Teaching kids to spell and write their name

Mr Sociable knows how to say the letters in his name, but is still learning to find the written letters and put them in order. We are also practising writing the letters in his name. The other day, while practising his name in our 'learning time', he said to me, "This is really fun Mummy." This morning he said, "I can't wait until our learning time today." These comments make me happy :) Learning can be fun!

So, here are some tips and fun ideas for teaching your kids to spell and write their name:

* Check that you are writing the letters "correctly" (ie. the way they will be taught at school) before you teach them to your kids. So many of the kids in my class had to "unlearn" what they had been taught at home because their parents' writing style was different to what is taught in school. Here is an alphabet chart written in NSW Foundation Handwriting style.

* Teach kids to write their name as a combination of upper and lower case (eg. B-e-n, not B-E-N). This is how they will be expected to write their name at school - so it helps if they learn it this way at home too.

* Spell out their name with magnets or foam letters

 Foam letters

* Write their name in highlighter for them to trace in texta, crayon, pencil, or a different colour highlighter.

Highlighter

* Make a name card with typed, outlined letters (I use the NSW foundation font; if you don't have access to this, just use comic sans - so long as you are not married to a graphic designer ;) ). Laminate the paper & let give your child a "grown up" whiteboard marker to trace their name. If you don't have a laminator, you could tape the paper onto the outside of the glass, then use a whiteboard marker on the other side of the glass to trace the letters.

Tracing letters through a glass door

* Help your child to find the letters of their name in a magazine. Cut the letters out & arrange them in order.

* Write the letters of your child's name. Cut them out. Ask your child to arrange them in order.

 

Cut out letters

* Practise writing their name in different mediums (eg. with pencil on sandpaper, with a stick in sand, with a skewer in playdoh)

Writing in the sand