Children Still Have To Learn To Write Even Though The Keyboard Is Being Replaced By The Humble Pencil

With the proliferation of the computer and the internet it seems writing is taking a back seat to the keyboard. The when your child starts to write they use block letters the same as on a keyboard.

I don’t know if technology will make pens and pencils obsolete, but just in case it doesn’t your children should still learn to write their ABCs. I like the cursive style but it seems nowadays most kids use block letters even though is it easier and faster to write in continuous cursive.

Nowadays children are surrounded with everything in typed letters but it was the same for us, back in the days when we parents were kids. Cursive writing just seems to be going the way of the dinosaur as computers infiltrate our lives. But it doesn’t have to be that way. Learning to write your ABCs is not difficult. It is like everything else, time consuming.

I like the Montessori method of teaching writing and reading. It is a learning system that has been around for nearly a hundred years and it is still very effective. With this system your child traces the alphabet with sandpaper letters to implant the new words and phonic sounds on your child’s mind.

You can use the Montessori method with your children’s school textbooks. That is what I did. You make up the words your child is learning at school with the sandpaper letters. Then your child traces the letter and says the word. She follows the shape of the letter in the sandpaper, the same way you would if you are writing the word. This implants the flow of the writing in your child’s mind so she knows how to write even before holding a pen.

Also Montessori spends a lot of time on strengthening the child’s arm and hand muscles, as most writing problems seem to stem from a lack of hand strength.

Author: Peter Legrove

This article is copyright