How do you convince a 5-year-old to practice writing the ABCs?

Question

Those ABC workbooks look so fun. But all the kids want to do is scribble on the pages. They don't even want to try to trace the letters. I have even resorted to bribing the kids with candy, and still I hardly get their cooperation.

Answer 1

join in (if momma does it........) :-)

Answer 2

maybe the books are not the way to go. who knows.
you might try doing things in a less structured manner.
i am not sure at what point you are so i will say you are attempting to teach the child what letter goes with what sound and word.
you could teach the letter s by taking the child to the sand box . tell him prior to getting to the sand box what your expectations are in regard to behaviour and listening. leave out the part about
school work. once there tell him you will let him play in the sand box today if he can show you how to make the letter s in the sand.
then ask what is a word that starts with s .
reward the child by play time in the sand. teach him that mommy loves to get letters and she would really like it if he could make some letters this could be in the sand box as well .
reward the child with a hug.
when he has learned how to make each letter and knows a word or two that starts with that letter . move on to using a pencil
leave the books out of it and just turn off the tv and radio and stop all your work each day let things settle down and then
use plain paper and show him one letter printed correctly with the pencil that you have made . then he can trace this at first you can even say tracing is like a magic trick . things like that.
you your child this planet and god all of you have all the skill and knowledge and patiance you need to do this . if this takes much longer then you thought so what think of it ths way you got to spend that much more time with this child alone your child this is the reward for you. when the child sees you smile because he made the letter correctly he smiles . you know that that smile is the gift of god given to you and him by his own hand making the little picture of a smile and putting it on both your faces.
more then anything know this no letter number word or thing that child could bring home from school is more important then the smile you him and god make each day at that table or in that sand box or in that car or anywhere.

Answer 3

I agree, make it fun! Similar to the chocolate pudding idea . . . put shaving cream on the table and let them write their letters using their fingers. It's fun and it cleans your table! You could also have them trace their letters in sand.

Some kids get intimidated when they see the lines on the page and struggle to fit their letters where they're supposed to go. Start out by letting them practice the letters on a blank peice of paper so that they can get the form of the letter correct before attempting to put it on the lines. This builds their confidence. Use fun tools to write with--markers and a dry erase board, chalk and chalkboard, paintbrush, markers, crayons, gel pens, pens that light up or have a fun topper (I have a pen that glows when you write with it), a magna doodle, whatever!

Also, be sure to do it in short periods of time. Maybe just start with 5 minutes a day and work up from there.

Answer 4

You don't convince then, you make it fun. If your going to bribe them, then wrap the bribe up, and have a booby prize, like 'do the washing up'. I never give sweets as a bribe, they always appear as a surprise, never to reward behavior. My prizes are more fun!

then put the kids name onto the prize, and ask them to choose a prize. If they see something that they want, you ask them to write it down, this helps at birthdays and Christmas time. no letter to Santa next year, no prezzies... some nice healthy incentives.

I make shopping a game, ask for things with certain words in the title, pretend to get lost when I am not in a hurry and ask the child for directions - can you see a sign for ?

I never make learning a chore, its always fun, even the booby prize is a fun activity.

Answer 5

A part of me still rebels that our society is pushing too much, too soon.

Another part of me reasons that as parents, we have NO choice but to comply, unless we want to homeschool.

My son has homework EVERY day, and it is the SAME worksheet that he has already done that day in class.

The only thing that I know to tell you is to get some markers that are washable (or buy the Crayola FX window markers) and let him practice on the window. He would probably even like to wash the window after, if given the chance.
You could also try a chalkboard and chalk.
Or a dry erase board.

Something different that does not involve pencil and paper.

Answer 6

make it fun....instead of shutting off the tv, turn on elmo, wiggles, etc. just an episode pertaining to A letter. Do only one at a time!!! E.g. if u are doing the letter A, say this is my friend andy anteater, then make them draw a pic of what they think she looks like and then draw the letter a underneath...then serves apples, but they cant have any until they write the letter out. Make up fun silly songs, do name games, like teach them what letter begins their name and then say were goin camping and Michelle is bringing Marshmallows. Do end of the week rewards, or preschool is a great option. Just remember to be patient...it wont be easy!! but it will be great!

Answer 7

Like the other people have said, you need to do it with them. You try to trace a letter and say "Oh no, that is bad. I bet you can do it better them mom" And when the child does it, praise, praise, praise, but only if it is acceptable. If not then say "That's nice, but mine is better, you should try again."
When my child was learning to read and learning her letters, we put the letters on sticky notes. We started with AB and C and made lots and lots of sticky notes with each letter and she would go around the house sticking them to things that started with that letter. Sometimes she was wrong, but mostly she got it right. We went thru thousands of post-its, but so what? When she started school, she could already read and she never looked back. She was always in the top honors classes and graduated in the top 10 of her high school and suma *** laude from college. A good start is essential to a long time good student.

Answer 8

Try making a game out of it. Give theme the dotted lines and reward them. You can also buy flash cards with pictures and letters. I had those when I was a child and loved them. (Example: A is for Apple... etc.) Also you can buy many toys at a popular toy store. Leapfrog is a good brand. But I would not worry to much.

Answer 9

I couldn't get my 5 year old to work in those books for the life of me! I had to get VERY creative with him. He loved writing in shaving cream (at home, do this on the bath tub wall) and it's great to clean the tables at school. The only rule was....he had to write letters and if he didn't it was the end of the game.

I also had him write with sidewalk chalk, we raced to see who could finish the page first, we painted our letters and yes.....we bribed him.

We ended the candy bit after our first cavity but chuckEcheese tokens worked well for us. I just bought a bunch and reward them. At the end of the week we go with the concept that he only had the tokens he earned and after that...we left. No Pizza, no extra tokens, only what he had learned. The first week he only had 5 and that was horrible for him. The second week, he had 50!

Answer 10

Give incentives, not bribes with candy. Trace a page well, you get a half hour of TV. Trace two pages, you get to go out shopping with mom or dad.

Candy is never a good bribe, and neither is money. Privilidges are what get the best results.

Answer 11

We unschool, meaning our kids 'live and learn.' We never had to ask them to practice or worry about them practicing, because they had things they wanted to write down. Probably by me writing down stories they told and having them illustrate those stories gave them the idea about writing being fun. Surely it wasn't the required thank you notes. I also write down plans and doodle and used to draw floor plans a lot, so it wasn't surprising to see my children drawing their own kingdoms or towns or house plans and move on to designing their own games. These were all things they wanted to be writing, and, over years of this, they learned to write well.

Bribing with candy seems like a ridiculous idea because there is no connection. Get kids to see why writing is in their interest, how it increases their power, and they will want to write. period and very very simple.

the more learning is like school, the stupider it is. the more learning comes from living, the better, more enduring, more meaningful it is.