Pre- writing skills can be explained as the skills necessary for undertaking the act of writing. Writing as a skill in itself requires the development of various muscles, primarily the muscles of the arm and coordination of various parts of the arm such as the fingers, the wrist, the elbow etc.
Can you imagine being asked to hold a pencil between your toes and being asked to write something? Doesn’t it sound difficult, almost impossible? That is how a child feels if he or she is asked to write without preparing him or her for the complex process.
Writing also involves a fine – motor skills and eye-hand coordination, both of which can be achieved through various exercises and activities. We, at Little Aryans which is the best playgroup in Kalyan, prepare our children for the complex act of writing by decoding and dividing it into various activities which are a part of our daily schedule. This ensures that the child is comfortable and is confident to hold a pencil or a crayon before he or she actually starts writing.
Activities such as clay moulding, threading the beads, block play, sorting and matching, build the muscles of the child’s arms and improve eye-hand coordination. Children are also allowed to explore freely with various mediums such as crayons and watercolours. Scribbling, coloring, tracing and stamping are carried out at regular intervals to ensure the child masters these pre-writing skills.
Art and craft activities also help encourage writing abilities. The simple act of cutting with a pair of scissors requires great muscle control and eye-hand coordination to cut in a straight line, to know how much pressure to apply etc. Paper tearing and paper pasting are great activities that children love to perform.
These activities are simple and do not involve any specific equipment and can be carried out even at home by parents. Remember to shower the right amount of appreciation and encouragement to your child and you can be sure that it will go a long way in helping the child in his or her progress towards the art of writing