Learning how to write

Well, the good news is that she's only four, and won't need to be writing in school right away. WHat we do with our son (who is almost three) is once a week we take a couple of minutes and work on writing a new letter.. (we just started this) and he does allright, but he's only 3 years old, so I don't expect too much out of him. He doesn't always love to write or draw or color either, but when he does, he does it because I tell him it's a present for his daddy, (grandpa, or nana or whomever else he may want to make a present for) so we then tape it up on the door (with the rest of the things he's learning or written/drawn) and when his daddy comes home.. he makes a HUGE deal out of his present from our son. It makes it fun. I think that's whats much more important, is that learning is a fun expierence for her. As she gets older, if you still see a tendency for her not to want to write, I would find her a pen pal, a cousin or someone she can write.. where it will be much more fun than work. GOod luck!

I didn't like reading or writing at that age either. Maybe she's not ready to want to write or colour. Don't push her, just let it happen naturally. Like I said, I wasn't interested in reading and writing when I was that age. Now I write for a living!

This is a difficult one. My oldest son had no interest whatsoever in writing or drawing until he was 5. Sometimes with some children, the best thing is to leave it until they choose to try. That's what I did with my son. I'd tried to get him to use pencils and things but to no avail. When I left it for a while, he decided to try himself once he went to school and now he really enjoys it. It might not work for everyone but if you have tried everything else, you could give it a try. Just don't mention it at all to your daughter. Leave the materials there for her but don't make any effort to get her to use the stuff. She will probably start using them within a week or two!

you can engage her instead in pre-writing activities. these actually help prepare her for actual writing. such activities would use toys that she can manipulate with her hands like playing with clay, using tweezers/tongs to pick things up, pick-up sticks, lego, etc. :) hope this helps!

Perhaps she has a friend she would enjoy doing these things with, maybe an older friend that she wants to be more like? Or you could try having another mother provide the activity for her while at a play date in case she is just trying to get a certain reaction out of you. Or maybe she could use a change of scene when in comes to practicing.... thing like going on a mother daughter picnic and then you color and write about the picnic while you are there. Those are just things off the top of my head. I will return if I think of others.

Hi...I am a homeschooling mom and can feel for you. First of all....relax. Some 4 year olds aren't ready to write. It is good that she wants to color. Encourage her to draw pictures. Show her how the circle looks like a letter O, and the line looks like the letter I or L. See how many shapes you can get her to try to copy from you....eventually she will get excited that she is making letters and not shapes. I hope this was helpful. Agape.

A trick I used was to not ask or offer them to do it, but for me to have materials ready for them when they chose to, then I would set and write and draw. Many times my girls would find what I was doing interesting and they would want to do it to. So seeing you do it may make her become more interested in it and see it as fun than an task.

one thing i keep in mind with our 3-year old is that he might have interests that are different from other kids his age. or even from me when i was his age. when my schedule permits, y'know i stay in my kid's school for the entire time that he's in class. i can see how they are in class and one thing i observed was my kid is also not fond of writing. but when it comes to doing puzzles or reciting during story-telling time, he's very active, and in recognizing words. so i take it as it is. maybe he's good in other stuff, . . i just keep in mind that eventually though he will have to learn how to write. but for now, i let him get interested in it at the time he chooses.

The problem isn't that she's lazy it's that SHE'S 4 - you shouldn't be forcing her to do things like that, you need to encourage her to be playing outside, with other children & stuff like that. You can worry about her writing & such when she starts school & is learning to do it properly. It's the same as reading, don't force kids to do things like that coz you'll discourage them from wanting to do it & you want kids to enjoy it, not hate it coz they've been forced in to it. Just let her do her own thing until she start school, then once she's at school you can help her do her homework & get better with things.

coollll,i don't have child sorry.

really? you are so .....

I haven't reached to your stage since my son is still 1 year old but I think you should not force your daughter to do such thing immediately. First thing is that find her interest and them spend a little time teaching her to write then go back again to what ever she likes. Gradually increase the time of teaching her to write. I remember when I teach one of my niece how to write, her interest is playing a car toy so I begin to teach her by saying imagine this pencil is your car, and this paper is the city, where will you go? She begin to write while she's pretending to be driving. Just look for the interest of your daughter and integrate it little by little with writing.