I just noticed yesterday that my 7 year-old daughter writes some of her letters totally the wrong way–from the bottom UP, instead of from the top DOWN. Of course, when she began to be interested in writing, I taught her the proper method, but then got busy with teaching my 5 year-old to read…and then of course there are all the littles, and the older kids with their academics. Life is busy, and so after a good start in writing she went on auto-pilot. Unfortunately, she ended up developing this bad habit, probably just because it was easier for her.
She’s had such neat handwriting that I never thought to pay overly much attention to the way she was forming her letters…after all, I’d given her the basics in instruction and so I assumed all was well. But, after realizing yesterday that her technique is a bit “off” (particularly for the upcoming transition to cursive writing), I had to go back and re-teach her how to print some of her letters. A necessary discipline, though the reason is not because her writing is “wrong,”or even messy, but because it will limit her from going forward as we move on to the next stage of handwriting.
Similarly, I love my two year-old’s odd ways of pronouncing words. We all get a chuckle out of him. Especially the time when we were doing “training time” and practicing hand-shaking and introductions. After I introduced myself and put out my hand, the little one grabbed it and said, “My name Micah. Nice to eat you!” Much as I hate to correct some of these little mis-pronunciations, I know that I have to, because eventually his mis-speaking isn’t going to be cute or humorous. And, like the handwriting, the sooner it’s corrected, the easier it will be.
I realized in thinking about these two examples that sometimes the Lord has to correct us in a like manner. Maybe we’re not doing anything “wrong,” but when God looks at his plans for us and our necessary maturation, maybe we’ve got ways of doing things that aren’t conducive to our growth and His glory. Perhaps He just needs to bump us up from “good” to “better” or “best” in the overall scheme of things. But I hope that He looks at us in the same way that I look at my children…appreciating the uniqueness of the stage and the particular ways of doing things, yet patiently pressing on toward the goal.
I did not know it was wrong to start at the bottom to form letters. I thought it was odd that one of my girls does that but never knew it was wrong. Will it cause problems when learning cursive? Is that why this child's handwriting is soooo bad/messy? This was so interesting to me. Going to have to do a little research on writing.
I really appreciate the reaffirmation to continue correcting pronunciation and handwriting NOW before it really becomes a problem. So often I hear, "It isn't THAT important," or I wonder if I'm a tyrant. Thanks.
Great spiritual application. I wholeheartedly agree and have thankfully come to a place where I love my Father's correction more than ever before.