|
Ask Jan
Why do you start with capitals when teaching letter formation?
It just makes sense! From a developmental perspective some letters are more difficult than others. Capital letters are much easier to form than lower case letters, and here are some of the reasons:
- All capital letters are the same height.
- All capital letters start at the same place—the top!
- All capital letters occupy the same vertical space.
- All capital letters are easy to recognize and identify.
Consider the lower case letters a b d g p q. They all look very similar, and they all start at different places. Some go above the midline, some go below the baseline; and they are easily reversed because of their similar appearance. Now, consider the same letters as capital letters: A B D G P Q. They all start at the top! They have very distinct formations, with no two letters being easily confused.
Capitals are big, bold and familiar!
Consider the child's world in our community. Children see very important capital letters that they learn to recognize and identify at a very early age. For example: STOP, EXIT, DANGER, H (hospital), SLOW, BEWARE OF DOG. At home or in school, children need to know their capitals before they start to keyboard.
Handwriting Without Tears® teaches the capital letters in a developmental sequence, in order of difficulty. The harder ones are those that have diagonal lines, are reversible, or change direction during a stroke. When taught in this sequence, children learn to master skills and build on what they have learned. The result is beautiful letter formation.
We introduce lowercase letters halfway through kindergarten when students are developmentally ready for the task. By this time, the hands-on teaching of capitals and numbers, combined with the development of motor skills, has prepared the children for lowercase success.
Some children start kindergarten writing their name with a capital first followed by lowercase letters. Teachers should recognize the writing demands of lowercase letters as well as children’s desire to learn to write their names in title case. For the children using title case, the teacher should ensure they are using the correct starting place for each letter in their name, and understand letter size and placement. Otherwise, they will be practicing poor handwriting habits that will have to be broken in the future. We recommend using capitals exclusively for writing names in preschool.
By the end of first grade, children should be quite comfortable writing in both lower and upper case.
Do you have a handwriting question for Jan Olsen, renowned OTR? Each quarter, Jan selects and answers the best question. If we select your question, you will receive a free Magic C Bunny. |
