she will suddenly just one day feel like doing it and will do it.

Sorry, that was peel and stick stickers.

My 4.5 year old can't. She knows all her letters but has zero interest in writing them. She is in preschool 5 days a week as well. OT has evaluated her and determined it's not that she lacks the fine motor skills to do so because she can cut with scissors, peel and stick scissors, hold a writing utensil, etc., she just does not want to do it. I am guessing that, like many things for her, she will suddenly just one day feel like doing it and will do it.

In terms of when preschools/daycares teach writing it REALLY varies. We have three kids who all went to different preschools in the area:

School #1: Play-based school. No writing at all in the 2s/3s. They were taught to write their names during the first month of school but I would say only half the class got it. They started writing one letter each week for the rest of the school year.

School #2: More "academic school." Everyone was taught to write his or her name by the end of the 2s/3s class. Some of the kids' "names" were just scribbles though from what I saw. They started writing the alphabet in the 3s/4s class.

School #3: Play-based school. No writing at all in the 3s but lots of encouragement to color, draw, paint. Kids taught to write their name and letters in 4s/5s pre-K class. Everyone knew how to write his/her name. Most of the kids did not know how to write letters that were not part of their name but I did not have the impression that anyone worried about it. Those same kids were at the top of their class when they entered K so I don't think it mattered much. I think things actually click more easily for many kids between 5 and 6.

Totally not responsive to your question, but DS started "writing" when he was 1.5, but I only know that he was writing not drawing because he helpfully says I...O..O....I ...O. He also points to random letters and says I or O. The boy won't let me write a grocery list without trying to write on it himself. He also won't let us use the computer by ourselves and yells TYPE!!! TYPE!!! He's equally enthusiastic about all things that he percieves as grown up, like my shoes.

I think my DD started writing her name legibly around 3-ish. She's 4.5 now, and she can write most letters decently, but some still come out funky (backwards, warped, etc.).

I think letter and number formation is a focal point in KG (age 5-6). My MCPS KGer didn't not know how to make all letters and numbers correctly until KG - age 5. She will still make numbers backwards on occasion.

She also went to a play-based pre-school program where they were only taught to write their first names.

One was 2.... My 4 yr old---nothing! Really depends on the child. I'm not pushing either way.

Anonymous wrote:Wow...my (very bright) 4.5 year old is very reluctant to write letters and doesn't write them very well when you do convince him to do it. He's in a play-based preschool and they don't do this and we don't push. I'm not concerned; he is very bright and is actually reading some, but not really writing anything at all.

My DS was like this. He just turned 5 and is now all about writing. The switch just happened this last month. I wasn't concerned exactly, but I did wonder if something was going on. Like your 4.5yo, he's been reading some and knows all his sounds, would build words using letter tiles, loved to type messages, etc, just wasn't into the physical act of writing.

And his interest in drawing kicked up about 4.5. Before that, he wasn't interested in anything but scribbles. He's always been on the later end for fine motor skills though, so I figured he just needed some more time to strengthen his hands and fingers. We worked a lot with toys and things that would build his fine motor and didn't push the writing/drawing. Now that he's figured out writing is useful and is focused on mastering it, he's just about 'caught up' to kids that were way ahead of him 6mo ago.

DC_Teacher, your advice is so helpful. Thank you! If I may add a question to OP's thread, when do you start to focus on correct letter formation? My 4 yo can write all the letters but doesn't do them correctly. (Correctly meaning top to bottom, left to right.)

None of my kids wrote anything before 4.5.

Anonymous wrote:I made a deal with my 3 yr old that if she wrote the letters of the alphabet ( learning 1 new letter each time) she could watch a 20 min episode. In a months time she can say out loud and write on her own. Her name a 5 letter name, mom, dad, bad, and write the whole alphabet. PS the TV I let her watch was all educ. alphabet reinforcements!

Oh thank heavens! Because if you'd let her watch a cartoon without educational content for 20 minutes she would have ended up an illiterate unemployed barnacle on society.

Wow...my (very bright) 4.5 year old is very reluctant to write letters and doesn't write them very well when you do convince him to do it. He's in a play-based preschool and they don't do this and we don't push. I'm not concerned; he is very bright and is actually reading some, but not really writing anything at all.

My 3.5yo traces very well. I've only seen him actually write I, O, T, X. (Easy lines and circles).

At 3 DC can write his name (7 letters) and can write several other letters of the alphabet. He wanted to learn ("Mommy help me write my name") so we showed him.

I made a deal with my 3 yr old that if she wrote the letters of the alphabet ( learning 1 new letter each time) she could watch a 20 min episode. In a months time she can say out loud and write on her own. Her name a 5 letter name, mom, dad, bad, and write the whole alphabet. PS the TV I let her watch was all educ. alphabet reinforcements!