Kindergarten
writing activity is a subject that comes up every
once in while.
Sometimes, we as
homeschooling parents in our effort to provide the best
education for our kids think that when it comes to getting
started on a subject or skill ... the sooner the better.
When it comes to kindergarten
aged children and writing and trying to find effective
writing activities for kindergarten, I am not so sure that
we might be jumping the gun if we're attempting too much
structure on this.
At the kindergarten age level, kids learn the names of
the letters of the alphabet. Both upper and the lower case
letters and recognize the sounds they make. Kids at this age
will recognize letters on their favorite toy boxes, food
boxes, books that you read to them and that type of thing.
As you are reading to your children, they will or have began
to understand the flow of the left to right and top to
bottom mechanics of reading a page. And begin to show some
additional confidence in speaking and the desire to read and
recognize words.
Are worksheets and structured kindergarten age writing
activities necessary for this age of child? Well... You
know, I don't really think so. I believe that most
conventional wisdom points toward the fact that this time of
structured activity is a bit beyond most kindergartner's
ability to stay focused on, and the rules and objectives of
worksheets or structured writing activities. So, as a
homeschooling parent, spending a block of time on this type
of activity probably isn't the best use of your time.
As a parent of children this age, you know that it is
difficult for them to sit passively for any moderate amount
of time. So, although it is important that you introduce
numbers and letters into their lives, I feel you should do
so by putting out tangible materials in the child's play
area of your homeschool classroom.
Give them the tools and objects (paper, crayons, marking
tools, coloring books, and such) that allow them to engage
in self motivated writing and numbering. As the child begins
to engage in drawing or copying letters, your teaching can
be more incidental and not structured in your approach.
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