Holding pens, pencils, crayons the *right* way..

[Christy+2]

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

[Jens2Boys]

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.

[Ren]

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

[justmeNmine]

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