You have watched your child progress from a helpless baby to an independent toddler that meanders out to discover the world. But now your child is ready for a whole new phase: learning the three R’s – reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmatic. How can you make sure your child gets the right start to learning the most important skills he or she will ever have? At WriteRight® we want to guide you to help your child develop the basic skills necessary to ensure successful penmanship throughout his or her life. We have a specialised line of products that develops pre-writing skills through the tactile experience of finger tracing.
Set up for success:
Make sure that your child is developmentally ready to start with pre-writing activities.
Your child has to be able to:
- Use the hands and fingers to exert a medium force against resistance, such as pulling on a rope or playing with playdough,
- Use the hands and fingers to manipulate everyday objects such as toothbrushes, crayons and cutlery,
- Start using one hand consistently as hand dominance develop and
- Start using the thumb, index and middle finger for manipulation, leaving the fourth and little finger tucked into the palm, stabilizing the other fingers but not participating.
(adapted from https://childdevelopment.com.au)
When practicing pre-writing skills, it is advised to always start with warming up the fingers and hands.
Do any of the following exercises before you use our finger tracing products:
- Do finger push-ups: Put the fingertips of both hands together, move the fingers close together like a baby-five, and then far apart like a star.
- Make shooting stars with your hands – starting from a fist, exploding into a hand with fingers spread out as far as possible.
- Shake out your hands – from left to right and up and down.
Now let your child discover his or her fingers with our unique range of finger tracing products:
Our finger trace letter boards welcome children to the world of letters in a fun way and is the perfect pre-writing activity for small children.
Now view: Our finger trace products
Hanlie Steynberg has homeschooled her three children since they were small. She is a cum-laude UNISA graduate in computer programming and mathematical statistics, has a cum-laude honours degree in education and computer science, and has a Master’s Certificate in Graphic Design from Sessions Design School, New York. She is currently busy with her master's degree in computer science.