Valentines

We knew this when Kaylen was little, but we've especially re-learned it this week: Valentines are an awesome way for kids to learn how to write their names!

Elijah has been doing pretty well writing his first name for quite a while. He even knows how to spell it without looking. He'd been putting the dot on the bottom of his "i", but I think that is even corrected now.Josephine has really struggled writing her name. First, she just doesn't have great small-motor skills - still scribbles a lot instead of drawing things/shapes on blank paper. Second, she has a long first name. Third, she has a few really curvy letters that are hard to write. Also, she usually gets frustrated by how hard they are, and says, "I can't". But yesterday and today, the excitement of giving out Valentine cards (with candy!) to all of her friends at daycare, was just the motivation she needed to practice - and she's doing awesome!

We did these on Saturday - I wanted to work on this anyway. It wasn't so much fun, but they did pretty good (with some erasing to get them the right sizes and spacing).Last night, Daddy helped Josephine sign these. Helping her hold the pencil gave her just the confidence she needed.Tonight after supper, she got right to work on the rest of them. She was so cute, she kept hollering from the dining room, "Mommy, I made a 's'! I made my 'e'!" Then when she finished her whole name, she ran to show me each completed card. So fun!
Next up: the last name!