Homeschool World Forum

[BusyMom]

hi ther ladies
i just wanted to know... how is a 3.5 yo suppose to be coloring?
my son colors well...wth oil crayons.. but he simply cannot color wth pencils!!!he jus scribbles..

how do i teach him how to color? like how to hold the pencil... and to go only one direction not all over!
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Homeschooler soon!

[Miss_Kristy]

Well, my 2.5 year old can hold a pencil and crayon correctly. But he sees his older brother and sister doing it. So, I guess he learned from them.

Is he 'suppose to' be able to - I don't really know. I won't be sending him to Pre-K so I don't have to worry about him "keeping up" with everybody else.

I'd say, the best way to teach him how to do something is to do it yourself while he watches. You know, Monkey see Monkey do!

I'm sure he'll catch on. Have fun!!!

[gardening momma]

It took my daughter a long time before she could color decently, and if she's not in the mood, she still doesn't do that great. She's 4 1/2 now. Sometimes she colors everything all one color. She doesn't stay inside the lines yet. But when she wants to, she can color more precisely, use a variety of colors, and think about what color she wants to color different parts of the picture.

A year ago she rarely did more than a faint scribble. At church she'd get hardly any of her picture done by the time the other kids had finished their pictures.

I wouldn't really worry about it. It'll come with time. If he colors lightly, you might take his hand (with the crayon in his hand) and show him that he can press down harder to make a darker line. Don't press on the crayon when you do this, press on his hand so he can feel the pressure, then see the difference of the crayon mark on the paper. If he holds the crayon too limply when you try to do this, encourage him to hold it tighter so you can draw together.

Encourage him to scribble in circles, up and down, and back & forth (across). You can take a crayon and draw a circle, vertical line, horizontal line, etc... and ask him to copy it ("Can you do that? Make a circle!")

When you say he colors with oil crayons, are you referring to an artist's crayon, or a regular Crayola-type kids' crayon? And I wouldn't worry about him using pencils right now, I think they take a little more pressure to make a mark than a crayon.

[momo3boys]

The shorter the implement the easier the grasp. Short crayon with no paper are perfect for little fingers learning how to color. Keep showing the correct way but don't put too much pressure on it. Some kindergarteners still don't get it right. Boys tend to be especially slow in this area. They like the gross motor more than the fine. Don't worry he will be fine.

If you can find those cheap small markers those work well too.
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Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

[gardening momma]

Another thing I'd add is to try to find other fine motor skill activities for him to do, or else he'll get totally sick of coloring all the time.

Playdough would be good, since it'll help strengthen the muscles in his hands, and he'll learn to manipulate the playdough...both things will help with control of a crayon or pencil.

[momo3boys]

[Jill]

My kids never liked coloring nad weren't really "good" at it either....ESPECIALLY if it was a "coloring book" type page.
They liked to draw but rarely colored their pictures in.
Now, my youngest (10) is an excellent artist, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.
Best wishes.
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Jill
http://www.homeschool-by-design.com
Where love and learning go hand in hand.

[momo3boys]

If you guys ever get to go to those highlights parties (like Tupperware) they have a great drawing book that is the about 24"x8" and has half drawn picture in it. I brought it to the preschool when my boys were going and I was so impressed by the diverse pictures that were made from these pieces of a picture. If you go on amazon you can find a "non-coloring" book too, but it is a bit expensive. Graph paper is also a great medium to use, it helps children with muscle control and with the going from line to line for their future handwriting, You can download free adobe graph paper here. http://incompetech.com/graphpaper/

This has to be my favorite homeschool website ever!
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Phi 4:13 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

[Jazzy]

My 7 year old still doesn't color well with colored pencils. I would not worry about it at all!

Carletta
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