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Bobfan24
LIF Infant
Member since 5/06 250 total posts
Name:
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Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
DS is three and just started nursery school in September. They already are learning to write both upper and lower case letters.
Today he came home with a dotted line sheet in which the teacher wrote both upper and lower case "B"s (the letter of the week) on the left-hand side. I assume she wants them to complete the page as "homework".
I'm thrilled they are trying to challenge them. DS already knows all of his letters and numbers and reads about 100 words. But I don't remember writing letters until the first grade (maybe uppercase in kindergarten). I'm concerned he will get frustrated and will be turned off to the whole thing. I don't think he has the attention span to sit and write a page of letters.
I haven't talked to the other parents yet, but I wanted opinions from all of you. Does this seem age-appropriate to you?
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Posted 10/6/10 7:32 PM  |
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Bops
My 3 wishes
Member since 12/07 13625 total posts
Name:
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
Thats when my DS started as well ( at 3, his first year in pre-k) By the 4 year old program they were already doing sight words...
Kindergarten is the new " 1st grade" they say and its so true 
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| Posted 10/6/10 7:58 PM |
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justmefornow
LIF Adolescent
Member since 9/08 859 total posts
Name:
n
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
Posted by Bops
Thats when my DS started as well ( at 3, his first year in pre-k) By the 4 year old program they were already doing sight words...
Kindergarten is the new " 1st grade" they say and its so true
The problem is that there is such a disconnect between what the schools do in nursery and pre-k and with what is supposed to be done in K. Kids who enter K come from such different backgrounds (private pre-k, universal pre-k, daycare centers, what parents teach at home, etc.). They will learn the letters all over again in K, so I don't see a reason to start so young, let them just play LOL. Even if K is the new 1st grade, they have to start somewhere!
One of my DDs went to a nursery like yours and I didn't like that they sat with so many "worksheets" at 3 yo. My other DD did not do letters on paper in either nursery or prek (in NYC schools they are not supposed to learn their letters or sounds in pre-k, it's just no part of the curriculum).
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| Posted 10/6/10 8:05 PM |
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InShock
life is good
Member since 10/06 9258 total posts
Name:
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
TBH, I don't think that writing letters is developmentally appropriate for (most) 3 year olds.
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| Posted 10/6/10 8:45 PM |
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justmefornow
LIF Adolescent
Member since 9/08 859 total posts
Name:
n
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
I forgot to add that my younger one, the one who did NOT learn letters/sounds in nursery or pre-k (and being my younger one I did a lot less with her at home) is now in Kingergarten, is the youngest in her class and sits with the teacher 3 days a week for "extended day" for a little extra help with letters/sounds (isn't that what they are supposed to be teaching her in K??? Doesn't make sense to me!
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| Posted 10/6/10 8:51 PM |
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twicethefun
Loving life
Member since 7/06 4088 total posts
Name:
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
Posted by InShock
TBH, I don't think that writing letters is developmentally appropriate for (most) 3 year olds.
ITA I think that can be frustrating and I honestly would be very concerned with the teacher training in that case.
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| Posted 10/6/10 9:22 PM |
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Stacey1403
Where it all began....
Member since 5/05 24065 total posts
Name:
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
Posted by twicethefun
Posted by InShock
TBH, I don't think that writing letters is developmentally appropriate for (most) 3 year olds.
ITA I think that can be frustrating and I honestly would be very concerned with the teacher training in that case.
ITA with this too! They are going to be super bored in kindergarten!
ETA: and homework in pre-k is ridiculous!
Message edited 10/6/2010 10:06:17 PM.
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| Posted 10/6/10 10:05 PM |
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my3bugs
Mom of 2 Boys
Member since 5/05 4381 total posts
Name:
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
I think a 3 yr old program is young to be doing letters esp writing them. Maybe recognizing them and such is fine but gently and in a fun way. By Kindergarten - I think kids would be bored. My son is in kindergarten and right now they are reviewing a lot of preschool topics and my son is complaining how boring it is and why do they have to do this and such.
I know by 3/3.5yrs both my son's knew their letters to recognize and most if not all their sounds and how to write a bunch of letters veen recognize words but they just pick it up - not something school taught or I wanted the school to push at that age. My 3 yr old is trying to sound out words already and can recognize a bunch too but I send him to a 3yr program for fun and structure and socialization not for an education. He is only 3! The nursery school I send my kids introduces it in the 4 yr program and I know then even some kids had a hard time with it and got frustrated - I can't imagine all 3 yr olds being ok with that level of work.
Message edited 10/7/2010 9:23:35 AM.
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| Posted 10/7/10 9:22 AM |
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AnnBrunoXO
2 Girls For Me!
Member since 5/05 4377 total posts
Name:
MaMMa
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
I don't think it would hurt to expose them to tracing and learning upper and lowercase letters at 3 years old. Its good that the teacher is exposing them to it - if they are interested in it great - if not - it will come eventually. It really comes with practice anyway - never to early to start - IMO! Its takes time to perfect writing, recognizing the letters anyway - why not start early. My daughter is almost 5 and is learning to perfect her lowercase letters as well as writing in a straight line - its been a processs. Im always in favor of homework and worksheets - it can't always be about play.
Message edited 10/7/2010 10:01:11 AM.
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| Posted 10/7/10 9:54 AM |
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Mommy2Boys
My Boys!!!!
Member since 6/06 14437 total posts
Name:
C
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
Posted by twicethefun
Posted by InShock
TBH, I don't think that writing letters is developmentally appropriate for (most) 3 year olds.
ITA I think that can be frustrating and I honestly would be very concerned with the teacher training in that case.
I agree too...considering most 3 yr. old can't even color in the lines.
I taught 3 yr. old nursery school. Towards the end of the year we would practicing tracing their names and shapes but it was more to develop their fine motor skills. Definetely not writing them on their own.
Message edited 10/7/2010 4:08:10 PM.
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| Posted 10/7/10 4:07 PM |
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Dani922
Here's to new beginnings
Member since 10/07 7260 total posts
Name:
Danielle
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
I agree that it may be a bit young. I tried working on letters with DD at 3, but found she was more into identifying them than writing them. She started learning to write them in pre-k.
I have to say at least if they are teaching it, it's great they are doing capitals & lower case. DD only learned capitals in pre-k & was expected to know lower case as well in K. The first week of K was fun trying to quickly learn her name with lower case letters.
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| Posted 10/9/10 11:10 AM |
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Bxgell2
Perfection
Member since 5/05 16438 total posts
Name:
Beth
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
3 is too young; you run the risk of frustrating the child and turning them off to the learning process at a very young age, which can set the foundation for years of frustration in school. At 3 they should be learning social skills and have oodles of free play!
Granted, I started teaching Alex her letters around 3.5, but that is only because she showed an interest and ASKED me to, otherwise I wouldn't have bothered. And even then, the pace was VERY slow and I used games to teach her, instead of actual instruction...
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| Posted 10/11/10 6:49 AM |
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iluvmynutty
Mom to E&M
Member since 12/08 1762 total posts
Name:
D
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
Posted by AnnBrunoXO
I don't think it would hurt to expose them to tracing and learning upper and lowercase letters at 3 years old. Its good that the teacher is exposing them to it - if they are interested in it great - if not - it will come eventually. It really comes with practice anyway - never to early to start - IMO! Its takes time to perfect writing, recognizing the letters anyway - why not start early. My daughter is almost 5 and is learning to perfect her lowercase letters as well as writing in a straight line - its been a processs. Im always in favor of homework and worksheets - it can't always be about play.
I'm an OT who has worked in the EI/preschool setting for 5 years and the public school setting for 5 years and I can say with confidence that teaching letters to young children before they are developmentally ready does have negative consequences. Handwriting is a habitual, motor planning task. Once a child has learned to form a letter a certain way, it becomes VERY DIFFICULT to reteach them the correct way to write that letter. This is true with both the typically developing population and the special needs population. I'd much rather work with a "blank slate" than try to break bad habits. It's so much easier to teach proper letter formation, sizing, spacing of letters and line targeting skills to a Kindergartener who has never written 1 letter, than it is to teach a Kindergartener who was exposed to letter writting too early and has developed bad habits. A 3 year old should be coloring pictures, learning to make lines (vertical/horizontal), draw a circle, snip with scissors, play with play doh, string beads and build with blocks etc... Preschool is a wonderful time to build the foundations of fine motor skills, visual motor skills (eye hand coordination), visual perceptual skills (how well do you understand what you see) and hand strength. They don't have the time to address these skills in Kindergarten so it's very important that they don't skip over these activities in Preschool.
Message edited 10/11/2010 11:08:15 AM.
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| Posted 10/11/10 11:06 AM |
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AnnBrunoXO
2 Girls For Me!
Member since 5/05 4377 total posts
Name:
MaMMa
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
Posted by iluvmynutty
Posted by AnnBrunoXO
I don't think it would hurt to expose them to tracing and learning upper and lowercase letters at 3 years old. Its good that the teacher is exposing them to it - if they are interested in it great - if not - it will come eventually. It really comes with practice anyway - never to early to start - IMO! Its takes time to perfect writing, recognizing the letters anyway - why not start early. My daughter is almost 5 and is learning to perfect her lowercase letters as well as writing in a straight line - its been a processs. Im always in favor of homework and worksheets - it can't always be about play.
I'm an OT who has worked in the EI/preschool setting for 5 years and the public school setting for 5 years and I can say with confidence that teaching letters to young children before they are developmentally ready does have negative consequences. Handwriting is a habitual, motor planning task. Once a child has learned to form a letter a certain way, it becomes VERY DIFFICULT to reteach them the correct way to write that letter. This is true with both the typically developing population and the special needs population. I'd much rather work with a "blank slate" than try to break bad habits. It's so much easier to teach proper letter formation, sizing, spacing of letters and line targeting skills to a Kindergartener who has never written 1 letter, than it is to teach a Kindergartener who was exposed to letter writting too early and has developed bad habits. A 3 year old should be coloring pictures, learning to make lines (vertical/horizontal), draw a circle, snip with scissors, play with play doh, string beads and build with blocks etc... Preschool is a wonderful time to build the foundations of fine motor skills, visual motor skills (eye hand coordination), visual perceptual skills (how well do you understand what you see) and hand strength. They don't have the time to address these skills in Kindergarten so it's very important that they don't skip over these activities in Preschool.
So why are the nursery school teachers exposing children to upper and lowercase letters? When my daughter was in nursery school - she had worksheets with upper and lowercase letters on them and all she had to do was trace them and attempt to write them if she could. I thought that was great. I am in favor of children also coloring, playing with playdoh, drawing lines and circles etc - its absolutely age appropriate and my child also did that in nursery school - but tracing letters or having the child learn to recognize them is a step ahead in my opinion. Of course - every child learns at a different pace and I really think every teacher is different in teaching style and program -im just personally in favor of it.
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| Posted 10/11/10 11:45 AM |
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iluvmynutty
Mom to E&M
Member since 12/08 1762 total posts
Name:
D
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
Posted by AnnBrunoXO
Posted by iluvmynutty
Posted by AnnBrunoXO
I don't think it would hurt to expose them to tracing and learning upper and lowercase letters at 3 years old. Its good that the teacher is exposing them to it - if they are interested in it great - if not - it will come eventually. It really comes with practice anyway - never to early to start - IMO! Its takes time to perfect writing, recognizing the letters anyway - why not start early. My daughter is almost 5 and is learning to perfect her lowercase letters as well as writing in a straight line - its been a processs. Im always in favor of homework and worksheets - it can't always be about play.
I'm an OT who has worked in the EI/preschool setting for 5 years and the public school setting for 5 years and I can say with confidence that teaching letters to young children before they are developmentally ready does have negative consequences. Handwriting is a habitual, motor planning task. Once a child has learned to form a letter a certain way, it becomes VERY DIFFICULT to reteach them the correct way to write that letter. This is true with both the typically developing population and the special needs population. I'd much rather work with a "blank slate" than try to break bad habits. It's so much easier to teach proper letter formation, sizing, spacing of letters and line targeting skills to a Kindergartener who has never written 1 letter, than it is to teach a Kindergartener who was exposed to letter writting too early and has developed bad habits. A 3 year old should be coloring pictures, learning to make lines (vertical/horizontal), draw a circle, snip with scissors, play with play doh, string beads and build with blocks etc... Preschool is a wonderful time to build the foundations of fine motor skills, visual motor skills (eye hand coordination), visual perceptual skills (how well do you understand what you see) and hand strength. They don't have the time to address these skills in Kindergarten so it's very important that they don't skip over these activities in Preschool.
So why are the nursery school teachers exposing children to upper and lowercase letters? When my daughter was in nursery school - she had worksheets with upper and lowercase letters on them and all she had to do was trace them and attempt to write them if she could. I thought that was great. I am in favor of children also coloring, playing with playdoh, drawing lines and circles etc - its absolutely age appropriate and my child also did that in nursery school - but tracing letters or having the child learn to recognize them is a step ahead in my opinion. Of course - every child learns at a different pace and I really think every teacher is different in teaching style and program -im just personally in favor of it.
Preschools are teaching letter writing earlier and earlier just like Kindergarten work is more similar to what 1st grade work used to be. Kids are learning things earlier and earlier. The only problem with learning handwriting too early is that it is a developmental task that relies on fine motor planning in congunction with visual skills. It is very easy for the skill to become habitual. Kids do learn at different paces, but if handwriitng is not properly taught, or if the child is allow to form letters incorrectly, it becomes very difficult to correct. As a professional in the field, I'd rather teachers waited to have kids write letters until they were developmentally ready to learn letter writing.
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| Posted 10/11/10 12:04 PM |
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Sassyz75
Turning a new page
Member since 5/05 9731 total posts
Name:
Dina
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Re: Learning to write upper and lower letters in nursery school?
Dd is in pre-k. (universal). They are tracing letters and practicing coloring bit no differentiation between upper and lowercase as i can tell.
She doea get weekly homework packets.
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| Posted 10/12/10 10:23 PM |
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