First of all the key here is to master the tripod hold first. Using a extra large crayon, extra large pencil first or you can make them by using and old panty hose egg or the toy egg plastic thing that comes from the machines, I have a post and a video on here how to make one on here. Homemade writing tool. My son is 15 months old and he holds his crayons correctly and my 2 year old when he was 12 months held his crayons correctly. Also if you do finger skill exercises to strengthen the finger muscles will also help you, we place old recycled milk lids to sort and place in various bowls, tins, etc. (nothing to small to place in mouth) I cereals in a bowl or muffin pan, etc. also have made a peg game using old milk rings and an old CD holder, a video is on here of that as well. Also taking an old pringles can and slitting the the lid, and allowing the child to place popsicle sticks through the slit, and of course sorting various cereals. We practice taking old markers with lids off and on, off and on. I take the glue sponge out with a pair of plyers and place in bottles of elmers glue to make colored glue. Even though they may not write anymore the ink is still inside ready to color any glue bottle for a long time. Also start using safe dry erase markers on a covered printed worksheet with a sheet protector and play a game called 'let's take a drive around the paper' allow the child to make the varoom sound as he drives the dry erase markers around the paper, make sure to safely cover the table with a protector. We use our high chair. We have used his high chair for school since he was 6 months old, and the same for the other until now of course for my oldest.
When beginning to write or trace over letters make sur eyou use large writing paper designed for toddlers. you can go to
www.kizclub.com to get these, get the biggest one they have, you need the room to allow the fingers to move gently over the paper, causing no tention or stress. Use this paper unit he/she is able to write the letter or number almos ton his/her own. Then advance to the next size and so on, by the 4th grade they should be using the smalles size that kizclub overs.
When you give your child the pencil or crayon just lay the item in front of him, do not place the item in the childs hand allow them to do this, they will choose what hand is dominant. I have seen so many children writing with the wrong hand, this causes difficulty through out their whole life if not corrected. If the child does not hold the pencil correctly day opps lets try this, is this more comfortable, they soon will get the hang of it, but be gentle and not to corrective with it.
After a week of correcting my child he held his jumbo size pencil correctly. OH and by the way find the jumbo pencils with NO ERASERS, they will eat it. Practice makes perfect.
Why choose a jumbo size because their little hands can not correctly grasp the small or medium size, at this age the bigger the better, unit they reach 6 or 7. Since the finger placement is uncomfortable for the LO the jumbo crayon or pencil allows their fingers to lay on the writing tool correctly wiht less effort.
If you see your child getting frustrated try the finger skills first and cut out all of correcting the correct hold, until the finger skills are mastered, try then to correct the correct hold.
Also using felt letters and numbers or sand letters on card stock or wooden blocks, allow the child to trace over the letters with his/her fingers, this helps when getting ready to write.
My sons are 26 months and 15 months both can hold a jumbo pencil or crayons correctly.
Also you can purchase a crayon from crayola called Kadoodles a think?
I hope this helps.
Digg
