Does anybody have some suggestions on helping my 3 yr old learn how to write her name?

Question

My son learned it ok but my daughter and I are having problems i've tried tracing and thats not working for her?

I guess so we can't really be outside right now my son did learn earlier but yeah i guess each child is different maybe i should try numbers!

Answer 1

Your daughter is not ready. Writing comes at a very specific point of development, and your daughter is completely unique from your son. This is nothing to do with the will to do it. It's to do with fine motor skills, comprehension, abstract and symbolic thinking, etc. Just continue to expose her...play games like restaurant where she gets to write the orders using squiggles. This is 'pre-writing' and is a step towards understanding print concepts.

Most children start making actual letters around 4+. It doesn't matter how many other children make them at 3 or whatever. This is 100% a readiness issue.

Answer 2

3 is a little young to tackle a whole name. Does she even know her letters yet? The fine motor skills it takes to write a name aren't very developed at 3. Have you tried to develop those skills first? Try using play tongs (from pretend kitchen play items) to move various shaped items into a muffin tin. Or stringing beads onto a shoelace. Once these motor skills are fine tuned writing will be easier for your child. Take each letter of her name and you write it big on an 8.5 by 11 paper. Have her glue assorted items onto the letter. This will help with letter recognition and with building the fine motor skills. Make her associate her name with fun activities, worry about writing later. Education needs a foundation to be built first. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

Does your daughter know how to identify the letters in her name? Writng the letters will come later. Now ,focus on identifying the lettters in her name. Capitals and lower case letters.
PLAY PLAY PLAY with letters- here is one game:
Letters in my name--- not in my name.
Have her pull out tiles (scrabble tiles for example) out of a bag and tell you if that letter is in her name or not in her name. You can even make your own tiles on the computer. Use differents fonts to make it more of a challenge...... Make sure you have a work mat with her name written on it. If the letter is in her name she gets to put the tile on the work mat!
( You can make this game friendly for your son as well.... he can pull out letters to see if they are in a challenge (spelling) word....


Also- Have her practice writng her name with her WHOLE arm first. Tell her to pretend that her arm is a HUGE crayon or marker. This practice uses her GROSS motors - which is a good start before the fine motor.

Let her use paint brushes with water or actuall paint! Side walk chalk is a good choice too-

Start with capital letters...

HOWEVER, really three is young. Don't worry and do not push it. You sound as if you are taking the laid back approach which is the best thing that you can do. Parents that push their kids with handwriting will actually HARM the developmental path kids need to take. Kids can honestly get MESSED up for a long time because of this. I know it sounds extreme to say that, but it is true. IF kids learn (or are pushed) with handwriting too young they may learn the wrong pencil grip. Once pencil grip is learned it is VERY VERY hard to correct. I am sure you know many adults that can't write in cursive or older children whose hands become tired after writing for a short whole- both because of wrong pencil grip!

Good Luck and keep it up. I think it is great that you take an interest in helping her out.

Answer 4

Oh please, I dont get this a 3 year old baby/toddler teaching her to write her name. Some children are not ready as others are willing to learn. Dont take out your frustration on a child for not letting them go outside to play because you think you HAVE to teach a baby to write.Give her time, she's not ready to do it your way YET. All the answers posted are good. But I have been a Kindergarten teacher for 22 years,and a aunt / mother for 24 years( raising my niece), And this just blew me away. When she is ready, she'll let you know. DO NOT HOLLER AT HER WHEN SHE DOES NOT WANT TO JOIN YOU IN LEARNING HOW TO WRITE HER NAME OR ANYTHING. Just keep a good mother/ daughter relationship with her, dont punish this child, because she dont want to learn quite yet.

Answer 5

Have your daughter play with shaving cream at the table. Use her finger to make lines. Start her letters with straight line letters (A,E,I,L,M, T) don't push her. Just have a "look what I can make" game or "can you do this" also make silly pictures too so you will encourage her to want to play.
Let her scribble and she will eventually be able to make some letters. Then start with the first letter in her name. Be sure to point out in books, on food boxes and signs where you see the letters to her name. also make lots of signs of her name. Do NOT teach her in all capital letters. Do it properly. This will take several days but eventually when she is ready, she will write her name all the time. Also dont concentrate on just her name let her tell you words like cat dog house etc and write them with her.

Answer 6

3 seems kind of young. But if she can already recognize the letters in her name, and has a keen interest in writing her name, I'd start with showing her how to write just the first letter. When she writes it, praise her and say something like, "You wrote the letter E! That's the first letter in your name. Here's the rest of the letters that spell Emma." Then write the other letters for her. As the first letter becomes easier for her, she will naturally take an interest in "doing it herself" with the rest of the letters.

Answer 7

As a teacher of the 3 year old group in my preschool, I can tell you that every child learns to write their name at a different pace. While we encourage our children to "try" to write their names, there is no rush for them to learn at such an early age. A lot of children don't master their names until they are in their late 4s, and that is completely normal.

Answer 8

That is kind of young. Try writing really big with chalk on driveway. Have her make the letters with sticks outside, etc. Each kid is different. Don't push the writing too hard.

Answer 9

Three is really young. Does he recognize his letters yet? If not, don't start with the writing. Give him writing materials( crayons, markers etc..) to practice his grip and build the muscles in his fingers. You can have him trace over his name that is already written.

Answer 10

I work in a school and your daughter is fine.
I have perfectly normal children who can count and add up to 20 who can not write their name. I would concentrate on getting her to recognise it, on labels. or even mail some letters to your son and some to your daughter. (if you have a word with the post man he will just push them through the door if you leave them on the step. ) Get your daughter to sort the mail. When she first finds one with her name it is such a treat. (have a camera ready every day)
Good luck.