Helpful Tips for Teaching Letter Formation
I asked my son to write his name on his grandfather’s 80th birthday card. He insisted on doing it all by himself. I backed off and watched him as he carefully formed each letter of his name. I was proud of his efforts, even when he wrote in reverse order and ran out of space for all the letters. We’ve got a lot of letter formation work ahead of us.
I love watching the development of writing in little ones. Scribbles start to resemble letters. The letters are oversized. The lines don’t fully connect. Curved lines look wrinkly. And sometimes the letters are completely backwards. Learning to write letters takes practice. Here are helpful tips for teaching letter formation to get your little ones off on the right start.
Start with letters of your child’s name
Learning how to write your name is a special milestone. When you start teaching letter formation with the word that is most important in your child’s life your child will be intrinsically motivated. It will get them excited to learn more letters.
For fun ideas about teaching your child to learn his name, read this post.
Teach letters in groups
Take a close look at the letters in the alphabet. Think about how you would sort them by shape. Notice the ones that have straight lines, the ones that have curved lines, and the ones that have both.
Some letters are formed in one single swoop, the pencil never leaving the paper. Others require you to pick up your pencil 2-3 times. You form some letters by pulling down, some you form my pulling back.
Try writing these sample groupings in the air with your finger. What do they have in common that would make learning them together be easier for your child?
E F H I L T
a c d g q
b h m n r
Work from simplest to hardest
For many occupational therapists and successful handwriting programs, like Handwriting Without Tears, this means teaching uppercase letters before lowercase letters. Not only are uppercase letters more recognizable for kids, they’re considered to be easier to learn.
Emphasize correct starting point
One of the trickiest parts of letter formation is starting in the right spot. You may feel like your nagging, especially if your child wants to do it his own way, but keep stressing the correct starting points. You can provide fun visual reminders by putting tiny stickers on the starting points or drawing little stars or smiley faces.
Many kids have a tendency to start at the bottom. If it becomes a habit, your kids may struggle in handwriting later on. Forming letters from the bottom up makes it difficult to write quickly and neatly.
Use consistent verbal cues to describe the strokes
Adding another sensory element to the learning process is helpful for letter formation. I like to use short, simple verbal cues that are easy to remember.
When I taught my son how to write lower case “i” I said, “Down, dot.” Every time I wrote the letter or guided him in writing it, I repeated those two words. I know it stuck in his head, because one day he pointed to the letter in a book and said, “Look Mommy, down dot!”
If you’d like a copy of the cues I use, sign up for the free printable.
Don’t use pencil and paper until kids are ready
Holding a pencil adds another dimension to letter formation that can be frustrating for kids. If your child is having trouble with a pencil, spend time writing with fingers. Write in the air or use a sensory bag or salt tray. Try writing on chalkboards and whiteboards. Using pencils and paper is not nearly as fun for young kids anyway.
Conclusion
The ultimate goal of teaching letter formation is to help kids automatically write letters without having to think about it so they can focus on other thinking, like the content of what they want to write. Using these helpful tips for teaching letter formation will build a solid foundation for future writing.
Your Turn
How do you teach letter formation? What tips do you have to share?
