Developing Children’s Skills in
Preparation for Handwriting
Jodie Williams, OTR/L, MHA
Occupational Therapy Manager, AACPS
Readiness Skills
Readiness for handwriting
begins on the playground
and in children’s
backyards, not in the
classroom.
Readiness Skills: Crossing Midline
▪ Reaching across to
opposite side of the body
▪ Brain-based developmental
function
▪ Requires coordination of the right
and left hemispheres of the brain
▪ Includes eyes as well as arms and
legs
▪ Needed for both reading and
writing
(Dangel & Landreman, n.d.)
Readiness Skills: Bilateral Coordination
▪ Using both sides of the body
at the same time and in a
coordinated manner
▪ Two hands doing the same activity
(e.g., rolling pin)
▪ Most often dominant hand performs
a skilled activity, while nondominant hand plays a supporting
role
▪ Allows child to work with fluid body
movements
(Dangel & Landreman, n.d.)
Readiness Skills: Development of
Hand Anatomy
▪ Separation of radial
(precision) and ulnar
(stabilizing) sides of the
hand
▪ Opposition-the ability to
touch thumb to finger
▪ Finger isolation-the ability
to isolate finger
movements
▪ Hand arches are well
developed
(Law, Gasior, Meades, & Swain, 2014)
Readiness Skills: Postural Stability
▪ Ability of the child to
maintain the position of
his or her body in space
▪ More than the ability to sit in
a chair
▪ Includes the ability to
stabilize and control
movements of the shoulder,
arm, and wrist
(Law, Gasior, Meades, & Swain, 2014)
Performance Factors That Affect Writing
Performance Factors: Cognition
▪ Necessary for handwriting and
written expression
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Memory
Attention
Sequencing
Following directions
Letter recognition
(Clark & Giroux, 2013)
Performance Factors: Sensory-Perception
▪ Transforming information from the
senses to develop an appropriate
response
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Visual perception
Visual motor
Visual efficiency
Auditory processing
Kinesthesia
Motor planning
(Clark & Giroux, 2013)
Performance Factors: Pencil Grip
▪ Grasp patterns pictured are
ideal for functional writing
▪ None is better than the other
with regard to legibility
▪ Inefficient grasps can impact
writing endurance and/or
health of the hand and finger
joints
(Dennis & Swinth, 2001)
Performance Factors: Psychological Skills
▪ Self-esteem
▪ Self-concept
▪ Social interaction
▪ Motivation
▪ Values
(Clark & Giroux, 2013)
What About Handedness?
▪ A majority of children show a preference by age 3 and most by school
age, but hand dominance doesn't become well integrated in some
normal children until eight or nine years of age.
(Gesell & Ames, 1947)
▪ Forcing a child to choose a dominant hand before he or she is ready
borders on malpractice.
(M. Benbow, personal communication, May 4, 1997)
When are Children Ready
to Learn Printing?
▪ From a developmental
perspective, many children do
not have the necessary
foundational skills for formal
handwriting instruction until
the latter half of kindergarten.
Marr, Windsor, & Cermak, 2001
Development of Handwriting Skills
▪ Vertical line │
▪ Horizontal line ─
▪ Circle Ο
▪ Cross +
▪ Down left diagonal /
▪ Square
▪ Down right diagonal \
▪ Oblique cross x
▪ Triangle
Δ
▪ Children are not developmentally ready
to begin handwriting instruction until
they can independently form (not
imitate) all of these shapes.
(Beery, Buktenica, & Beery, 2010)
▪ If printing skills are attempted to be
taught before a child is developmentally
ready, this can result in frustration and
the development of bad habits.
(Law, Gasior, Meades, & Swain, 2014)
Getting Ready to Write
The Importance of Posture
Poor Posture
Optimal Posture
The Importance of Paper Slant
▪ Right-Handed Students
▪ Upper right corner is the highest
point
▪ Left-Handed Students
▪ Upper left corner is the highest
point
▪ Helps to prevent the hooked wrist
posture adopted by some lefthanded writers.
Many Types of Pencil Grips
How Does a Slanted or Vertical Surface Help?
▪ Places wrist and hand in an optimal
position for handwriting
▪ Facilitates a functional pencil grasp
and an open webspace
▪ Promotes better posture
▪ Makes copying from the Smart
Board or blackboard (for students in
2nd grade and higher) easier.
Teacher - OT Teamwork!
Common Areas of Concern
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Letter formation
Reversals
Letter size
Spacing
Line Regard
Organization
Letter Formation: A Multisensory Approach
▪ Motor planning for letter formation begins
before a child ever picks up a pencil.
▪ Providing visual /verbal cues and tactile
experiences helps students develop
directionality and a motor plan for each letter.
▪ Multisensory learning is helpful for every
child
▪ Students have different learning styles, and a
multisensory approach helps you to find the
most meaningful strategy for each child in your
class.
▪ With each sense that is engaged while
learning to write letters, the brain is given an
additional channel from which to encode and
integrate the information so it is available for
the future.
Reversals
▪ Letter reversals are common for beginning
writers, but by the age of seven, reversals
should be seen only occasionally
(Blackburne et al., 2014)
▪ Common letter reversals include b/d, n/u,
p/q and m/w
▪ Encourage self-correcting and editing
▪ Engage in activities that help children learn
left from right
▪ Teach letters in letter groupings
▪ Auditory prompts can compensate
Letter Size
▪ Beginning writers should use unlined
paper to reduce visual clutter
▪ Introduce multi-lined paper and teach
letter formation using line guides for
placement and size
▪ Small letters: a c e i m n o r s u v w x z
▪ Tall (sky) letters: b d f h k l t
▪ Diver (basement) letters: g j p q y
▪ Block paper may be helpful
Spacing
▪ Use paper with decreased visual
distractions, fewer lines, and more
defined writing spaces
▪ Skip every other line
▪ Finger space between words
▪ Space man popsicle stick
(Kaiser & Murray, n.d.)
Line Regard
▪ Special paper with raised lines
gives tactile feedback
▪ Easy DIY using a seamstress’s
tracking wheel
Page Organization
▪ Provide structured paper
▪ Encourage the use of rough drafts
▪ Use Thinking Maps
▪ Consider the use of assistive
technology with word processing
capabilities, which allows changes
to be made easily and neatly.
Which Handwriting Program is Best?
▪ In a recent study, researchers found
little difference in outcomes of
between different handwriting
programs. All produced
improvements.
▪ The important finding was that
implementation of any formal
handwriting curriculum with typically
developing children will improve
handwriting skills; however,
handwriting must be taught.
(Salls, Benson, Hansen, Cole, & Pielielek, 2013)
Traditional Manuscript Instruction
Developmental Sequence for Teaching
Manuscript (from Handwriting Without Tears)
▪ Capital letters first
▪ Capital letters all start at the top, they
are all the same size
▪ F E D P B R N M (frog jump capitals)
▪ H K L, U V W X Y Z (corner starting
capitals)
▪ C O Q G S A I T J (center starting
capitals)
(Olsen & Knapton, 2008)
Developmental Sequence for Teaching
Manuscript (from Handwriting Without Tears)
▪ Teach letters with similar formation
patterns
▪ c o s v w t (uppercase partners + t)
▪ a d g (magic “c” letters)
▪ u i e l k y j (transition group)
▪ p r n m h b (diver letters)
▪ f q x z (final group)
(Olsen & Knapton, 2008)
Important Considerations: Readability
Legibility
Spelling
Organization
Readability
Punctuation
Sentence
Structure
Can you read these work samples?
The Effects of Gender on Handwriting
▪ “Studies of older children, ages 7 and
up, have demonstrated a significantly
lower quality of writing and slower
speed in males compared with
females.”
Feder & Majnemer, 2007, p. 313
Why Teach Handwriting to 21st Century Learners?
▪ ….(H)andwriting is important for
the early recruitment in letter
processing of brain regions known
to underlie successful reading.
Handwriting therefore may
facilitate reading acquisition in
young children.”
(James & Engelhardt, 2012)
References
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Beery, K. E., Buktenica, N. A., & Beery, N. A. (2010). Developmental test of visual-motor integration. San Antonio, TX: Pearson.
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Blackburne, L. K., Eddy, M. D., Kalra, P., Yee, D., Sinha, P., & Gabrieli, J. D. E. (2014, May). Neural correlates of letter reversal in children and adults. PLoS ONE 9(5). Retrieved May 26, 2015
from: http://web.mit.edu/bcs/sinha/papers/Blackburne_etal2014.pdf.
▪
Clark, G. F., & Giroux, P. (2013). Best practices in handwriting and writing skills to enhance participation. In G. Frolek Clark & B. E. Chandler (Eds.), Best practices for occupational therapy in schools
▪
Dangel, A., & Landreman, D. (n.d.). Occupational therapy resource and strategy guide. Waukegan CUSD 60.
▪
Dennis, J. L., & Swinth, Y. (2001, March/April). Pencil grasp and children’s handwriting legibility during different-length writing tasks. American Journal of Occupational Therapy, 55(2), 175-183.
▪
Feder, K. P., & Majnemer, A. (2007, April). Handwriting development, competency, and intervention. Developmental Medicine & Child Neurology, 49(4), 312-317.
▪
Gesell, A., & Ames, L. B. (1947). The development of handedness. The Journal of Genetic Psychology, 70, 155-175.
▪
James, K. H., & Engelhardt, L. (2012). The effects of handwriting experience on functional brain development in pre-literate children. Trends in Neuroscience and Education, 1(1), 32–42.
doi:10.1016/j.tine.2012.08.001
▪
Kaiser, N., & Murray, A. (n.d.). Graphomotor development: Strategies for improved legibility of handwriting. Newtown Public Schools.
▪
Law, J., Gasior, S., Meades, W., & Swain, L. (2014, January). Prerequisites for printing. Sunny Hill Health Centre for Children Therapy Department.
▪
Marr, D., Windsor, M., & Cermak, S. (2001). Handwriting readiness: Locatives and visuomotor skills in the kindergarten year. Early Childhood Research & Practice: An Internet Journal on the Development,
Care, and Education of Young Children, 3(1), 1-16.
▪
Olsen, J. Z., & Knapton, E. F. (2008). Handwriting without tears 1st grade printing teachers guide. Cabin John: Handwriting Without Tears.
▪
Salls, J., Benson, J. D., Hansen, M. A., Cole, K., & Pielielek, A. (2013). A comparison of the Handwriting Without Tears program Peterson Directed Handwriting Program on handwriting performance in
typically developing first grade students. Journal of Occupational Therapy Schools & Early Intervention, 6, 131-142.
(443-457). Bethesda, MD: AOTA Press.