Guest Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Hi I have just been on a course all about writing without tears - an american company that focus on using capital letters first before moving onto lower case. I have always known that teaching capitals hinders a child later on as they need to learn lower case. Do you have ideas on this please Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susan Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Ive had it recommended for a child with special needs by OT before. Tina Bruce advocates capital letters as that fits with Schemas. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mundia Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 Im not keen on it myself, but there are some advocates of it. One thing you do need to consider is that it is American and designed for children from kindergarten upwards which in the US, is usually 5+, and therefore was NOT written to be used by 3-4 year olds. I think you would also need to consider if you are working with 5 year olds, how writing in capitals links with using a phonics approach for teaching reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 4, 2011 Share Posted May 4, 2011 I've not heard of this approach before so perhaps I'm missing something completely but does it not make more sense to teach the letters that we use most first? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 5, 2011 Share Posted May 5, 2011 I will speak to my early years advisor next week. I did ask about this - it is used in the borough of Merton...................... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 I'd be very cautious about it - adopt some of the ideas but you would need to adapt it for your age group (as it is as Mundia says it is for 5-6 i.e. Year 1) plus it is written for the American curriculum demands and not for the UK market. We don't teach capital letter formation until middle of year 1. Before then we are fighting a battle of teaching the children NOT to use capital letters in their name and also in their writing. To put it mildly, as a Literacy co-ordinator and year 1 and former Reception teacher, it is a nightmare to undo this. It was a huge problem in an area where I worked before where I do now, as most of the parents taught their children to write in capital letters because they did it when filling in forms. I know Jolly Phonics and Read Write Inc teach letter formation for lower case letters so am concerned about how confused the children would get if using the two approaches. Also one of the AFs for Level 1 & 2 in writing is using capital letters with accuracy. Basically, it seems a lot of hard work in terms of adapting it for your age group. If I was given something written for Year 3 and had to adapt for Year 1, I'd leave it alone and google unless the Head was about to give non-contact time to do so - hardly likely in this climate! I'd think about what it is you are wanting to achieve through this programme and search for something that has been used by others over here and matches our curriculum/framework. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 I absolutley agree, we focus on mark making in all areas and in all forms - however it is live in Merton. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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