School Readiness | Writing Your Name

I registered my daughter for junior kindergarten last week and almost cried in the school office.  Anyone else with me?!  As I was filling out the questionnaire, I started to panic about all the things I wanted to do to prep her for school, and this post series was born.  Follow along with us as we explore different activities that will help your little one get ready for kindergarten.

Now a little disclaimer...none of these things are actually requirements to get into kindergarten and most kids will pick up these skills throughout the year, so if you don't do any of these things before the school year, please don't feel guilty.  On the flipside, it will surely help the teacher if your child can open/close their own snack containers or write their name so they can label their art projects on their own!

For today's post, we'll focus on learning to write the letters of the alphabet, with a special concentration on your child's name.  We'll be providing printables at the end of the post and suggest printing them out and putting them in page protectors in a binder.  That way, you can pull out the pages you want and have your child complete the activities using a dry erase marker.  You can use them again and again to torture...I mean teach your child.

Scroll down to the end to see all the printables we designed!

Keep in mind that writing doesn't happen overnight.  I've summarized the steps we went through below, so just start wherever is appropriate for your child.  If they're already able to hold a marker and draw straight lines, try starting the name tracing, and so on.

Steps to Teach Writing Your Name

1. Start with pre-writing activities (see the list below) if you haven't already.
2. Download and print out the sheets (start with lines practice, then move onto the alphabet and name).  The images for the downloads are at the bottom of the post.  Just click on the one you want and you can download the pdf!
   
   
3. For the name, I typed it out once and had my daughter trace it at first (Font: Coming Soon, font size: 200).
   
4. Next, have your child use the name as a guide to copy it.
   
5. Finally, have your child practice writing their name over and over on a blank sheet!
   
6. Erasing the sheet was just as much fun for her as the writing!  For more writing practice, have your child erase the lines by tracing over them with a q-tip.
   
   

Tip!  Slip the printables into pocket protectors and collect them in a binder.  Use the sheets with a dry erase marker so you can use them over and over again!

Pre-writing Activities (Things you can do before writing)

• strengthen hand and forearm muscles through activities like molding play dough, stringing beads, etc. (Check out this site and this one for other ideas!)
• learn the names of the letters using the alphabet song
• practice letter sounds (try using these examples)
• point out different letters in books, signs, etc.
• compare letters to different shapes (ex. a "p" is a ball on a stick, an "s" looks like a snake, etc.) 

Other Activities to Help your Child Write Their Name

• Sing the letters of their name to a familiar tune (I did Kiyomi's name to the tune of Bingo, but don't get me started about how she sings it, "K-Y-Y - O-M-I", or about how many times I've tried to correct her!)
• Draw letters in the air with a stick or finger
• Use fingers to draw the letters in different materials/textures like sand, salt, rice, on sand paper, on a squishy bag (ziploc filled with glue or paint) etc. 
• Use a dry erase marker or window writer to practice writing letters on the window, mirror, or even the fridge!  (Try it out first to make sure it will come off!)
•  Drive toy cars over letters to trace them

We started with writing names, and then moved onto the other letters of the alphabet.  You could do all the letters first, then the name, but I found that my daughter was more invested in writing the letters in her name (oh those egocentric children of ours).

Let us know how your name-writing goes!  And be sure to share other ideas you might have to help kids learn to print their names!

Printables:

This printable includes both horizontal (the image above) and vertical line practice (below)

This printable includes diagonal line practice includes both the page above and below.

Curved line practice includes the page above and below.

Best Back to School Tips

It's either the best time of year, or the worst, depending on your perspective.  That's right, the kids are heading back to school!  Before the squeals of glee or tears of dread escape, we've scoured the interwebs for the best tips on managing the craziness of the first week.

1. Collect some healthy and quick lunch and snack ideas. There are tons of great nut-free ideas on the internet!
   
   
   
   
2. Figure out your morning plan. Mornings are the worst if you are not organized! Plan to get everything organized the night before to make your mornings less stressful. Choose outfits, pack lunches/backpacks, and plan breakfast the night before. Have your keys, wallet, cell phone etc. ready by the door so you're not stranded searching for important items right before you have to leave. I have a bin where I keep "important" items I don't want to forget on a table near my front door.  I especially love the idea of setting up a "family launch pad" to really organize those hectic mornings!
3. Start adjusting your family schedule now (if you haven't already).  Children thrive on routine, and starting a predictable schedule during the summer can help ease them into the school year.  This is the time to adjust bedtime so they're getting to sleep early enough to get up in the mornings!  It might mean cutting back on some evening activities, but it'll be worth it when you don't have gremlins in the morning!
4. If your child is starting at a new school, see if you can go in early to meet the teacher and get a tour of the school. If you are unsure, make sure you call ahead to find out exactly what documentation is needed (i.e. immunization records).
5. Practice compassion and emotional intelligence at home, to prep for school interactions. Sadly, bullying is a common occurrence in schools today. Try out some of our tips, and get a conversation started with your kids!

   

   Obviously super excited about starting school.  Or about her mother making her pose for a photo.

6. Shop and prep school supplies and labels. This was always my favourite thing to do as a kid...and even now! If you are on a budget, dollar stores are a great place to buy everything you need (yay for Dollarama!).  Get your kids involved so they're more invested in taking care of their supplies!
   
7. Take your annual photo to commemorate the year.  There are lots of cute ideas out there! If you want to keep it simple, just have your kid hold up a sign with the grade they are starting.

   

   Tip!  Have your child hold up a blank piece of paper and add the text in after!

8. Make up a fun tradition to start the year. Maybe a family trip to the local ice cream shop to celebrate the first day of school? 
9. Organize your space. Plan to post a large family calender in a visible location so you can track activities/events easily. Make sure to update it regularly and plan to review it daily so you know exactly what is going on (you don't want to be that parent that forgot to send in the field trip form, do you?). Set up a homework station with accessible school supplies and carve out a time each day to review what your kids did in school (it's also a great way to keep the lines of communication open). Keep backpacks, lunch boxes/containers in the same location so you are not wildly searching for things.
10. Remind children of traffic and bus safety. Review schoolbus safety including use of seat belts, crossing the street safely, and the names of people who are allowed to pick them up from school etc.
    

Hope the back the school transition goes smoothly for everyone and good luck to all those mamas who have little ones starting kindergarten! We will be in the same boat next year...yikes!

What are your best tips for prepping for back to school?  Let us know so we can start preparing ourselves now!