![]() In most cases, they are simply “reviewing” letter formation in first grade. The problem is that with the fast-paced classroom curriculum, sometimes this early educational periods are the only time that children are truly taught proper letter writing. It’s much later than preschool, pre-K, and even kindergarten! Notice the age that kids typically develop the ability to form the lines of the pre-writing forms. Here is some important information about pre-writing lines. Sure, some kids will be fine and learn to write letters at this age, but many others will struggle down the road with handwriting, reading, and learning. So, when you see preschool, pre-K, and kindergarten writing letters, it’s simply too soon developmentally. That slanted line is actually one of the later pre-writing strokes to form. Letters like A, K, M, N, R, V, W, X, Y, Z and lowercase letters k, v, w, x, y, z all have diagonal lines. Trouble with Diagonal Lines– Many times, you see young students write letters with diagonal lines that are not quite diagonal. Segmental letter formation can lead to sloppy handwriting further down the road and trouble with handwriting efficiency. This can be hard to “break” without practice. Kids that are handed handwriting worksheets without specific directions for proper letter formation will create their own motor plan for making letters that might not be correct. There is a reason for the specific order of the lines when forming letters. Sometimes, children start forming letters segmentally, so that they draw part of the letter, like the first slant of the A and then mark the middle line before marking the second slant. Then, you jump to the middle line and go across toward the right. Then, you jump back to the top starting point and slant down and to the right. Capital A starts at the top line and slants down and to the left. Segmental Letter Formation– Letters are formed with a specific order. And, when kids then need to keep up in writing tasks, (beginning as soon as first grade as they copy words and sentences from a model), they will lose the legibility piece. It’s harder to move the pencil on to the next letter with the bottom-to-top formation. When kids start the letters at the bottom, they will run into legibility and efficiency issues. When we write, we start at the top and move the pencil to the base line, or below the baseline. Kids that are handed letter formation worksheets without prompts, cues, models, and correct formation practice, will many times, trace or copy letters using segmented lines that start at incorrect places, and that can be a hard habit to break.įorming Letters from Bottom to Top– There’s not a letter in the alphabet that starts at the baseline and ends on the top line. They are marking lines in the incorrect order, pushing the pencil when they should be pulling the pencil, or starting at the bottom rather than the top. You might see kids pick up a pencil and trace letters, but they are segmentally forming the letters. When a child learns an incorrect letter formation strategy, that can be hard to correct without practice. ![]() Writing Letters Incorrectly– A big piece of letter formation is learning correctly from the get-go. ![]() ![]() We’ll go over how learning proper letter formation can impact legibility. Let’s break down common poor handwriting issues. Letter formation problems lead to poor handwriting that is sloppy and hard to read. You will see handwriting problems when letter formation isn’t a focus. When letters are not formed correctly, handwriting suffers.
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