Good Activities and Products for Helping Pre-schooler Learn to Write

kumon's good...as is http://www.hwtears.com/

We didn't use handwriting without tears (although some friends have)...but what we DID do was co-opt their blackboard/whiteboard lower case writing system.

LeapPad PLUS writing is excellent for the basics & fun practice for little ones, but they don't have too many books that go with the system. Maybe 10. Regardless, my son used is from about 3-5 years old, intermittently.

In my son's preschool the teachers were fond of multi-media. AKA : Shaving cream on windows, painting on an easel, black rocks on white sand, Hershey's Chocolate syrup reverse fingerpainting, air drawing, etc. Things that while not technically writing, got the children used to making those shapes and their details, with their arms & fingers...so the eye and body started to coordinate. Plus...who DOESN'T like playing in shaving cream/chocolate/what have you?

In school right now: We're taking the children's favorite poems/quotes/stories and having the kids write them down. We do it in a few different stages depending on the writing practice needed :

Stage One : Entire selection is typed &gray-scaled in MSWord & printed, so that the children trace over the letters. Obviously we use a simple font and large size ;)

Stage Two : Uses the double lines, to work on letter size

Stage Three : Has single lines, for straight practice.

We then glue their quote/poem on a colorful piece of paper.

Writing can be a PITA...even as adults who are used to writing get hand cramps if we have to do it for very long. People who've not developed those muscles yet get tired and cramped and frustrated MUCH faster. One trick I used to keep my own perspective while teaching my son to write was to teach myself to write with my left hand. It's amazing how hard that can be...even when with your other hand you've been letter perfect for decades.

Good Luck & have fun!
Z.

Our just-3 year old LOVES reading and has knows her numbers and letter by sight for over a year. She can read her name and spell it. However, she is only now catching up with her drawing skills. I found some great, inexpensive books at the bookstore and even more on Amazon.com by Kumon: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw?url=search-alias%3Da...

They have books for many ages. They state the appropriate ages right on the cover and I purchased a few of the 3-4-5 ones. Two of her favorites are:
http://www.amazon.com/First-Uppercase-Letters-Kumon-Workb...

http://www.amazon.com/Book-Numbers-1-30-Kumon-Workbooks/d...

The great thing about them is that they build up their skills. I especially like how Kumon does the Uppercase Letters one. They start with a few pages of just horizontal and vertical lines for them to draw. Then they work on letters with only horizontal and vertical lines (for example, it started with L, T & H). Then diagonal, curved lines, etc. Working on the same letters over and over. At the back of all their books is a certificate for when they've completed the books. There's a spot for their name and date on each lesson and I plan on keeping (at least some) of the books for keepsake purposes. It will be neat to see how she picks up the different things (we also have cutting, folding, mazes and 1-2 more). Check online, I ordered them a few weeks ago on Amazon and they had a promotion where many of the books were buy 3 titles and get another free PLUS free shipping over $25).

Our daughter also goes to daycare 4 hours a week and our daycare lady has started preschool activities with a few of them. She gets most of her activities online and just prints them out. Here's one site I found from a quick Google search:
http://www.first-school.ws/

I'm a WAHM so I don't get to do as many activities as I would like with out daughter, but I also do make activities for her to do. One that I haven't tried yet (but have been thinking about doing) is writing her name (or letters) large on a piece of paper. Give them a bingo dauber to daub the lines - tracing them easily. I have also printed out sheets of numbers and such. I just use a very large, simple font (like Arial Black) and make it outlined. This lets her color in the letters or numbers all while letting her get used to making the shape.

The books are great, however, because it keeps it all in one place and my daughter loves sitting down to have "preschool time". :-)

I'm an elementary teacher and I know kiddos LOVE writing in different materials. Get a box full of sand and teacher her to write her letters with her fingers, a stick, or pencil. Anything you can make and impression into will work. Make some spaghetti and use the noodles to make the letter on paper?
Good luck