Signature Skills

We were writing out Christmas cards today (yes, only just today), and for a select couple of cards, we invited the kids to write their names in themselves. It was for a select few only, because if we did this for every card, it would take about a week to fill them all out, plus the recipients would not know who the card was from, what with all the scribbling inside and all over the printed text.

We know that 4.5 yr-old Astro can spell his own name and can print out letters; it's just that his letters, when written out together to form a word, make his communications look like ransom notes. You know: Really big first letter, teeny tiny next letter, oversized and slanted next letter, then the following letter is written below the previous letter, then the next letter is scrunched up over in the corner of the page somewhere.

Rainbow, at 2.5 yrs of age, can draw shapes and some letters, but it's all quite rudimentary. I expected to see squiggles and pen-tip-punched holes as her "signature" on the card.

Both Astro and Rainbow affixed their John Hancocks; then I looked at the finished product, and was amazed: both "signatures" looked to be at about the same skill level, each with quasi-legible and readable (if you squint somewhat) letters.

Which means either Rainbow is more advanced in her writing skills than I have been giving her credit for, or Astro needs some more attention from the Printing Fairy. Or a little of both.

We haven't yet employed any "formal" writing (meaning, printing) instruction; just using the ol' ball-and-stick method. But I've heard of programs, like Handwriting Without Tears and some other methods out there that sound promising. What handwriting methods do you use, and what do you like about them?