Guest Posted May 6, 2010 Posted May 6, 2010 Gathering opinion...what do you think of pencil control sheets? I need to know what your thinking...for instance our children have been mad about bugs and worms this week and these sheets have been brought in to the classroom ( 2 - 4 year olds) to access....ladybirds with dots to join up.....caterpillars to join together with lines...etc.... I wait with baited breath!
laura Posted May 6, 2010 Posted May 6, 2010 (edited) I would put them in the writing corner and let them access them if they want. As long as you promote early fine motor control in other ways too I don't see a problem. For example we have been making snail trails and patterns in cornflour gloop today after the children found snails and we were looking at their shells. Next week I will probably put a simple snail pencil control sheet in the writing corner. Some children love to do things like this. Edited May 6, 2010 by laura
Guest Posted May 6, 2010 Posted May 6, 2010 Yeh that is what I done...just dont feel good about it...I had certain members of staff (the one that is soo keen for all children to be writing paragraphs before they are 5) thrusting these sheets on children....I am happy for them to scribble on them or whatever......but I feel they are a form of worksheet really and wonder whether to just get rid of them......
sunnyday Posted May 6, 2010 Posted May 6, 2010 (edited) I think Laura's hit the nail on the head - it's all about how they are presented - if they are in writing area/mark-making table for children's free access that's one thing........... However if they are being presented in 'worksheet style' and children expected to complete them then I would feel that's a big no no! Does that make sense? Ah we crossed posts there! Edited May 6, 2010 by sunnyday
thumperrabbit Posted May 6, 2010 Posted May 6, 2010 We are the same they are available on mark making table if they choose along with the lined paper, coloured paper, squared paper, plain paper etc We just make sure we never have an 'adult led' activity as a pencil control sheet. I confess we also offer colouring in sheets and these are seen as a 'no no' by some people too! However this is the only way to get some of our boys mark making.
Guest Posted May 6, 2010 Posted May 6, 2010 but I feel they are a form of worksheet really and wonder whether to just get rid of them...... Whilst I would certainly say using them worksheet style is a huge no no, it would be a shame to get rid of these altogether. From my experience some children absolutely love things like this so I would say adding them to the mark making area would definitely be the way to go. I have mazes and various other fine motor control sheets in mine and the children use them regularly. Actually one thought could be to do what we have done and have a few of each sheet laminated and put in the mark making area for use with whiteboard pens. You could then get rid of the paper ones if you really felt that this was the only way to stop staff using them as worksheets, plus the advantage of the laminated ones is that it saves on paper and photocopying, and of course using laminated sheets and whiteboard pens just adds another element of interest for younger children! Oh and I have to confess we use colouring in sheets too! The children love them and they do improve fine motor skills so they aren't entirely worthless. I think as long as they are offered along with plenty of free creative opportunities and the children aren't forced to use them there shouldn't be a problem with them. The majority of children will use colouring books at home anyway so it's not like we can somehow 'protect' them from whatever evil influences colouring sheets might have!
laura Posted May 6, 2010 Posted May 6, 2010 Ours love colouring in sheets too. On another note, we share the care of a little boy who goes to special school, one of his IEP targets is to do pencil control sheets. This has been set by the school as they see him more often.
Susan Posted May 6, 2010 Posted May 6, 2010 You cant improve pencil skills without using a pencil as the tool and these sheets are a very good way of getting a child to make controlled marks with a pencil and I would always be arguing for their use as such.
dublinbay Posted May 7, 2010 Posted May 7, 2010 We have these in our mark making drawer along with colouring-in sheets which our children hardly ever access. I agree with previous comments that so long as children aren't made to do them but are available should they wish to.
Guest Posted May 7, 2010 Posted May 7, 2010 my children love drawing on a white board with a white board pen and then using an old whiteboard pen (no ink left in it) to rub out their work. Its great for hand eye coordination and they think it is really funny to trace over their work and rub it all out. When they do this is reminds me of pencil control sheets, mrsW.x
emmajess Posted May 7, 2010 Posted May 7, 2010 my children love drawing on a white board with a white board pen and then using an old whiteboard pen (no ink left in it) to rub out their work. Its great for hand eye coordination and they think it is really funny to trace over their work and rub it all out. When they do this is reminds me of pencil control sheets, mrsW.x What a clever and fun way of doing this!
catma Posted May 7, 2010 Posted May 7, 2010 I always preferred the laminated versions of anything like that just to ave the waste of paper. Cx
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