Kindergarten Writing
It has been a busy few weeks in Kindergarten. We are learning how to strengthen our finger muscles to help us hold our pencils, and draw/write about things in our lives! We continue develop our writing and drawing skills during our daily journal tasks. We are learning to hold our pencils with a strong grip (three finger grasp) and press on the page hard enough to make sure the pencil shows up on the paper.
(*Please see the end of this post for more information on helping your child learn to correctly hold their pencil).
During daily writing tasks we are focusing on adding more details to our drawings, using a variety of more accurate colours and sounding out beginning letter sounds to label our pictures. We practiced writing our names
in our journals and drawing pictures of our families, friends and things we
like to do!
With the help of our “Mat-Man” song, to help us understand what a picture of a person needs to have, we began adding more details to our drawings! Can I write my name and draw a picture of my interests at home?
We Are Unique
Kindergarten students have been
learning about what it means to be unique and special! We read “Be Who You Are”
by Todd Parr and discussed ways we are different from our peers as well as
things we all have in common. We realized that it doesn’t matter where you are
from, what colour your skin, hair or eyes are, or who is in your family! We are
all UNIQUE!
What is important is to BE WHO
YOU ARE!
Self-Portrait Creation
First, we examined our facial
features in small mirrors and noticed things about our faces such as the shapes
of our faces, eyes, ears and noses. We used a step-by-step self-portrait guide
and began sketching our facial features.
We focused on trying our best and not
giving up…even if it didn’t turn out exactly how we wanted! It was hard work!
After sketching with pencil, we traced our lines with black marker to make our
facial features POP!
We are SO proud of how they
turned out!
Pencil Grip and Fine Motor Skills
Good crayon and pencil
grips should be actively and regularly taught both at home and at school! Proper grip
becomes automatic or habitual with repetition. Always correct incorrect grip during any drawing or writing task!
Trick #1: Use shorter pencils
A shorter
pencil means less space for cramming in unnecessary fingers. It basically
forces kids to pinch with thumb and index finger Occupational therapists often
have kids use crayons that have been broken in half if they are having trouble
using an age-appropriate grasp, golf pencils work just too.!
Trick #2: Teach them the "pinch and flip".
If shorter
pencils don’t do the trick for your little writer, then teach them the “pinch
and flip”. Simply have them pinch the sharpened end of the pencil and then flip
it around until it gently rests in the “webspace” (that soft skin between your
thumb and index finger) in the ready position. Watch the video below for a
less-than-one-minute demonstration and explanation of this trick.
Trick #3: Have them hide something under their last two fingers.
If shorter
pencils and the “pinch and flip” don’t work, then try having students hide
something under their pinky and ring fingers. These two fingers are supposed to
bend toward the palm while the thumb, index, and middle fingers do all the
work. However, sometimes kids have a hard time with this because they can’t yet
“separate” the two sides of their hand (the pinky side and the thumb side).
This trick will take care of that. It really doesn’t matter what they hide
under their last two fingers, as long as they can comfortably do so without
their fingers bulging out from their hand because the item is too big, or
having to squeeze too tightly because it’s too small. Try using a small ball of
playdough, cotton ball, marble, bead, crumpled piece of tissue paper, or tiny
rubbery toy.
Remember
that, in addition to teaching kids “tricks” for holding their pencil correctly,
they also need strong muscles in their hands, shoulders, and even in their core
muscles to be able to sit up and write with control.
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