We began the year with the simplest of writing tools on our writing table - markers, short color pencils, and crayons. Last week we added scissors, and over the next month or two we will add tape dispensers and hole punchers to the mix. These are activities that kids can engage in to help with fine motor development. In order for children to gain comfort and control of a writing tool, say a pencil for kindergarten, they need to have enough muscle strength and hand control. The types of tools we’re offering in the classroom (and plan to offer) will help with this task.
We have heard from some kids that they are not allowed to use scissors at home. Understandable as they are sharp and can occasionally cause some damage (to a good haircut) if not monitored properly. At school, usually one of us is at the table to observe, assess and demonstrate how scissors work. It is not second nature to slip the hand into the correct position to cut paper. First, a child needs to understand how they work- that with the closing and opening of the two handles, they can make a cut in paper. Next they have to figure out how to hold them to make the tool work. The two kinds of scissors we’ve started off with in our classroom have springs to automatically open the scissors and only require the hand to squeeze the scissors closed. Often when kids first use scissors that have the two holes where the fingers go and no spring, they will use both hands to open and close the scissors which then keeps them from being able to hold the paper they want to cut. Eventually we will introduce the scissors without the springs and work with kids on how to position their fingers inside the scissor handle, but for now we want them to have the experience of squeezing the scissors closed with one hand and holding their paper with the other.
At the beginning of using scissors, a fringe cut is very common because most kids are thinking more about the action of cutting and not yet thinking about the paper. Kids may make many single cuts along the edge of the paper and feel satisfied by that, or they might make a single cut and tear through the rest of the paper if they are wanting to make two pieces. Some kids are cutting a piece of paper into lots of smaller pieces. You may have been presented with some of these pieces as we like to offer envelopes to kids in case they want to take home the paper they’ve worked so hard to cut.
Here are some photos from the last two weeks:
