Quick Tips for Handwriting

I love handwriting. Occupational therapists can do many things, and helping with handwriting is one of them.

OT’s can often address handwriting difficulties that pop up or start students on their handwriting journey.

Handwriting questions are probably the most frequent questions I receive, so today I am going to give you my top 10 handwriting tips!

Here goes!

Top 10 Handwriting Tips

1. Children need to be formally taught handwriting skills. In the hurried pace of trying to squeeze many things into a school day, formalized handwriting instruction often gets pushed down the list. Children need to be TAUGHT handwriting, it’s not a learn as you go skill.

2. When you are formally teaching children to write, it should be in a developmental way meaning start with the easiest letters first. Horizontal and vertical lines are the easiest to draw, start with those letters first.

Capital letters are also easier than lowercase (less twists and turns) so start with capital letters first.

3. There are many different ways to work on handwriting that don’t require actual writing practice. Some ideas are, finger painting, coloring, mazes, dot to dot, drawing, arts and crafts. All of these activities work on handwriting and/or building the skills needed for handwriting.

4. Grip is important (but don’t go overboard). A proper grip helps a child to control the pencil, prevent fatigue, and in later years will help with speed and legibility. That being said, we all don’t have the exact same perfect grip so a little variance is ok.

5. The early years (K-2nd grade) are the easiest years to make change. Old habits die hard, and if the child is in a higher grade, the habits they have formed in the younger years are going to be hard to change (but not impossible). If you have a child who is still struggling in older grades consider ideas and strategies to support their current handwriting habits (example: adapted paper).

6. Slow down! I often get questions about 3 or young 4 year olds and handwriting. Simply put, most children of this age are not ready for writing letters. As parents, we can want our children to have a head start in school, but many children aren’t ready for writing at 3 (although some may be). The best way at this age to give your child a head start is to build a good fine motor foundation. See #3 for ideas!

7. Cursive is critical! I know many will say cursive has largely died out and is not important, but I guarantee you, it absolutely is important. There are many benefits to cursive including building connections in the brain. Also your child needs to know how to sign their name (think job application, contacts, check signing), AND your child needs to know how to read cursive. Many a historical document are written in cursive (Declaration of Independence anyone?).

8. Function over form. In my opinion, there is a time when a child has been writing (3rd grade and older) when function becomes more important than form. In the early years, we focus a lot on form (letter formation, sizing, do the letters touch the line etc.) this is because it makes overall handwriting easier. But there is a shift when the focus should be more on function than form, especially because the older a child gets, the harder it is to change handwriting habits, so there comes a time when we need to make sure the child can write for functional everyday tasks (think worksheets, forms etc) and focus less on their form.

9. Struggling writer?

a. Keep in mind some children need to learn handwriting separate from other skills. Although pairing literacy and handwriting skills sounds like a good idea, it can be overwhelming for some children and might need to be taught separately.

b. The same goes for the “language” of handwriting. Simple consistent language is best. This also can apply to the lines on the paper. Fewer lines usually equals less confusion on where to start and end your letters.

c. Focus on one thing at a time. Sometimes trying to focus on size, formation and baseline orientation all at once is too much. Pick one thing to focus on and go forward from there.

10. Don’t forget about keyboarding. Begin teaching keyboarding skills early (2nd grade). Let’s face it, by that time, many children already have keyboarding experience through tablets, computers, and phones. Learning good keyboarding skills early can be very helpful if you have a struggling writer who may need to switch to keyboarding early on. Keyboarding should also be formally taught with time dedicated each day to keyboarding. (I remember having to take a 45 minute typing class everyday in high school for a semester, and back then it was on a typewriter!)

Handwriting is big part of a child’s “job” as a student and it should be treated as such.

It can be fun and exciting to learn, and the excitement is palatable the first time a child writes his/her own name.

Most important tips, keep it fun, and keep it simple!

Until next time!