Perhaps you have heard your child singing a song to the tune of "If you're happy and you know it clap your hands". It goes a little something like this...
Where do you start your letters?
At the TOP!
Where do you start your letters?
At the TOP!
If you're gonna start a letter, then you better, better, better.
You better start your letters
...at the TOP!
...at the TOP!
Our friend and kindergarten teacher at Mustard Seed, Ms. Baker taught us this song and brought along some wonderful materials so we could start a new kind of work: An approach to making letters called "Handwriting Without Tears".
As children in the Nest create works of art and begin to send messages to their friends there is a need to write in order to express and communicate and identify their work.
As four friends reviewed a favorite book on the Trees Class nest the other day, they were debating whether or not they should try and read the words or just look at the pictures. Finally, one of them exclaimed "we will be able to write our own words soon!"
Thats exactly right! But lets back it up a bit...
Why is starting at the top so important?
Well, it turns out that this is the most efficient way to write! Our hands become less tired, our arms move more freely, and it even prepares you to write in cursive!
Even more importantly, in Kindergarten, First Grade, and beyond, when they have a story to write and ideas to articulate, and when spelling and punctuation are introduced, they are not slowed down by having to think about how to form the letters as they go. It will be second nature.
So we start now, in the most simple way possible; with a child's name. Whether a child knows each letter by name or whether he knows how to write it only as an abstract series of shapes, it is empowering to know one's name, in the same way that it is empowering to create a self portrait. We all know how hard the children work at school and so to be able to put their name on something is such a wonderful moment of pride and joy.
As each child learns the proper stroking for each letter, they do so using various modalities, which address different learning styles and modes of thinking.
First we build our letters, which you read all about in Monday's journal. Using big line, little line, big curve, and little curve.
Each child learns how to build their name, letter by letter, tracing the wooden pieces with their finger while the other children in their group form the letter in the air.
Then we move onto the next step: wet, dry, try!
On a chalk board, each child goes through a process of forming each letter three times. First with water they erase the chalk letter with a wet sponge, then with a towel as they dry it in the same motion, then finally re-writing it with chalk. The process is amazingly satisfying for the child, and with each stroke we name the kind of line we are making.
We have found the children to be wonderfully engaged, enjoying the singing, the tactile feedback, and using BIG VOICES for big line and big curve, and LITTLE VOICES for little line and little curve. Many children choose to work with the big and little lines and curves to create letters during work periods.
This process has not only been "without tears" but filled with laughter and song, and a growing confidence that is beautiful to see. We are taught that God knows us each by name, and that He calls us each by name. How beautiful it is, then, to delight along with the children as they each grow more familiar with their own names.
