Getting a grip on pen grips

Sure you had days you can't help but compare developmental milestones, among siblings, cousins, friends' kids... Not to belittle each child's abilities but to actually celebrate them. And to worry about your own kids not doing what the rest of the world is.

Kuya B held the pencil with the perfect tripod grasp at 1 year 2 mos. I had no problems with the other fine motor skills except with cutting since he's a lefty. I wouldn't want him to get used to a pair of lefty scissors (yes there's such). Baby girl at 18mos. is already on static tripod (see chart). She just picked up a regular pencil and doodled away.

Here's the progression of pen grasps per age level. This is from  this site.

But with Diko M, every manual stroke seems difficult - from writing, coloring, cutting, pasting. I want to blame the iPad for that, or the laptop trackpad (he does it like a champ, and we don't mouse around). But I guess he just happens to be built that way.

rubber triangular grip reinforcement

Like many other, I used the biggie crayons. Oh was he unhappy with those. Then I gave him the jumbo pencils (Boo, Mommy, Boooo!); all the more was he frustrated. I also tried using the triangular rubber grips to improve his grasp, but he'd remove them and use them for the Nerf guns (gah). Then he wanted to use Kuya's regular crayons. He held them so tight, he'd break them everytime. He'd be contented and calm in peeling the crayons' paper labels (I think I did that too back in preschool), breaking the crayons into tiny bits.  He despised writing. He later on preferred markers.

I saw this video on how to teach the correct pen grasp. This is brilliant! But heck, when I taught Diko that, he would be holding the pencil using his thumb and index. He'd be toying with the method before he traces letters/numbers, and would be spending a lot of time twirling the pencil instead.

Then alas, while he was coloring (I dumped all of our crayons in a plastic basket, broken and intact), he picked up the really shortest one and voila! He was using the dynamic tripod grip without me prompting! I'm sure you know what I did next.

One for each basic 8 colors; not more than an inch approx.

Now, he's writing like a champ! No more frustration fits! He prefers the crayons more than the pencil, but I know we'll come to that. This Momma doesn't care how long.

So when you're panicky like me, caught up in a when-will-my-child-do-this moment, seek comfort through the verse "There is an appointed time for everything. And there is a time for every event under heaven (Ecclesiastes 3:1). Guess I myself haven't mastered the trust-and-wait skill yet. 

Touching the real stuff

I used to look at my 3 kiddies (6, 3, and 18mos) navigate their way through my iPhone, or the iPad with such adoration. I mean, I was surprised with how fast they were able to learn to manipulate these gadgets by themselves. I found (past tense) it real cute that they can operate it, unlock, and even take pictures and record videos. Now that were homeschooling, I realized that my leniency over gadget use have made them lazy. My nightmare was they'd become the people in Wall-E, fat and glued to their screens.

And so, (drum roll) --

Ze Momma has finally stepped up. This lady has laid her iron hand when it comes to technology use. And yeah, that involved a lot of tears (and I mean a lot!), table banging (as my Kuya B, my eldest is a budding drummer), and stomping feet (Diko M has humongous legs mind you). But I have to compose my sobbing heart and say, "The laptop, the iPhone, the iPad, are not space fillers. We have a library. Spend your extra time with a book. Read it, look at the pictures, and then when you've touched 2 books in a day, then you can tinker on those things for not more than 45 minutes."

I've realized how the touch revolution had made my 2 preschool sons always rushing to finish their writing activities. Plus they've become very impatient with erasing mistakes and correcting them. Not to mention frequent frustration with themselves and anger fits with the paper or pencil. Diko M's also struggling to hold a writing/coloring tool, be it a pencil, a crayon, or a paintbrush, and I'll blog about our grip success next time. 

This is Diko M watching videos on Youtube, like-a-bawsss!

So I think around 2 weeks after the gadget decree was imposed, this was the scenario during our choice period--

Kuya B: (While holding and literally putting his face on an encyclopedia) Mommy, I love the smell of books! Of paper...and magazines. This book smells so good!

His words were music to this Momma's ears! A bookworm like me, who later on metamorphosed into a butterfly, has finally given birth to one. Now he spends time with books without me prodding, bribing, and physically bringing him to the shelves. As a bonus, Diko M, Kuya's #1 fan, copies what his older brother does. Kuya specifically wants illustrated ones, as he would copy the pictures first before he finally digests the material.

The kiddies watching stop-motion shorts of Marvel toys. 

In an article, Is technology good for little kids? , by Parents.com, they have listed steps in taking charge of your child's technology diet. I must say, I was struck by lightning when it said, "Fire the electronic babysitter." I'm so bad at this, you know. When I'm exhausted and the children are cranky, I'm almost always tempted to say, "Alright, go to the laptop," or "Here's the iPad." But then, seeing the results of my techie rules deserve a preacher who actually preaches, knowing that the decree is also for me.

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Our homeschool has been really busy, it deserves a new blog altogether! After a month long hiatus, I've finally mustered my scattered neurons. Time to write again! :)