When a child begins to show her interest in writing, usually by around four years of age, it is an exciting time for parents. However, it is important for the parents to inculcate in their child ‘pre-writing skills’ – fundamental skills that children need to develop before they are able to write.

'Pre-writing skills are essential for a child to be able to develop the ability to hold and move a pencil fluently and effectively and therefore produce legible writing,' according to an article, Writing Readiness (Pre-Writing) Skills, published in www.childdevelopment.com.au. When these skills are underdeveloped, it can lead to frustration, resistance to writing, low self-esteem and poor academic performance.

Writing legibly requires well-developed fine motor skills, which improve the ability to control small precise movements with the fingers, wrists and hands. Tracing shapes and patterns, joining the dots, copying lines, drawing and colouring are good pre-writing tasks for your child.

Working with play dough, writing or drawing on a vertical surface like a blackboard, using tweezers and tongs, sliding beads on a string, writing in the sand and cutting out figures using scissors are others (of course, parental supervision is required when tasks involve using sharp instruments).

Do not be too eager to teach your child how to write letters and numbers. Instead, have fun drawing together, copying shapes and colouring them. And, praise your child's effort as her skills develop!

To know more about the topic, read this ClipBook, which is a curation of useful links.