Is good handwriting skills still a thing?

Many teachers refer children to occupational therapy because they have identified challenges with handwriting, and many parents also complain about their child’s handwriting, especially at the end of the day when homework can be a challenge. These issues can include difficulty keeping up with the expected pace or rushing through written work, not sticking to the margins, not spatially planning letters and words on the lines, and poor legibility.

Yes, we are in the digital age, so is handwriting still a thing? Oh, it is! It is most definitely a thing. Typing on a keyboard versus writing on a piece of paper offers different types of input. Research shows that whilst typing may be faster, handwriting provides the brain with much more stimulation and connectivity. It helps tremendously with memory recall, concentration, and cognitive processing.

Handwriting requires many foundational skills to be in place. If you remember when your little ones were just learning to sit, as soon as they tried to reach for a toy, they would flop over. However, as soon as they developed adequate trunk control and stability, only then could they reach for the toy to play with. A child needs to be able to maintain a functional upright posture at the desk to provide a stable base from which to use their hands and fingers. Then it’s the job of the hands to hold the pencil steady and control it with age-appropriate skill to draw and write. That’s not all; a child also needs to have developed higher-order skills such as smooth eye movements, motor planning, visual-motor integration, and visual perception. This helps them understand how to plan on a page, follow a top-to-bottom and left-to-right progression, and form letters and numbers correctly.

Working memory plays a considerable role in handwriting. Working memory relies on efficient vestibular, visual, and auditory sensory processing. When a child sits upright, the vestibular system is working. When a child actively attends and listens, the auditory system is working and when a child looks up at the board or visual demonstrations from the teacher, the visual system is working.

What happens when all the necessary skills are in place for handwriting, but the teacher, and you, feel there is room for improvement? Here are a few strategies that you can use to help with this.

Practice makes perfect

It’s true what they say: practice does make perfect. Every time you practice handwriting, imagine you are exercising a muscle, which is the brain. The more you practice, the stronger the muscle and the better the output. Frequently doing something, makes one better at doing it.

Upper body preparatory exercises

When you go for a run, you don’t start with a sprint! You warm up for optimal performance. The same is true for paper-based work, especially for kids. Try these:

— 20 Wall or chair push-ups

— Take a small silicone brush and rub it over the palm of the hands for 30 seconds

— Simple upper body stretches

— Use resisted play dough or stress balls to warm up the muscles in the hands

— Tear paper into thin strips and roll them into tiny soccer balls for a quick game of finger soccer

Expectations

If a child has all the skills in place for handwriting and can produce grade-appropriate output, then the expectation needs to be firmly set, both at school and at home! As children get older, they may be marked down in tests and exams for poor legibility, because if a teacher cannot read it, then how can she mark it?

Self-check and accountability

Of course, this is age-dependent but creating or downloading handwriting checklists can be useful.

Try to make it fun!

Handwriting can be boring and tedious, especially at the end of the day, so make it fun. Instead of talking at the dinner table, write a legible note, for example: “pass the salt, please”. Encourage your child to write your grocery list or create a menu for dinner time. Or when playing a card or board game, write it down, for example. “Do you have any aces?”

If a child’s handwriting is functional, is keeping up with the pace in class and meets classroom expectations, then you are good to go. Personally, I don’t have bad handwriting; I have my own font. For more information, visit Bellavista Shool’s website.

Article supplied by Elena Lewis, HOD Occupational Therapy at Bellavista S.H.A.R.E