Conference moira::parenting

    One of the things that my daycare provider suggested was to have the
    kids practice cutting playdough instead of paper. It cuts easier so
    they don't get frustrated, and they start to get the idea of how to
    hold the scissors and get them to work.  
    
    Since your daughter does like to do artistic things, maybe you could
    try projects where she paints or colors something, then cuts it out and
    glues it on another piece of paper. My kids love cutting shapes and
    pasting them together to make things -- like making a person from
    circles, triangles and squares.  Perhaps her teacher also has some
    suggestions.
    
    

    
    Tara,
    
    Sounds like your Katina is a lot like my oldest son, Jason.
    His first preschool evaluation noted that he needed development
    in holding his pencil - he always had a very loose grip.  He
    is also a child that becomes easily frustrated if he can't do
    something perfect the first time.  Coupled with the fact that
    he has a hard time taking instruction from his parents, we 
    chose not to push him in this area or work too hard to develop
    the pencil-holding skill.  I didn't want him to development a
    resentment for writing.  His teacher agreed with this strategy 
    since he was doing real well in all other areas.
    
    I think young children tend to have areas that they both excel
    in and are weak in - further, these areas seem to change over
    time with regression in a typically strong area while a new
    skill is mastered.   To make a long story short, by the end of
    the preschool year his teacher's recommendation for a classroom
    for the following year (this year) was a class where writing is
    emphasized heavily.  He had progressed such that she felt he
    would have no trouble fitting into that classroom.
    
    So, I'd recommend working on the fine motor skills where it 
    fits in with activities that you normally do - and definitely
    make it fun; not "practice".
    
    Good luck!
    cj/

	My nephew had a similar problem, until his Grammy (a lefty) and his
	teacher realized he was left-handed!  Grammy got him a new
	pair of left-handed scissors, and he was using them properly
	in no time!

	Just on the off chance...

	Karen

    
    Tara,
    
    My daughter has some developmental delays and I tend to look closely
    at what she is doing. I have learned that I may have to live with a
    slight lag...that is, her friends always do it before she does and then
    she catches up and so what...
    
    If she seems to be gnerally behind in fine motor skills, you may want 
    to  work on it. Does she have a good pencil grip, can she thread large 
    beads, can she lace using large holes ? If it is just the scissors,
    give it time.
    
    Re: the alphabet, if she is making some letters, I think that's great.
    The day care teacher told me that kids generally learn the letters in
    their names first. Does she recognize other letters ? Is it recognition
    or is it forming letters. She may need help with visual motor skills ?
    Can she draw different shapes ? If she isn't interested in letters that
    are not in her name, I suppose you can get alphabet puzzles. I may even
    be ready to sell my BIG BIRD teaches the alphabet game. Make sure she 
    has 3 dimensional letters to play with, magnets, etc. 
    
    If you are worried, talk to the Chapter 766 folks about an evaluation
    but be very specific. I found the screening they did was not very
    thorough although it did point to a minor issue re: visual motor
    skills. A few months later, my daughter seems ot be working it through
    by herself; she has develoed an interest in drawing rectangles in the
    air using her fingers ! I think kids really do work on things they need 
    to work on when given a chance.
    
    Have fun drawing triangles and A's..
    
    Lucille 
    

>    Today, we got my four year old daughter's "pre-school evaluation" and in
>    it, her teachers mention her writing skills and use of scissors
>    (apparently these fine motor skills are related) needs development.
    
. . . 
    
>    o Should we be worried about this?
 
What kind of background does the preschool teacher have.  Does she have 
formal training in early childhood development?  Is she mainly comparing 
Katina with other kids?  Was this a routine evaluation of all kids, or was 
this a "special" evaluation?  If it was a "special" evaluation, did the 
teacher seem to see some cause for alarm?  Are her other skills (e.g. gross 
motor skills, verbal skills, vocabulary etc.) age-appropriate?
 
>    o What can we do to help her?

To the extent that some of these things are *aptitudes* rather than acquired 
skills, imo, you should not try to "help" her in the sense of teaching her to 
use scissors, or trying to get her to write letters like her friends.  If I 
were you, I'd talk with her pedi, and, if necessary, with a learning 
specialist.  And I wouldn't rush kindergarten, unless her other skills are 
advanced for her age.

Clay

    sometimes patience is in order.
    
    Carrie had NO interest in even writing her name until the July before
    she started kindergarten.  Once she graped (no pun intended) the
    concept of writing and  letters being important, she flew into it, like
    she had always written well.   On the other hand she managed tools
    well.  Possibly a side effect of having grown up in a house where
    remodeling has  always been a priority.
    
    meg

    You say the other kids write out the alphabet while she's only
    interested in the letters in her name. To me these are two different
    things: the ability to make the letters and the motivation. 
    
    I'm _only_ guessing, but it is quite possible that the alphabet is
    without interest because it doesn't really mean anything to her.
    Perhaps she'd be more into doing other letters if they had meaning,
    too. Do you have a cat or a dog or does she have an especial friend
    [whose name has other letters than K,A,T,I, & N]? Does she have a
    favorite game or food or anything? Perhaps showing her how to make the
    letters for something that has special meaning for her will aid the
    process.
    
    I mention this as a dear friend has a son who evaluated with a math
    skills deficiency when he was 4 or 5. For years upon years he was in
    special classes that focused upon very basic arithmetic and he never
    did well even at the easiest things. When he was 11, the family went to
    Europe and he could do exchange rates in his head like lightning. He
    didn't have a math problem; he just wasn't engaged.
    
      Annie

    Hi Tara,
    
    Rayna has trouble with fine motor skills....in first grade! (she's six
    now).  Last year we were concerned, and pushed a little with her, but
    now we're taking a more laid-back approach, and are focusing on her
    achievements.
    
    Writing without a doobie (sp?) -- one of those rubber finger-placement
    things -- is difficult.  She says her fingers hurt when she writes. 
    
    We've discussed it with her teacher, and she's not concerned...other
    areas of development are fine.
    
    It might be that Katina needs to be engaged in other ways as mentioned
    by other noters, or needs big, sturdy "kids tools" for writing,
    cutting, and drawing.  
    
    Lesley

This is a little off the wall, but do you have a computer with a mouse? My son was
2 when he started showing an interest in my PC. At first, he could barely move the
mouse (between his small hand and young coordination), and would overshoot his
destination a lot as he tried to zero in on it. However, I was absolutely amazed
at how fast he picked it up. He quickly learned how to control the mouse to move
the cursor to the desired location on screen, as well as to click on appropriate
areas (started out as long click down........click up, then moved to clicking
quickly as an adult would do it). 

This was an opportunity to observe his motor skills and eye-hand coordination
improve almost as I watched. I also built some simple programs that allowed him to
drag things around on screen, play my voice saying letters when he clicked on
them, etc. These focused his attention on controlling the mouse, giving him a
strong motivation.

Last year, when he was three, we bought a Mac (so I could have my PC back!), along
with some kid's software that uses lots of clicking and dragging, and he picked it
up even faster. I was surprised to see him manipulating on-screen controls that I
had not shown him (but that he seen me use once or twice). It blew my wife away
one time when he was having trouble getting something to respond, and I told him
"Double click on it." He did.

I have read claims that some adults refuse to go to graphical interfaces on their
computers because they lack the coordination to control the mouse. Now, at 4, my
son is fully in control of the interface. He just can't read any of the menu
options! (except "Exit", and he does know the Apple-Q key sequence)

    Thanks everyone for your advice!  This notes file is such a gem!
    
    We met with Katina's teachers earlier this week and they said not
    to worry or push her but that they will "provide opportunities"
    and we will at home too.  Because this was also mentioned at her
    spring evaluation (these are routine at her center), we want to
    take a position somewhere between "do nothing" and "practice, practice,
    practice!"
    
    Cathy, the cutting play dough was BIG hit!
                                                                    
    I also believe in modeling the behavior I'd like to see in her.  I
    realized Katina NEVER sees us write (we have 5 different types
    of computers at home, though, as mentioned in -1, she's a wizard with
    a mouse!)  The scrawled grocery list on the bulletin board doesn't count.  
    
    I'm going to make more of an effort to sit down and write things. 
    Maybe messages in her lunch box or something like that.  I know she'll 
    love it and probably want to write me back!