iDoddle Tracing Board - Montessori Inspired Pre-Writing Work

* This product was gifted to us. All opinions shared are my own.

As we begin homeschooling Jerome, and compiling the materials I feel are necessary to provide the best learning environment for him, I knew I wanted to invest in some kind of letter tracing board. Our homeschool is heavily infulenced by Montessori, and while tracing boards are not strictly a Montessori material, they are inspired by the Montessori way of teaching with tactile resources.

Similar to the way a child uses the Montessori sandpaper letters and numbers, and a sand writing tray, a tracing board allows the child to trace the letter or number shapes, developing muscle memory and is a really gentle pre-writing work.

When we were gifted a new product, the iDoddle which is a combination of a play smartphone and tracing board, for the boys to try, I knew it would be a hit.

Some of my observations:

• The iDoddle has encouraged deep concentration for both boys. It is not uncommon to see both of them, side-by-side on the couch, tracing their letters and numbers over and over.

• Jerome loves to use the iDoddle to write words. He will ask me to tell him a word to write, such as cat, we will sound it out, and then he will write it several times over. He hasn't shown an interest in writing on paper yet, and I feel this is a great way to build his confidence.

• Since receiving this product, Jerome has shown greater familiarity with where letters are in the alphabet from tracing them in order so many times.

• My kids love to play games with items that feel real, like an old set of keys and flashlights and have really enjoyed pretending with the iDoddle. They have very limited access to real technology, as we have a pretty screen limited policy for our kids, but of course, they see us with our phones from a pretty young age, and definitely incorporate play phones into their games.

• The shape of the stylus is great for encouraging proper pencil grip.

This is definitely a product we will get a lot of use from, and as it is made from hardwood, I know it will hold up, even in this house of boys. A huge bonus for me, being an Albertan, is that is is made in Edmonton, Alberta - a sustainable, beautiful, locally-made children's toy is pretty hard to come by in this area.

If you would like to purchase a set of these iDoddle tracing boards, (and even get them in time for Christmas!) check out the kickstarter campaign.

Have you been looking into getting a tracing board for your home? Do you think your kids would benefit from one?


Thank you for reading! If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to contact me. I would also love to hear any suggestions for posts you would like me to write about. And if you are interested in following along in our daily adventures, follow us on Instagram where I post daily.



God bless,
Olivia Fischer