Guest Author - Diane Claus

Learning to write the alphabet is an important pre-kindergarten skill. Little Helper -Tracing Trails: Pre-writings Skills Workbook is a new book designed for preschoolers just starting to learn to write.

Tracing Trails has 32 worksheets that start with basic line drawing and works up to drawing letters. The first 20 worksheets are fully colored and simple help A get to B by drawing a line. These use curves, ziz-zags, straight lines and sharp turns to get the child to draw that type of line.

The next 7 worksheets are based on shapes. The first page the child traces the 6 shapes on the dotted lines. Then each shape is the focus of one worksheet. When the child traces the shape they will complete a picture that they can then color.

The next four worksheets are practice sheets, covering the basics strokes for forming letters. This book has two rows to write on on each page. Each page has a small colored picture that goes with the worksheet.

The last page has all the uppercase letters with arrows showing which way to draw the line. The letters are about an inch and a half tall. The book also comes with 68 motivational stickers. For those preschools who enjoy earning certificates the inside of the back cover is a certificate or achievement.

My son loves mazes and anything that looks like mazes. When I got this book I set it down next to me and he ran off with it and had done all but two of the first 20 pages before I realized the book was gone! Unlike regular mazes he had to follow the given path and some of the worksheets required more control of the pencil then he needs when doing simple preschool mazes.

I like the shape tracing because it completes a picture and has a purpose. However, my son did not understand the point of tracing the shapes. He knows the shapes on the page and could not understand that he was supposed to trace the outline of the shapes and then color the picture in. He informed me they were coloring sheets and he didn’t want to color.

I thought the practice sheets were great. The pictures were engaging and relevant. Anyone could look at the picture and explain the worksheet in a way that makes tracing the lines fun. My son liked the picture and was willing to try tracing the lines.

The stickers were cute but do rely on words to get the message across. My son loved them and used them to decorate different pages of the book.

Little Helper -Tracing Trails: Pre-writings Skills Workbook is a beautifully designed book that is perfect for the child just beginning or the child who is already writing his or her letters. It is fun and engaging.
Little Helper -Tracing Trails Pre-writing Skills Workbook