Developing Handwriting skills in young children The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog

Handwriting is tricky!

Experts say that writing is …. … a message-sending, problem solving activity involving the linking of invisible patterns of oral language with visible symbols. It requires the interaction of cognitive and physical factors involving the hand, eye, and both sides of the brain. The writing process at every age and stage it is an effortful activity.

A child’s handwriting develops at many levels simultaneously A child’s handwriting develops at many levels simultaneously. These include: Fine motor skills Speech - Receptive and expressive language development Eye cognition – ability to track Brain maturity – crossing the midline Orthographic knowledge knowing what writing is understanding that writing is a form of communication concepts of print – left to right / top to bottom

Humans thrive on communication Making marks in various ways – in the sand, on paper, in chalk on concrete – teaches children that signs and symbols communicate meaning. Drawing and scribbling lead to writing. Over time, children learn that writing is a particular kind of symbol system that carries a message from one place and one person to another.

Never force a child’s grip Never force a child’s grip. Especially in the early developmental stages. Don’t expect a 3 year old to hold a pencil like a Kindergartener. Encourage correct grip through modelling.

Think about the complexity of process that these early ‘scribbles’ needed

Broad concepts Bear in mind, that everyone is an individual and develops skills in their own time. Like many things, some people have a natural disposition to writing (and/or drawing), have good hand-eye coordination, great imaginations, good eye for detail (and/or colour). All these individual traits will greatly influence a child’s ability to develop writing skills.

Stages of Writing In Primary School, students move through 4 identified stages of writing to develop their writing skills. Copying Guided Writing Modelled Writing Independent Writing

What the expert says: Dr Noella Mackenzie is a lecturer in Literacy Studies in the School of Education at Charles Sturt University. http://www.csu.edu.au/faculty/educat/edu/noellavideos/b ecoming-a-writer

Modelling writing to your child From an early age, let your children see you engaging in writing. Show them that you make a shopping list, write a birthday card or a letter to Nan. You need to explain what you are doing, because they can’t read yet! These simple activities reinforce the ideal that writing is a purposeful activity because you use it to: Record ideas/information Send messages Transfer information from one place to another

Other ideas to encourage writing If you go on a holiday, take a scrapbook, pencils, scissors and a glue stick. Get your child to collect brochures and document their trip by making a big travel diary (great for News when they get back too!) Play ‘silly stories’ – fold paper. Write a sentence each. Provide sentence starters for your child and ask them to write you a story. Write a letter to someone! (Australia Post will u) Symbol stories Encourage poetry - it doesn’t have to rhyme and is often less intimidating because children can be less conventional with style and content. (Acrostic poem or copy a Nursery Rhyme).

Pencil Grip School will encourage children to hold their pencil correctly and they will also have their peers to help model this. If difficulty persists there is a huge range of commercially produced pencil grips that you could try. Your teacher can help with this.

GO OLD SCHOOL! Spend $20 to help promote your child’s writing development Pencils Textas Scrap book, diary or exercise book (no bulky folders) Scissors Blu stick Colouring-in books (so popular now – for adults too) Plain & Coloured paper (If your child is ‘Arty’ – please encourage it!)

What about writing in the future What about writing in the future? Won’t we all be using keyboards on our electronic devices? http://bicbrightfutures.com/

If you have any questions or queries, please speak to your child’s teacher.