Our daughter couldn’t be bothered.

Crayons were so not in her repertoire. Colouring - no thank you!

As you know, she would paint until the cows come home. But, crayons, pens, anything that involved lines - not so much.

The omnipotent “they” tell us that our kiddo should be thinking hard about the whole line-making thing. I get concerned about her skill development and end up poring through piles of information about how to spark her interest.

Nothing.

She couldn’t care less.

Crayons are so frustrating, she tells me.

We move on.

Meanwhile, she is conversely obsessed with learning how to use scissors. Besides teaching her how to hold them correctly, I am completely devoid of any sense in terms of building this skill.

This stuff seems so basic - cutting, folding, colouring in the lines - yet it turns out are crazy tough for me to figure out how to properly teach.

Enter Kumon Preschool Basic Skills workbooks.

Pam over at Bears and Balloons in downtown Comox told me she’d gotten them in a few weeks ago. She’d called to chat about some other business and we got into the whole educational tools for preschoolers thing. Kumon was the first tool on her list.

Workbooks and me don’t really get along. So, I admit that the info was mildly lost on me - until I was in the store right before Easter, checked them out and found them really fun, colourful and looking very much like something I should at least try.

They wound up in the tiny person’s Easter basket and, as soon as she checked them out, the crayons were out of their box for the first time EVER.

She coloured nearly the WHOLE book in the next hour. All of a sudden crayons are cool. The newsprint is out on the table. Colouring is in.

We moved on to the cutting work book, with less impressive results since scissors are surprisingly tricky for 33-month-old hands. But, she now asks every day if we can cut some more.

As for the colouring, it now happens on request. Turns out she’s been thinking about making lines quite a bit. Now, she’s putting those thoughts on paper

I find these books (About $7 a piece) really charming, with simple, nicely designed characters, clear directions and some great tips for parents on how to work through the difficult phases of skill-building. They make these fine motor exercises way more fun than I ever could and I very much appreciate the professional hand they lend.

The bonus is that Kumon is a whole system of skill building tools that grows with a child. So, it’s great for focusing on one skill that is in need of extra attention, or just giving kids an extra boost in areas that consistently prove tricky.

You can pick them up at Bears and Balloons in downtown Comox or order them online from your local bookseller.