Enough of scribbling, can we start writing now? Yes we can, mumma said. I can now hold the pencil properly and it does not slip off my fingers. So now we can start with the pattern writing. Mumma said we will first start with the standing lines, since it is the easiest. She wrote dotted standing lines and asked me to trace over them. I was hesitating a bit, since it was my first time; but she said there is nothing to get afraid.

Mumma held my hands and helped me trace the first few standing lines. I became a bit more confident; then she left my hand and asked me to try myself. The first line was uneven…I felt like crying, but mumma gave me a hug and said,‘we make mistakes but if we keep on trying we can do it perfectly. So you just need to practise’. She said we will write one page every day, so that I become accustomed to writing quickly.

But this is not how you write, I said. She said, ‘yes this is only the beginning. We will start with capital letter alphabets, then small letter alphabets and then move on to cursive writing’. The way we write, it is known as ‘cursive writing’ or joined letters. It is very helpful when you write sentences. So the more you practice, the quicker you will be able to write like me, mumma said. This is exactly what my teacher says – the more you practise the quickly you will be able to learn.

I had more questions in mind, but I thought of practising first. I tried tracing the lines perfectly, but almost every standing line was uneven. But mumma said don’t worry, you will learn it very quickly. Now I understand why my elder cousins in India were struggling with their lessons and why they got a scolding for not studying. I thought learning was very easy, but now I know you have to put in a lot of effort. Will mumma scold me the same way, if I don’t study?

I don’t know; she has been very nice to me when I study with herand she teaches me very patiently; she has never scolded me for making mistakes. But I don’t know what will happen when I grow up like my cousins. Why do we have to grow up, why can’t we stay like this all through the life?

I have heard children at our school say, they want to grow up quickly so that they can do everything that elders do; but I don’t want to grow old. I want to stay as my mumma and dadda’s little girl and get all the love from them.

I never knew things will become so complicated! Did you? I guess not. But since I have promised to be a good girl I will listen to mumma and practise writing every day, so that I learn it quickly. Do you have anything to say? Let me know.

Writing Alphabets

It is time again to get back to studies after quite a lot of fun and entertainment. School was fun so far, but it seems that things are becoming quite difficult now. After the fancy dress and science project, it is time now to start writing alphabets.

We have learnt A to Z orally, but now we have to learn to write it. I can recite the rhyme ABCD without making mistakes but writing seems quite difficult. Our teacher says, we will start with some patterns and slowly move towards the alphabets. This week we will learn how to write the standing lines and sleeping lines. We were given worksheets with patterns in a dotted format. We had to trace over the dots to learn how to write the standing lines. Today was our first day, so our teacher held our hands and helped us trace the lines.

We completed one page of the worksheet and will have to do another page at home. Our teacher said, it is okay if mumma holds my hand while writing since this is the first time we are learning to write. But slowly, we have to learn to write without help. She even said that it is okay if we make mistakes, but we have to try to do it ourselves.

I was quite worried when I came back home. Mumma noticed it and asked the reason. I said, we started writing lessons and it seems very tough to me. I don’t know how to write, so what will I do. What if my friends learn writing and I don’t? She smiled and said, ‘Why do you worry when I am there with you? I will teach you some very easy techniques so that you can start writing quickly.’ Yes, I thought that is good enough. Mumma has taught me a lot of things and each time I have been able to do them quite easily, so things will be okay this time as well.

Mumma got me a copy and said we will first learn how to hold the pencil properly. She gave me the copy and a pencil and asked me to scribble anything I wish to. Anything? Yes, she said. So I started scribbling….but the pencil was slipping off my hands frequently. Mumma said, ‘you are not holding the pencil properly, so it is slipping off’. She showed me how to hold the pencil. I tried to imitate her and hold it properly. I was able to grip it properly after a few attempts. It was easier to scribble that way.

I asked, when will I start writing? She said step-by-step; first learn to hold the pencil correctly. Once you do, we will start with the patterns. She said she will hold her hands first and slowly allow me to do it myself. Just as my teacher said. So for today it was just the scribbling, she will teach me the pattern writing later. I guess writing is not as difficult as I was thinking. Mumma will surely teach me how to write; that too very quickly!