Writing on the Lines: Should our Children Write on Lines?
Like so many aspects of handwriting, the writing lines vs no writing lines debate is as passionate and diverse as there are people discussing it. Should our focus be writing on the lines, or should our children work on blank paper and within wide writing lines? The South African CAPS Handwriting Curriculum advocates that children… Read more »
How to Teach my Child to Write their Name
There is no hard and fast rule as to when a child should write their name. But usually by Grade 00 your child’s peers are starting to write their names on their art work, and that can either light the spark, or can even put them under pressure to feel like they should be able… Read more »
Dysgraphia or Disorder in Written Expression: Typing Accomodations
While we promote handwriting and its benefits from improved story writing and composition, to aiding with memory and recall; there are times when handwriting has gone really wrong. Some children have Dysgraphia or Disorder in Written Expression, and no amount of handwriting intervention has been able to assist them with achieving fluid and legible handwriting…. Read more »
Technology and Fine Motor Skills: Can we use Apps?
When it comes to the development of fine motor skills, the world of tablets, phones and Apps have certainly jumped on the band wagon. One trip to Google Play or the App Store will lead you to believe that all fine motor skills development can take place on a tablet. They tell us how using… Read more »
Does Pencil Grip Matter?
Once your child is in preschool, the words “pencil grip” suddenly seem to be important. Does pencil grip matter? Is it important how children hold their pencils, and can this really impact their future schooling? The dynamic tripod pencil grip is the gold standard for pencil grips. With this grip, your child will hold their… Read more »
When is it too late to improve handwriting? Handwriting help for older children.
So long as there aren’t any fundamental underlying neurological or other medical issues at play, the answer is it’s never too late. Handwriting help for older children can really assist them. But there is one condition that needs to be present for improvement to take place. Your child has got to want it really badly. … Read more »
Does Occupational Therapy Help with Handwriting?
By the time our children enter Grade 1, they have usually learned to write their names, and may be able to write letters and numbers. The more advanced amongst them will even be able to write words and sentences. But for the most part, handwriting is the domain of the Grade 1 classroom. Our teachers… Read more »
Tips for Improving Handwriting: Stabilise the Page!
When looking for tips for improving your handwriting and the mechanics of good handwriting, there is one thing that WILL improve handwriting. Every time! And that is stabilising the page for handwriting. Mechanics of Good Handwriting: The Working Hand Must Be Allowed to Do its Job When the page is not stabilised with the helping… Read more »
Improving Pencil Control for Handwriting
I always say they should have called it finger writing not handwriting. Because it is the finger and thumb movements that facilitate pencil control for handwriting. It is the discrete refined finger movements, isolated from the hand movements, that are necessary for speed and quality of handwriting. Of course, finger movements don’t stand alone. They… Read more »
What is Midline Crossing: 5 Ways it Affects Handwriting
Everyone talks about midline crossing like we should inherently know what it is. They use the term in a throw away manner like they are talking about skipping or bike riding – something that everyone should just automatically know about. So what is midline crossing? Midline crossing is the ability to cross the imaginary midline… Read more »
Teaching Cursive Handwriting: Why Don’t Our Children Stick With Cursive?
Over the past number of years it seems that cursive handwriting has, in some circles, fallen out of favour. There seems to be little time during the school day for teaching cursive handwriting and many note that so many children seem to revert to printing as soon as they are given the choice. There has… Read more »
Left Handed Development and Teaching Lefties to Write
When our babies begin exploring they tend to use both hands, or randomly use either the left or right hand. Hand preference may begin to emerge as early as 2 or 3 years of age, while for others, this may only happen around the age of 5 or 6. So, you may notice early on… Read more »
Why a Multi-Sensory Handwriting Curriculum?
Multi-sensory is defined by the Collins English Dictionary as “involving or using more than one of the senses.” So, what is the big deal about this when it comes to a multi-sensory approach to writing? A Multisensory Handwriting Programme is a Must! Over time we have learned that using sensory input, such as touch or… Read more »
Letter Formation Order: Does it Matter?
There are as many ways to teach letter formation as there are teachers. Each teacher draws on her experience and applies it into her classroom to give the children in her class the best chance of achieving success. However, we are also able to draw on the developmental progression of acquisition of the foundational lines,… Read more »
Walk Before you Can Run: Pre-Writing Lines and Shapes
They say you can’t run before you can walk and I am certain that we all agree that this is true. Just as true, is that children cannot learn to form letters and numbers before they have mastered the drawing of shapes. And they cannot draw shapes before they are able to draw the component… Read more »
The Perceptual-Motor Foundations of Handwriting: Handwriting Development
If a child is struggling with poor handwriting and is referred for an occupational therapy handwriting assessment, the outcome of the assessment can show very diverse difficulties. This is because the perceptual-motor foundations of handwriting are numerous and complex. Let’s look at The Wall®, an occupational therapy framework for explaining learning difficulties in children, and… Read more »
Which Pencil Grip? The Start Right Pencil Grip
We know for sure that there is no such thing as one size fits all when it comes to remediating an incorrect pencil grip. When do you use the Start Right Pencil Grip, when do you use the CLAW and when is the Stetro or Crossover the best? Is there a checklist, a magic formula… Read more »
How Can we Turn the Tide of Declining Fine Motor Skills? Fine Motor Skills for Preschoolers
It is well known by teachers in classrooms across this very diverse country that the standard of fine motor skills in our pre-schoolers are not where they should be. Teachers are criticised for referring too many children to occupational therapy. Occupational therapists are criticised for prolonged intervention for fine motor skills. And parents? Well, they… Read more »
What are Fine Motor Skills? Fine Motor Skills Checklist
What are fine motor skills? Fine motor skills are the small co-ordinated movements of the hands and fingers that make us as human beings special. In some instances they are also called hand skills. Fine motor skills enable the hands to perform refined manipulative tasks that foster independence, and enable us to become independent, functional… Read more »
Why I Never use Clothes Pegs as Finger Strengthening Exercises
Years ago, I had every conceivable type of clothes peg in my occupational therapy practise. We made Lion King ones, Nemos, and of course, Disney Princesses for the girls. We picked up jelly tots and every other imaginable item. We were working on the-three-friends®. For those of you who don’t know, the-three-friends – the thumb,… Read more »
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