Why do we use pencils when we start to teach handwriting?

Modern classrooms use a range of technology, such as interactive white boards, so why are our children still using pencils when learning how to handwrite?

Pencils are a great first tool for learning to handwrite!

Why?

• They come in different widths and lengths (to cater for the different gross and fine motor skills of the children).
• Have different lead thickness and grades (soft to hard) of lead.
• Provide varying degrees of resistance (depending on lead grade) which slows down the letter formation process enough for young children to have the control required to start to form their letters correctly. The greater the resistance the more the body can neurologically acknowledge (feel) the movement and help to send appropriate information to the brain.
• As a child develops their handwriting skills to a more fluid handwriting style the pencil type can be easily changed.
• Cheap and easily accessible.
• A drawing medium which young children are already comfortable using.

Limitations:

• Often a one size fits all approach to the pencil type, rather than tailoring to a child’s needs.
• Difficulty in maintaining a good writing point, results in the child needing to use different levels of pressure, making handwriting hard work.
• Over use of rubbing out mistakes (wastes time and develops a culture where making a mistake is seen as a failure). Making mistakes is how we learn, it is not failing!

 Pencils are practical in school:

• With pencil, children find it more difficult to write on one another and their clothes.
• You do not have a whole class of children clicking pens (Velcro is bad enough).
• Pen lids are not constantly lost or being swallowed.
• Pencils seem less of a problem when stuck in ears or up the nose.
• They are cheap.
• Pencils do not explode, leaving a mess all over the room and any child that happened to be in the room at the time.
• Time not wasted by trying to suck the ink up out of the pen.

Handwriting is a complicated skill to learn and having the right tools for the job always helps. It is worth spending a little time with children using a range of pencil styles and lead grades to find ones that they find comfortable to use for handwriting. These will be different from those they use for drawing. As their handwriting skills develop so the type and grade of pencil they begin to favour will change.