How stict are you with how your dc forms his/her letters?

[mama to 2 girls]

DD1 is 6 and while her letters are always usually pretty neat and look like they are supposed to she doesn't follow the "model" way of forming them. (If that makes any sense)....for example in some of the workbooks my mom had picked up here and there for her when she was younger, it always has arrows pointing which way you should move the pencil and where to start and so forth. I just have a problem with making her form them just so, when the end result is pretty much what they should look like. I mean everyone has there own style of handwriting/print as an adult.

I was just wondering what others thoughts were on this subject. Do you make your kids form the letters "just so"? or as long as the end result is right, do you let it go?

Also to spare from starting another thread, does anyone have any good ideas on how to get my stubborn 4 yr old to start forming her S's correctly. She does fine with her other letters but she always writes her S's "sideways". She will trace an S just fine, but when I ask her to write one on her own she says..."I am just going to write it how I want to write it".

[JamieCatheryn]

Some of those arrows surprise me, and I've been writing for 20 years. If it looks right he's got a fine method, I say. If it looks wrong I say "almost right, try it again like this".

[Starflower]

As long as your DD's letters don't take so long for her to form that she doesn't want to write, I don't think it matters much if she does them in the "right" way/order.

My own DD makes letters using strokes which add a lot of work to forming the letters and hates to write, so I am going to try to work with her a bit, just to show her an "easier" way to make them.

The only other thing I can think of that could be a problem with making the letters using different strokes is if the way your DD forms letters may make learning cursive way harder later on if you teach it. I guess if I was using an italic alphabet, I'd probably be more likely to push for doing the strokes of each letter in the "right" order because it would make them easier to hook together later in cursive. But if it's just printing and it's not slowing her down, then I wouldn't worry about it.

For a 4 year old, I doubt she is making the "S" on its side just to be stubborn. At that age a lot of kids are still developing fine motor skills. Hand-eye coordination will come along. I wouldn't push it.

[Lillian J]

There's really no such thing as one universally agreed upon model way - there are just different people's opinions about what works best, and what works best for your daughter seems to differ from some. I remember running into things like that when I was in school and learning to write. I think part of learning to write is discovering what works best for oneself - it's all just part of the growing awareness of comfortable and attractive writing techniques. In the case of a 4 yr. old having her own way of forming some letters, it's good to remember that most 4 yr. olds are barely, if at all, being introduced to letters - to have them perfected at that age is not a realistic expectation. Telling you " am just going to write it how I want to write it," is probably her way of saying, "I'm not able to do it that way yet, and I'm doing the best I can - I just want to be left alone with my pride intact to do it the way I can do it right now." Lillian

[elizawill]

i don't care how the letters get formed with print writing at all. if i'm being honest though, i do teach my daughter the correct formation in cursive.

[mama to 2 girls]

Thanks so much. My dd (who is 6 yrs.old) is left handed, so I think that has a little bit to do with it. I never say anything to her, unless, like some of you said she is making them completely wrong. I was just wondering how other mama's felt about it.

Yeah, I am not pushing my 4 yr. old dd at all, but she is always asking me if she can practice her letters. She is a very stubborn little girl but I know she got it honestly. I guess I will just try to get her to move on to another letter.....I think it has more to do with the fact that it's the first letter of her first name and she has to hear (not from me) how her cousin who is 1 day younger than her can already right her first name. She really wants to be able to spell her first name.

Thanks again!

[blsilva]

My boys are both very resistant to writing, so if they form any letters at all, I'm quite happy

I think that, as they get more comfortable with the act of writing itself, it may help to fine-tune things a bit where its needed (as other moms here have said, if the way they are writing the letters is making it a struggle for them, perhaps gently suggesting an easier alternative would be good) but for now, if they even take the time to make them and I can read them, I'm not going to correct them, as it could cause them to lose confidence and not want to write at all.

[sparkygirl74]

We are doing Italics first and then we will be doing cursive. Since one of the reasons we are doing italics it that it leads easily into cursive I am picky about the way my five yoear old forms her letters. I watch her the first few times when we introduce a new letter and then I keep an eye on it.

[lonegirl]

DS traces the letters perfectly but when doing them on his own sometimes they are not done the arrow way. To me as long as the letter is what it is supposed to be I don't care....I know I always draw my Os and circles backwards because they always look better.

[Marsupialmom]

I cared! Because some unique ways of righting is not-functional. Now, I know there are some draconian methods and people have issues because they cannot think out of a box. But it does matter up to a point.

My son had fine motor skill issues. His unique letter writing style left him tired and frustrated. With no help he would have became lost and quit -- he was already starting to shut down.

At 4 year old I would do more fine motor skills encouraging. Golf pencils, broken crayons, chalk, and art easel writing all encourage proper holding of the pencil, which would/should develop better letter formation.

[LemonPie]

I'm not super picky, but I do enforce certain things. We're using HWOT, and, for example, they say to make a capital 'M' by making an initial downward stroke, then going back up to the top of the stroke to make the rest of the letter. I don't care if she starts at the bottom for the first stroke. But for several of the lower case letters (a, b, d, p, q) I can see how doing it a certain way will help with cursive later, so I have been enforcing those a little more. Oh, and I do make her write her 'O' counter-clockwise, for the same reasons.

I wouldn't worry about 'S'. It's a hard letter to write. My 5 yo's 'S' often has sharp corners It comes out looking more like a 5. If your DD is anything like my DD, making a federal case out of which way the 'S' is oriented will only serve to make her more determined to write it the way she wants to We have sideways and backwards 3's a lot too.

[crunchy_mama]

I didn't at first thought it was stupid to worry about and it didn't matter. However, I have changed my tune. If they are not able to write it correctly yet due to lack of the fine motor control I would rather them not do it then get in bad habits. As pp stated it can really make writing a lot more difficult. I would rather him do a few right then several wrong. I am not like the gestapo or anything but do try to keep an eye on him especially for the first few he writes.

[Bluegoat]

I tend to be somewhat careful. My own printing is very non-conventional, and it isn't a problem, but I don't feel I am sure about what might be a real pain later on. I've been particularly picky about the direction for "o" too, and my dd seems to always do it the other way.

We've decided to just go to cursive though, so it won't matter so much - it will have to be done in the correct way to work.