DD1 is just 4 years old (at nursery, starts reception next September) and enjoys drawing and colouring and things like that. However, she holds her pen so that her index finger and middle finger are over the pen and ring finger and little finger are under it ... I think that's one too many fingers on top and her middle finger should be underneath! I've tried holding my pen like she does and it's a real strain and the teacher said it's not going to be easy for her to write easily/let the pen flow if she continues in this way.
My question is ... if she's been at nursery for a year now and is still holding her pens this way, should I just leave it to the teachers to correct/teach her or should I be trying to encourage her to do it properly too? For all of those people who think that's a simple question, it's a bit trickier than that because I'm one of those mothers who's got one of those children who does NOT like to be instructed by them and, generally speaking, if I try to gently encourage her in a certain direction then she'll just stop what she's doing and not want to do it any more. So, the question is actually more like ... at 4 years old and with another couple of terms at nursery, do I leave her to enjoy her drawing and don't correct her (possibly leading to it being even more difficult to change her grip later on) OR do I try and gently correct her but risk putting her off drawing/colouring??
I would appreciate the opinions of anyone who's been through this and come out the other side please - or any other teachers.
As a final thing, I'm sure I've heard about special rubber things that slide on to pencil's which help teach the children to put their fingers in the right place. Has anyone heard of them or used and, if so, are they any good and, if so, where do you get them from?
Many thanks in advance.
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4yr old DD1 REFUSES to let us correct her pen grip ...
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Snowstorm · 01/12/2006 14:07
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