Ro and Ree are having a ball tracing letters in preschool lately. It's really helping them learn how to write their names and practice all of the other letters too. Our patio is covered with wobbly little chalk letters spelling out their names in really creative combinations. My fave is "MRIAE". It's so cute.
Tonight TubaDad had a great idea. We were talking about how the girls are really enjoying learning new things and totally dig practicing school, and he said "Hey, I wonder if there's a font made out of those little dots so we could make our own tracing worksheets for the girls?"Well he Googled it, and of course there is:
The Trace font by Kids Fonts
It's free. Just download the font, copy it to your fonts folder (if you need help finding your font folder, the font comes with a ReadMe file that will walk you through it), then open up MS Word or whatever word-processing program you like, and the font will automatically show up in your choices. We whipped off a few sheets in all caps (the font has both lower and upper), and the girls practically ripped the sheets out of our hands they were so excited to start.
We have them call out each letter as they're tracing it.
I think they were pretty dang proud of themselves in the end. I'm guessing we'll get a lot of use out of this font.
PS: That little green learning game they were playing with earlier (shown in the first pic) is pretty cool as well. It's by
Trend, and we have few different variations that we bought at a Diddams party store (they have a big learning section for some reason). This one is called "What Goes Together?" and the girls like to spread all the pieces out and then race to see who can make the most pairs.
* Note: Two great ideas from commenters: Make sure you use upper and lowercase for the worksheets, such as "Wela" not "WELA," so that you're teaching proper habits right off the bat. And, if your kiddo is nearing Kindergarten age, it might be worth a call your school to find out if there's a specific font they'll be teaching, such as D'Nealian (which helps transition to cursive and is taught in Texas). If they're using one of the stylized fonts, chances are you can find it in a package called Font 4 Teachers (these fonts are sold, not free).
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Thank you so much for the font tip. My daughter will love it!
ReplyDeleteWish I would have thought of it when my kids were younger! My daughters' teachers wanted things to be written correctly though. For instance, Bob, instead of BOB. I think the theory is that it builds good habits. Hope you don't mind the unsolicited advice.
ReplyDeleteAh, that makes sense. The girls' tracing worksheets do come home from preschool with caps and lowercase. I just didn't think of it with the quickie sheets we did tonight (we were rushing and trying to beat the clock before bedtime, Ree was already in her PJs and Ro was about to run upstairs and change).
ReplyDeleteFun! You provide such a rich home environment for the girls. From a teacher's perspective, if the girls are super into writing, try to get them to spend the majority of time on lowercase letters since that's what we use most of the time. It's SUCH a challenging task to get kids who have gotten into the habit of writing all uppercase, to make the switch. It's much easier to have them writing in all lowercase and then teach them to do the occasional uppercase letter where necessary. I'm not sure if all teachers agree with me or if they even give it much though because for some reason the uppercases always seem to be taught first.
ReplyDeleteSeriously though, you've got some smart kiddos who are so excited about learning. They are going to take kindergarten by storm (whenever you decide to start them in kindergarten). I didn't comment on that post, so I guess I'll do it briefly now. My thought is, base your decision on what kind of experiences you want for Ro and Ree during the next year. Your home environment is already very rich and you sound very happy with their pre-school. Is there something extra you want for them that will be missing if they don't attend kindergarten yet? They're going to spend a good 12-18 years in an institutionalized place of learning, I say give them the gift of home for one more year if you can:)
These are a great start to letter writing...wait until they start writing their names backwards-because they can. 1 caveat: your school district will probably have a specific style of writing that they want the kids to do, and they may have to un-learn some of their writing skills...not that I'm dealing with that right now or anything. :)
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of which...Tenley is a Sept birthday, and she's starting full-day public K in 3 weeks! The twinados are in pre-school, and obviously doing well and are probably ahead of where they need to be, so I don't think there's any reason to red shirt them. In a convo I had w/ Ten's pre-school teacher (who has taught everything from Pre K- 5th since 1973) she said 90% of boys should be held back- they just don't develop emotionally & socially as quickly as girls do. But a girl who is meeting or exceeding her Pre-K goals, and is social and shows no emotional issues (beyond the usual)should start on time, because if you hold them back you run the risk of them becoming bored and that can cause other problems. Plus as Sept. b-days, they won't be able to sign themselves out of high school in their senior year (not that I ever did that), and they'll turn 18 in their 2nd month of college- no whoop.
Just my 2 cents!! :)
~M
www.yoichoichoi.blogspot.com
Maisie loves tracing letters too, love when education is fun!
ReplyDeleteLove the idea! My kiddos just love to trace and write! My second boy, though, he does do all of it backwards;) I haven't decided if he is just left dominant but learned to write with his right hand or just a silly 5 yr old! When I tell him he wrote his name backwards, he fixes it without help... He also walks backwards a lot... hmmm...
ReplyDeleteIt's a long way off but I've filed this one away for later.
ReplyDeleteYour girls are SO adorable and it's fun to see their excitement for learning.
One of my favorite places to shop, since you like Trend, is Lakeshore Learning. I think you'll enjoy it... Tuba Dad, please don't hate me. Heh.
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm always raving about the reading/ writing curriculum we use. It's called the Sonday System 1, Learning to Read.
I LOVE your blog. I discovered it a couple of months ago and went back and read all the archives. What a wonderful family you're blessed with.
ReplyDeleteOur school district subscribes to www.enchantedlearning.com for use by the teachers.
A home license is only $20/year. You can use the website without subscribing, but you'll get better printouts of all kinds of worksheets, printable books, etc. if you subscribe (no advertising.)
Looks like fun!
ReplyDeleteHave them sound out the words they are writing along with you.
ReplyDeleteFor the purpose you are doing this, which is to give them practice in writing, it doesn't really matter if they are lower or upper case. If, however, the purpose is to show them how to properly write a proper noun---Bob--the upper and lower case is appropriate. It all depends on the purpose.
I have found some neato workbooks at Sam's. They have tracing/writing letters - uppers and lowers - and matching games and stuff. They were less than $7 each and keeps her entertained on our way to school and about town. Learning her letters has been something Olivia has not really had an interest in until recently no matter what tips and tricks I pulled out of wherever. She's always loved to trace and would repeat them, but once it was done, it was done. I think what you found is fantastico and the girls have lots of time to master the caps/lowers thing. Olivia dots her capital "I" and I love it. So does she, for that matter. We'll sweat the details later.
ReplyDeleteI always do the lower case thing too. I notice a lot of people do all uppercase with little kids (mainly people that are not teachers). I guess it is just the teacher mindset that we want them to start out correctly to begin with.
ReplyDeleteI bought a CD and book from a teacher store called "Fonts 4 Teachers". It was about $30 or so. best money I ever spent (well, our school purchasing money ever spent). I spent years and years making homemade name writing sheets and such and it was such a pain! This font program is a great thing. It has the word on lines. You can even do cursive ones. I do the cursive ones for my older kids that want to start writing their name grown up ways. I use it all the time! Same basic concept as the free one you have, but it has different versions, plus sign language, bear letters, etc. I think all teachers need it.
A bit of unsolicited advice from a teacher: Yes, have them trace the words and name the letters, but please use lowercase letters. Also, when practicing their names, be sure to use one capital letter and the rest lowercase. This will really help out when they get to kindergarten and don't have to unlearn writing in caps. Awesome font to share! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat idea! I will echo what the other teachers have already said, though. Use the lowercase letters when you can. :-)
ReplyDeleteGot the font. It's great! Thanks for sharing! AJ is going to love it!
ReplyDeleteWe are also trying your 7 rule with the clock for the first time. I so hope it works. AJ hasn't slept past 5:30 all week! He is pretty excited to tell time like a big boy so I'm thinking there's a chance!
Thanks for sharing your wonderful ideas with us! And your wonderful girls!
Thanks for all of the comments on using lower case letters. It makes total sense now that a number of folks have suggested it!
ReplyDeleteOne of my twins is very tactile and the teacher suggested that we also practice writing letters with our fingers in sand and making them out of clay. Just a couple more ways to think.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the cool tip about the font. I am sure my soon-to-be KG will LOVE it.
ReplyDeleteWe love the free resources at www.learningpage.com
ReplyDeleteThe twinados are so cute! Thanks for sharing on your blog.
As a preschool teacher, thank you for the font!! I'll be adding it so I can use it with my kiddos. Also, you might want to check with your school as to what case they want you to use. We use a curriculum called "Handwriting without tears" and it stresses that all caps should be taught first (just like you had your girls do) because those letters are much easier to write and therefore developmentally appropriate at a preschool age. At our preschool we use all caps until January of the 4 year old year, then we introduce the lower case. Different curricula teach different things, just a good idea to check with your school.
ReplyDeleteBlessings-
Andie