1. Literacy parent workshop Handwriting

2. Why handwriting? Children need to be able to write without thinking about how to write. We have found that handwriting is a key issue across the school. Being able to write fluently allows a child to focus on what they are writing and spelling improves!

3. Getting ready to write - pre writing experience To develop their handwriting a child needs strength and stability in their body. This gross motor control can be developed in the playground and in PE sessions, for example, crawling, jumping, running, hopping, arm circling, ball skills. Writing involves using a tool to make small controlled movements. This fine motor control can be developed by activities such as cutting, threading, modeling, sorting small objects, sticking, pattern-making and tracing.

4. Finger to thumb Rounds with your wrists Finger football with; paper, cotton, marbles etc http://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/hand-finger-games-improve- handwriting.html Have a go! – Finger exercises

5. Getting ready to write – pencil grip There are several stages to developing stages that a child goes through before being able to write fluently using a tripod pencil grip. Children develop the larger muscles of their trunk and arms before the smaller muscles in their hands.

6. 1 2 3 1.With the tip facing downwards – movement coming from the shoulder. 2.With the pencil in the palm of the hand using the thumb to secure it. 3.The pencil is held with the five fingers like a dart – movement now comes from a wrist initially followed by some finger movement.

7. The tripod grip Your child will usually start to use the three finger, or tripod grip, by the age of 6. Initially the fingers will be held rigidly but, as your child improves their control of the finger muscles, the fingers will start to move the pencil. http://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/tips-forming-tripod-grip.html

8. Grip aids There are lots of lots of resources out there to help our child develop the right pencil grip. Stabilo pencils Various pencil grips DIY solution: Cotton wool or small ball

9. Getting ready to write – warm up exercises Before we start our handwriting sessions we always do a warm up exercise to focus the body and mind. Have a go! http://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/handwriting-warm-up-exercises.html

10. By the age of 4, most children can hold a pencil. So before they learn letters, there are pre-handwriting practice activities. This is the first stage of teaching children handwriting. Pre http://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/pre-handwriting-patterns.html

11. Before the children can join their letters, they should be taught letter formation.

12. Getting ready to write – handwriting position

13. Getting ready to write – paper position

14. Once the children can form their letters correctly, they are taught how to join their letters. Many children who print regularly confuse capital letters and small letters in their writing: this is far less likely to happen if they write in a joined script from the start. As a general rule, children who print are poorer spellers than those who join. http://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/continuous-cursive- letters-beginners.html

15. The order of teaching the lower case letter shapes. Have a go! Write your name using this script. What letters do you need to practice?

16. Now try and write the following sentence: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog. This sentence has every letter of the alphabet. Get your child to have a go and try and correct their pencil grip or seating position. http://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/handwriting-join-continuous-cursive- letters.html

17. Speed Once a child can write fluently with the correct letter formation, they need to be able to write at speed but maintain consistency, fluidity and presentation. Let’s have a go! Write down the word ‘quick’ Check that the letter shapes and alignment are correct. Make any adjustments. Let’s see how many you can do in 1 minute – it must be legible! http://www.online-stopwatch.com/full-screen-stopwatch/

18. The ‘S’ rules Shape: Are all the letters legible? Sitting: Do the letters sit on the baseline with the ascenders clearly taller Size: Are the letters the appropriate size relative to each other? Spacing: Is the spacing between the words appropriate? This should not be too large or too small − about the width of a letter ‘o’. Are the letters in each word evenly spaced? They should be close together but not touch. Slant: Is the slant of the ascenders and other down lines parallel, or do they wag in all directions? Sequence/string: Is the pupil joining all the letters that should be joined according to the style used? Speed: Is the pupil writing at a speed appropriate to his/her needs?