Reading and Writing: Stella’s Journey (Part 2)

Through trial and error, Stella’s mum learned that her daughter absolutely disliked the worksheets she printed off the computer. Now, Stella has always been very artistic, sharing the same interest as her mum. She loves painting and to a lesser extent, drawing. But, like many other things to do with Stella she doesn’t like to be told what to do with her own art projects. Unless she is making a craft project with me, suggestions may be offered but she may not necessary accept them. So, when the Supergirl is asked to draw another apple or another object on the worksheet, her interest is likely to diminish because she gets very hung up about the quality of her own drawing as compared to the rest of the printed page. Her mind is very precise but her somewhat immature motor skills made it hard for her to recreate it in a small designated area on the worksheet. Stella encountered the same problem when learning to write letters on lines. Many worksheets and workbooks teach children to write on lines right from the start. As these were mostly made for older children, they may not be a problem for them but it was a painful experience for Stella.

Other options were needed to make learning to read and write fun for Miss Stella. I was consulted at one point. Yes, I was. Believe it or not, this nanny was consulted! I have plenty of ideas but unless I am asked, I am not prepared to step in. Years of working with parents, I have learned not to extend any help unless they explicitly wanted me to. What do nannies know? I also felt that I might ruin the mother and daughter’s journey so far if I got involved.

During one of our many conversations, Stella’s mum asked me for my opinion and with the permission via such a question, I stopped being a quiet observer and joined them in their journey. I suggested that they ditch the idea of making Stella write on lines. Instead, she was encouraged to write her letters on paper, in scrapbooks, on the whiteboard or draw them with a paintbrush at the easel; the more room to move the better. Finger painting the letters helped too. I also encouraged Stella’s mum to search the internet for some games to play with Stella. Worksheets are not the only way to learn to read and write. We soon witnessed the fun Stella had sorting picture cards into groups, playing Bingo and Snap. These literacy based games were mostly home made. Her parents also made use of things around the house, especially when they played their version of the treasure hunt game. Another thing worth mentioning is the Alphabet book that the little family made. Stella’s dad was so impressed with the end product that he had it properly bounded at Officeworks.

Most people think that children must learn to write repetitiously on lines to improve their writing skills but for a child to write well, he or she needs good fine motor skills to start with. (I am actually referring to handwriting skills here; not creative composition.) Stella did plenty of lacing/threading activities, very simple sewing, weaving and tracing stencils. She also designed and made simple decorations using Hama Beads and modelling with clay. All of these activities kept her fingers busy. As she had lots of fun, she was also preparing her hands to one day write with flair. When she did attempt to write, we encouraged her to love her own style of handwriting. Tracing dotted letters can be frustrating for the child who wishes to exactly clone what’s printed on the worksheet/workbook. What’s most important is for the child to correctly form each letter.

Note: In the next part of this theme, I will blog about the Sound Games and the unexpected ‘Teacher’.