When did you start teaching your little one the "right" way to hold his/her pencil? My dd is almost four and I am wondering if she is old enough to start learning. She is already learning how to write her letters. What do you think? Or is it too soon to push for it?

How did you teach yours to hold it right?

Ack! I didn't realize I should have already started! I always figured it was one of those things that you just don't push...because it hinders creativity or something..

Tara, I started thinking about it more when I saw her writing in the picture I posted on the Scavenger Hunt. Did you notice?

Well, all I can say is that I wished I had pushed the issue a little more with number four. He is 11 now and still holds the pencil wrong. Writing is painful and laborious for him. They tell me that he isn't likely to change his grip at this point. They told me once they get past 7 or 8 you aren't going to change it. There are grippers that slide on the pencil and teach them how to hold it right. The fingers naturally slide into the right spot. My 11 year old is using it now with a weight on the end( because he has trouble FEELING the pencil the weight helps with that), but when he doesn't have the gripper he still holds it the wrong way. :?

I have been pushing (unfortunatly) my DS to be holding his crayons the way mommy holds her pencil. We really have been working on that this week as a matter of fact.

Becca - that is so great she is doing her letters.

I agree with the others that you should try to have them hold it correctly right from the start without being too pushy because that might discourage a very young learner. Some of our pre-ker's (4 and 5 year olds) still can't hold a pencil correctly and it's hard to break them from holding it the wrong way even at that age.

Good luck!

Yah I noticed that she was feeling ambitious to write letters (almost 4 now) but she refused to let me help or correct the holding technique. So, I hid the letter stuff until she shows signs of being able to work on holding the pensil right. I'm currently having the same problem with scissors. She's not allowing me to correct her or show her or anything! I'm having a really problem getting her to do the right thing. . .what do I do if she won't change? Sorry to high jack your thread a bit but, this has been on my rador as well. -ren

Don't worry I havne't "taught" Timmy either, I just let him draw however he wants to.

I haven't taught hannah how to hold a pencil the right way because i still don't know if she is right handed or left handed. :? She seems to use both so i haven't taught her how to hold a pencil correctly since i don't know which hand she will be using. I'm still waiting to see, how knows she may be both. :)

The sooner that grip is corrected, the easier it is to fix. Not sure if this will make sense without a visual, but the way I've always taught my preschool students is called "pinch and flip". You lay the pencil on the table with the point facing you and pinch it between your thumb and forefinger against the table. Then you lift your hand and flip the pencil over. Sometimes with little ones it helps for them to use a thumb and the first two fingers in their scissors. Hope this helps!
Beth

The sooner that grip is corrected, the easier it is to fix. Not sure if this will make sense without a visual, but the way I've always taught my preschool students is called "pinch and flip". You lay the pencil on the table with the point facing you and pinch it between your thumb and forefinger against the table. Then you lift your hand and flip the pencil over. Sometimes with little ones it helps for them to use a thumb and the first two fingers in their scissors. Hope this helps!
Beth

Oh where were you when Luke was learning? [rotfl] He actually used 4 fingers to hold his pencil. :shock: I do so wish I had worked harder at it when he was younger. BUT God is in control, right? :)

For now Caleb is holding pens the correct way...that might change as he starts to use them more though.

I teach my preschoolers and my son from the start. Not pushing, but like others have said, correcting when I see them hold it incorrectly. However, at this age it is more about the fine motor control than it is about holding it "correctly". Some kids never hold it exactly like they are "suppose" to, but they have wonderful writing skills, and that is what matters most, IMO. Pencil grips are great at helping and so are using chunky preschool pencils that are found at a lot of teacher resource shops. :D

Tara, thanks for the link. . .really helpful! -ren

My son is almost four and still "fists" the pencils, pens, crayons etc. I do ocassionally show him the proper way to do it. When he was in preschool, they told me that I shouldn't worry about it much, that it is more important that he is trying to color in the lines, write his name, etc. I like the pinch and flip idea and may try that... On a side note, I'm almost 28 and have always held pencils/pens "wrong" with it resting on my ring finger and both my index and middle finger on top... I'm not sure why it was never corrected, but it has never hindered me in any way :wink: