My 4 year old can recognize all the letter and knows the phonic sounds. She can even sound out some words to spell them, but she shows no interest in practicing writing any letters besides her name. I have workbooks, but she doesn't want to do them, and I'm not going to push them on her. Do you have any ideas for making writing letters fun? What has worked for you?

Handwriting Without Tears is BY FAR the BEST handwriting program. My ds LOVED the stamp and see screen and the wood pieces, the roll a dough letters, basically he loved the whole program b/c it's fun and just 2 months ago I couldn't get him to write anything even though he's starting to read easy words, now he can write every letter and is printing his name legibly. I can't recommend the program highly enough. You can buy it online, you can also look on ebay but I found in my seach that ebay prices go just as high as buying it new from them. You can also try Rainbow Resource Center, Inc., they sell some of the items cheaper.

If you don't want to buy something, you can try "writing" with her fingers in a tactile way first-like in colored rice, shaving cream, making letters out of playdough, that kind of thing.

__________________

A woman is like a teabag. You never know how strong she is until she gets into hot water.-Eleanor Roosevelt

My son first started writing his on a small chalkboard I have hanging in his closet.

Another thought was my son just watched a "Little Bill" episode just recently where Little Bill says "if you send a letter you get a letter". SO, my son wrote a letter (with pictures, etc) to his cousins. I made sure to tell my sister the send a letter, get a letter rule. He was SO excited at the thought of getting mail. He did end up getting a letter back with letters from each of his 3 cousins, plus little tattoos, stickers, all sorts of fun things. He immediately wanted to write them back again!

HTH!!!

__________________
Stay at home mom to my 3 boys... ages 5, 3 & 1!

I can do all things through CHRIST who strengthens me. Philippians 4:13

have you tried picking a letter for each day you do it? we do that(we have finished our work books and are filling in the time until pre-k starts) like we did the letter c he wrote a huge c on contruction paper we then made a potato stamp of the letter c for paper and made a pic a cow picture to show a word that starts with c.. kinda like a theme day then he tried to guess what things around the house start with c.. he has enjoyed that.

My DS is 3 and a half with no interest in writing letters though I know he can... here's what we do:

use pudding (or flour) on a plate

use sidewalk chalk

use a dry-erase board (he likes the large size)

use the dry-erase markers on a large mirror or window (easily cleanable)

anything fun to get him interested in practicing.

Another thing that works is I have him do "homework" with me (since I am a student). He sits with me and writes because he sees me do it. If you are not a student, your child may get a kick out of writing with you while you do the bills, make a grocery list, or even write him a letter for his memory book.

I wouldn't push it. I live in Germany and my son has just started school at the age of 6. He could write his name and a few words, but other than that did not show too much interest. Children learn once they get to school, if you do too much beforehand he or she may be bored at school!

My dd loves to write on a chalkboard with colored chalk. Of course she gets messy because she wipes it with her hands but it has really helped her out. I couldn't get her to even hold a pencil for a while.

__________________
Wife to GT
Mommy to Katie, Miller, Savannah, JJ, Mason, and Austin

I don't agree with this mentality. Have you ever heard of Born Learning? Pushing is not a good idea but offering creative solutions and fun activities stimulates their mind!

The other ladies have already mentioned most of my ideas. Great job!

Stacia, I will have to check out your recommendation. Thanks.