Children Names

[Guest]

Hi i work in a small preschool which is attached to the school we are in a mobile classroom next door to the reception and year one class. In july we are saying goodbye to 10 children all of which are going to the reception class .We recently went over top the reception class to share in with there Easter crafts and the teachwer asked me why do i write the childrens names for them.I was told we are there to help them learn through play and to encourage their fine motor skillsand mark making we do activities where the children go from the left to the right ie tractor ploughing fields etc when we did on the farm and harvest.I know some schools do not want you to teach them as they like them to learn when they get to school .i also wouldn't want the children to do their letters the wrong way and have to be re tought. The children have their names on magnetic labels for our self register but surely if i get the children to copy these they could learn to do it wrong. My friends little girl goes to a nursery and they use dots for them.HELP WHAT DO I DO ANY ADVICE PLEASE

Caz

[hali]

we are in a preschool and start by getting the children to write over (trace ) thier names when ready, fiollow on by using dots or children copying thier names underneath where we write their names, most but not all by the time they start school can write thier names independantly

[Rea]

If the children are ready to write their name, just make sure you show them the correct way to form each letter. I've seen children follow the lines of the letters but by doing random strokes and starting and finishing in odd places. I personally didnt touch letters for exactly the reason of not wanting to teach it wrong. Would the school be happy to give some input to the children who are showing an interest?

[aliamch]

At our preschool we were told we should encourage children to 'write' their names purely to help their pen posture. Most of our children leave to join a school nursery class and thats when they are taught to form letters before they start reception. The school nursery my son goes to gives out sheets to parents that shows how to form letters correctly and I asked them if we could use those if we ever needed to, perhaps your school could provide you with something similar as your children go straight into reception.

Karrie

[Guest]

On work placement during my training, I had to carry out an activity that encouraged children with writing their names. At the time, the setting I was on placement in didn't have name labels, so I dotted each of the children's names on to individual pieces of paper. When I went into the setting and asked my supervisor if I could carry out the activity, I showed her what I had made and explained that I wanted the children to trace over their names and was told that tracing names did not allow children to develop a 'natural' writing posture. Therefore, I was not allowed to do it. The supervisor dotted some words on a piece of paper to prove her point and she told me to try it, so I did and she was right. I was all crouched over the paper, and by the end of it, my arm was aching! It was the guidance of the LA at the time, that children do not trace letters etc.

 

In the end I had to adapt the activity and write names on seperate name labels for the children to 'copy'. I don't know why, but this has always stuck with me and ever since then, I have been anti tracing names. It's difficult at work when others encourage Natalie to do it because I want to tell them I don't like it!

[mundia]

Ill be following this thread with interest as name writing has become quite a heated topic in our school recently.

 

Generally speaking we encourage children to 'have a go' at their name as soon as they are start, as a means of enabling them to identify their paintings etc, and to develop independence. This does mean that their initial attempts (this is nursery) may be a series off dots lines and circles, (as well as the I cant ...you do it for me ) but they do then take ownership of their 'signature'. Sometimes we will add their name afterwards on the back if we don't recognize their personal signature.

We do lots of patterns and write dance and gross motor movement to encourage development of the movements need for writing and letter formation and we introduce letter formation when we see that children are ready. Our heated debate has been about name tracing, so Im really very keen to hear what others say about this. Im not sure of the purpose of this as I find children less willing to move away from this to writing on their own and so often feels is creates a dependence and Ive not yet seen evidence to suggest that children name writing is any better when they move from tracing to copying to writing. I also feel that if a child snt ready to form letters then what are we asking them to trace them for because they aren't ready? If they are ready, then they can have a go themselves.

Id love to hear what others think and do.

[Marion]

I'm not a fan of tracing names either I find children are actually colouring in the lines rather than forming letters in the correct sequence so it just promotes bad habits. It is far better in my opinion that children are shown how to write their name and allowed to make their own 'signature'. Also as Mundia says children are more reluctant to 'have a go'. I do feel there is a place for tracing just not letters and names.

[Guest]

I agree with Marion. Are the children just colouring, or completing a given task without the underpinning knowledge? Of course we are all different in our approach which is great! I start with introducing the letters of their names, making it into a game. I make pelmanism cards with the child's photo on one, and another card with their initial letter in capitals - 1 each for each ofmy keyworker group. We then play the game as a group, turning 2 over and trying to match the face with the correct letter. At about the same time I write their names on blank playing cards, one for each letter of their name. I put them in an envelope with their name written on the outside so they can refer to it if they need to. The idea is to see if they can muddle all the cards up and then make their names. Another idea that works well is hard to describe! I print out their names on a sheet of paper, one letter in a box. Then laminate it fold a flap over the top to cover it up and cut individual flaps so that each letter has a flap...... are you with me? I'll try and post an example, much easier! I'll attach some others too - a letter search game 'can you put a circle around the initial letter of your name?', also name recognition fish outlines. Type in their names, laminate and cut out, add a paper clip and make a fishing game. Only when I am sure they are comfortable with recognising their names do they start more formal name writing activities such as the daily sheet. We prefer writing in icing sugar, chocolate pudding, cornflour gloop, wet sand, dry sand, paint at easel with big brush, smaller brush, cotton bud.... its really down to knowing your children as to what and how many different activities to present them with! What's important is to keep it fun! There were lots of ideas about markmaking on a recent topic but I don't know how to put a link here. Perhaps a search would help.

Name_recogn._cards.doc

FIND_YOUR_LETTER.doc

name_recog_fish_outlines.doc

Daily_name_writing_sheet.doc

[whippersnappers]

Hi, at our nursery we print each child's name out in large font on half a piece of A4 paper, this is then laminated. The cards are put out when we do activities, and children are encouraged to copy their own names onto their work. Ther is always a member of staff watching so once a child has finnished their work the member of staff will write their name on the reverse so we know who did it.

[Guest]

When our children start at three we expect them to make a make a mark that is their signature. We then work with a drip drip effect to help them hold pencil correctly and to form straight and circle lines that will feed into correct formation later. We do lots of big movements with handwriting language outside and inside playing at imaginery things-painting the fence down and up for instance, then use same language to descibe letter formation as they do it. The children see a reason to write their names and then begin to see learning to write as something that will come, and that they CAN do it. There is no force-just a culture of high expectation and support. Our children are all at different stages but are usually writing names by the beginning of F2. It seems to work.

We too have name cards and the children can access these by themselves or use their planning cards or coat peg names. They choose. We will gather the cards and use them for names for special occasions and tell them it helps to get their letters in the right order. There is so much teaching that can be done from names and the children are motivated highly because it has meaning for them.

[Guest]

Hi,

 

I have been using highlighter pen for many years now to encourage children to write their name.

We start with writing the childs name on all pictures in the highlighter pen and children write on top. Once they can confidently write on the highlighter pen, we then (if they haven't already done so) encourage them to start writing their name underneath. This is showing them how to write their name, to recognise the letters and for them to understand the letters and how they are formed.

80% of my children leave pre school been able to write a recognisable name with letters correctly formed.

I also link up with the local feeder schools to find out how they form letters and if they use cursive letter forming.

I also ask them what reading tree they use. I then let the children take home a book every week from this reading tree to help the parent/child homelink.

I again have been doing this for 5 years and find it very effective to form a parent/child bond ready for homelink work from school, it also is very comforting for the child to begin school with some familiar resources and confidence.

Pre school is play and learning through play but they all need a little guidance in the right direction from settings that can provide 1:4 ratios compared to school 1:10+ ratios.

May I also add that the children also have access to different activities to help themselves develop naturally such as play doh, paint, sand trays, shaving foam trays and any other kind of activities that you can think of. This is part of our everyday routine and is part of the norm, not a sit down lesson.

 

Net x

Edited April 21, 2007 by net franklin

[Guest]

We too have name cards and the children can access these by themselves or use their planning cards or coat peg names. .

 

 

I am fascinated, having just started high scope, what are your planning cards like?