Probably the most frequent question I get as a homeschool mom and former classroom educator has to do with writing. Namely, parents are generally confused about the difference between writing and handwriting and when to use each one. So I thought I’d try to answer that question today.
When to start teaching writing?
Writing is sort of like baseball: every parent has a different idea of when a child should start. Many think that you should buy that first ball before junior is born and adorn him in a jersey as soon as one fits. Those same parents march junior down to the little league office they day he turns 3. Others take what I call the Michael Jordan approach. Did you know that Michael didn’t play basketball on a team until junior high? His parents didn’t sign him up at 3 and he still became a legend in the sport.
I’m not advocating for either method for teaching writing. In fact, quite the opposite. I think you can get there both ways. You can be super prepared and start very early or you can wait until later than most. Either way, your chances are still fairly similar for being successful at teaching your child to write. {Good news for us all…collective sigh of relief is certainly in order.}
However, I’ll humor you will my two cents. In order to attempt to answer the question of when, it’s helpful to define the terms.
Handwriting: the skill of learning to form letters in a legible manner
Writing: the skill of crafting sentences and paragraphs to convey a message to your reader
So, while the two terms are often used interchangeably, it is clear that they are not AT ALL the same. However, they are often lumped together or used to describe the same subject because of their progression. In light of the definition, it is probably obvious to you that one can not write until they have mastered handwriting. So, let’s start at the beginning.
How to teach handwriting
When my children start writing, we begin with Handwriting without Tears. The reason I like this particular program is that it starts very slow, is extremely thorough, and is largely successful at producing excellent handwriting. Below I will break out a step-by-step approach, but I want to remind you that every child is very different. The ages are loose guidelines. The most important thing to evaluate is your own child’s skill set.
Age 3 and 4…. this is a great time to encourage free coloring and doodling. Allow them to explore colors, strokes, and paper. The more often they are allowed to do this, the more opportunity they will have to get comfortable with the crayons and other writing tools. PLEASE DO NOT buy those silly fat crayons. They are not better for little hands. Think about it….if a 6 month old can pick up a cheerio, your 3 year old is able to handle a thin crayon or pencil. In fact, I often think that the fatter crayons can be difficult to maneuver. I would not teach anything formal at this age unless your child is asking for it. By asking I literally mean, “mommy will you show me how to write this letter?” Otherwise, let them doodle!
Age 5-6… there comes a point around kindergarten when your child will want to write letters. If you have encouraged them to doodle their way through the preschool years, it is likely that he/she can already write their name and many other letters. Now is the time to teach them formally. As I mentioned above, I used Handwriting without Tears. For my girls, I bought the entire starter set and accompanying books. We used all the manipulatives and loved them. I still highly recommend this, but let’s face it. If you are homeschooling 2 older kids, when number three learns to write, manipulatives are slightly laughable. So, my now 5.5 year old boy has used the books alone and shockingly- he is writing just as well! I will not that if you find that your child is struggling, the manipulatives are especially useful.
Age 6-9… in handwriting, practice makes perfect. Generally at this age, parents have their children practice- a lot. You can continue buying books from Handwriting without Tears or similar companies, or you can simply do “copywork.” Copywork is simply when a child copies written text onto paper himself. Copywork is an essential skill that has pretty much been phased out of the public school experience. However, it provides crucial tracking skills, spelling and language practice that aids the development of WRITERS. Not handwriters, but actually writers….those people who can successfully craft a 5 paragraph essay without a tirade. How? Copying excellent quality language cements the patterns into your brain. So, when you select copywork, select something excellent. In our home, we often use the Bible or lines from excellent pieces of literature. This year, both of my girls are copying one verse in Proverbs a day.
What about cursive? Interestingly, you’ve been wondering this question all along, yet I never told you to teach your child to print first. Hehe. Most people do teach their child to print first. However, many have advocated the cursive is easier to teach first as children are naturals at circle strokes. Whatever you choose is fine with me {and Michael Jordan’s parents}. Do what you think is best. If you chose to do print first, you might wonder when cursive should be added. There is no right answer, of course, but most children have a natural desire to learn it around 3rd grade. Why not take advantage of that? My 3rd grader learned it toward the end of 2nd grade per her request, but prefers to manuscript (print). So, I let her use print one day and cursive the next. Why? I am keenly aware that handwriting is not going to be nearly as crucial in her life and I don’t want to die on this hill. Which reminds me…perhaps I should start teaching keyboard skills!
How to teach writing
To review, the definition of WRITING is: the skill of crafting sentences and paragraphs to convey a message to your reader. This is what your child needs to develop once they can write letters and sentences legibly. And friend, this is no easy feat. First let me say this: children are gifted with different strengths. If your child is a math whiz, chances are writing will be harder for him. Most people aren’t equally capable in all subjects. However, this is not an excuse to push the subject aside. If your child wants to go to college, great writing skills are a must. Even if he/she does not, it will still be difficult to go about life without the ability to communicate something to another person in writing, even if it’s just an email.
There is much debate in the language arts world about when to start teaching this craft. Some would say that students should start to form sentences as soon as they can legibly write the letters…generally in kindergarten. Most public schools follow this theory. Others would say that the early elementary years should be used to teach HANDWRITING and good form through narration and copywork. Really, we are back to the little league or Michael Jordan question. When should you start? I can’t say. You’ll need to decide, but here are a few resources to get you started.
This reading mama has daily posts with authentic writing for the little guys. I love her stuff.
If you chose to wait on the formal writing, check out IEW or Writing with Ease. Both programs are systematic approaches to writing with instructions for students and parents.
Living and Learning at Home has a created many beautiful copywork resources. She is also doing a series on the importance of copywork this week!
I’ve also got a Pinterest board full of writing resources.
For my family? I actually do a little of both. When my children first learn to read, I give them a spelling dictionary. A few times a week, they have writing time. I give them a journal with blank pages and they draw. After they draw something, I ask them to write a sentence about what they drew. If they ask me how to spell a word, I look it up in their spelling dictionary and circle it for them. Otherwise, I never correct for spelling…I simply let them write. Sometimes, I suggest a topic but most of the time, I do not.
Next year, Leah will be in 4th grade and we will start the IEW writing program. (So I am mostly a Michael Jordan, with a bit of head start in my method.)
Your turn~ Do you have a favorite writing or handwriting curriculum? Do you have a question about teaching writing?
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Kim Sorgius
Kim is just a girl, crazy in love with Jesus. She's a single mother of 4, a passionate homeschooler and life-long student. After teaching 8 years in public school, she traded her M.A. in Early Childhood for sippy cups and homeschool co-ops. Kim is the owner and editor of The Homeschool Village and Not Consumed where she encourages others to rest victoriously in the hands of God, rather than allowing life's difficult circumstances to consume.
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Using HWT with both my boys and LOVING it!
As a former elementary educator, I really love Lucy Calkins, The Art of Teaching Writing. She includes many personal accounts as to how she naturally incorporated a love of writing into her son’s daily life. Even though my little guy is 16 months, I still hope to be as influential in developing a love of expression through the written word.
Great post! We are using A Reason for Handwriting this year. I think it is going okay.. I have a bouncy 5 year old kindergartener so I am going more with letter formation then penmanship at this point. He does love to write outside of school. He loves to write notes to his friends and family. So I keep a steady supply of paper in his drawer and have loved watching his writing develop right along with his handwriting. I have heard wonderful things about handwriting with out tears!
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I disagree to a certain extent about the handwriting. I do believe it is just as vital today as it was a hundred years ago despite the fact that things are often typed instead of written by hand. Many things are still written by hand and clarity is just as essential (potentially even a life and death matter, depending on the situation!) as it ever has been. Also, mastering the skill of handwriting is a discipline that will lend itself well to other areas of a child’s life and character. Furthermore, I strongly believe that cursive is actually much easier to teach initially than print, and that children who are taught to write cursive (although I don’t recommend teaching them seriously until age 5 or 6) first have much better handwriting overall, and don’t have to go through the whole print/cursive struggle of wills (which I well remember going through as a child myself!). It’s a fine motor skill that takes time to develop, but it’s definitely worth doing right from the beginning. “Start as you mean to go on” is my motto.
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we use the Riggs Institute “The writing and spelling road to reading and thinking” It is founded on the Orton gillingham method. You learn how to write the letters while at the same time learning the sounds each letter makes. you use multiple senses to learn.
Great post about writing! My daughter despised handwriting worksheets, so I’m not sure what I’m going to do with my son. For teaching writing we’ve used both Classical Writing and The Complete Writer (Writing with Ease and Writing with Skill). I like both programs for different reasons, but Susan Wise Bauer’s The Complete Writer series is definitely easier to teach!
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