Back to School

Back to School – Ways to Support Your Child’s Pencil Grip Development

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Eff Grip 2

After such a long break from school it is good to take some time to check your child has not slipped back into some old, poor pencil grip habits.

Here is a recap of the things which may help them if they are still finding it difficult to form and maintain an appropriate pencil grip.

Remember it is important that you do not force a child to use the tripod grip if they are not developmentally ready. Just because they are starting school doesn’t mean they are ready to hold a pencil in the tripod grip for handwriting.

Have they reached the appropriate stage in their pencil grip development?

Every child develops at a different time and pace; find out which stage of development your child is at: http://bit.ly/2YFfqMp

Are they left or right-handed?

If they are of school age and do not have a clear hand dominance this can make it difficult to develop a good pencil grip. Our hand dominance information may help you here: http://bit.ly/2YFfqMp

How do they hold a pencil for writing at the moment?

A poor pencil grip can make forming letters difficult and handwriting slow or uncomfortable. Check out our tips on how to correct a poor pencil grip in our pencil grip difficulties section: http://bit.ly/2T96KwK

Have they been taught, & do they understand, how to form a Tripod pencil grip?

It may have been explained to them, but that does not mean your child has understood. Our ‘Tommy Thumb’ and ‘Drawbridge Flip’ videos may help them to learn more easily how to form a tripod grip for handwriting: http://bit.ly/2XpuI8I

Do they have the physical hand and finger strength to form and maintain a tripod pencil grip?

Not all children have the appropriate hand and finger strength to hold a pencil in the tripod grip and need extra support to help them develop this. To find out if your child need’s extra support to develop their hand and finger strengths check out this section of our Key Strengths assessment page:  http://bit.ly/2C7xYwq

Do they swap hands when writing or drawing?

This is a normal developmental stage for many toddlers and young children, but it is not ideal for school age children. Check out our tips on tackling hand swapping issues: http://bit.ly/2VlGfDH

If you have any queries or questions you would like to ask us about handwriting or pencil grip feel free to contact us at enquires@teachchildren.co.uk or via this blog or Facebook.

Back to School – Ways to Support Your Child’s Pencil Grip Development

lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

pencil grip back to school 1

After the long school summer holiday it is always good to take some time to check your child has not slipped back into some old, poor pencil grip habits.

Here is a recap of the things which may help them if they are still finding it difficult to form and maintain an appropriate pencil grip.

Remember it is important that you do not force a child to use the tripod grip if they are not developmentally ready. Just because they are starting school doesn’t mean they are ready to hold a pencil in the tripod grip for handwriting.

Have they reached the appropriate stage in their pencil grip development?

Every child develops at a different time and pace; find out which stage of development your child is at: http://bit.ly/2YFfqMp

Are they left or right-handed?

If they are of school age and do not have a clear hand dominance this can make it difficult to develop a good pencil grip. Our hand dominance information may help you here: http://bit.ly/2YFfqMp

How do they hold a pencil for writing at the moment?

A poor pencil grip can make forming letters difficult and handwriting slow or uncomfortable. Check out our tips on how to correct a poor pencil grip in our pencil grip difficulties section: http://bit.ly/2T96KwK

Have they been taught, & do they understand, how to form a Tripod pencil grip?

It may have been explained to them, but that does not mean your child has understood. Our ‘Tommy Thumb’ and ‘Drawbridge Flip’ videos may help them to learn more easily how to form a tripod grip for handwriting: http://bit.ly/2XpuI8I

Do they have the physical hand and finger strength to form and maintain a tripod pencil grip?

Not all children have the appropriate hand and finger strength to hold a pencil in the tripod grip and need extra support to help them develop this. To find out if your child need’s extra support to develop their hand and finger strengths check out this section of our Key Strengths assessment page:  http://bit.ly/2C7xYwq

Do they swap hands when writing or drawing?

This is a normal developmental stage for many toddlers and young children, but it is not ideal for school age children. Check out our tips on tackling hand swapping issues: http://bit.ly/2VlGfDH

If you have any queries or questions you would like to ask us about handwriting or pencil grip feel free to contact us at enquires@teachchildren.co.uk or via this blog or Facebook.

Be School Ready – What Letter Font is Your Child’s School Teaching?

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CC & Cursive 1

There is no standardized font style or teaching route stipulated in the National Curriculums for schools in the UK, only that it needs to be a consistent approach throughout the school.  So it is really important that you know which font and teaching route your child’s school is using.

There are a 4 teaching routes a school can choose from when teaching lower-case letters:

  1. Print, then Cursive; finally introduce Continuous Cursive to join the cursive letters.
  2. Print, then Continuous Cursive.
  3. Cursive and then Continuous Cursive to join the cursive letters.
  4. Continuous Cursive.

All the above are good teaching routes, the only difference is how many font styles a child has to learn and how long it takes before they learn how to join their letters.

The Difference between Print, Cursive and Continuous Cursive Handwriting Fonts

Print Font

  • The letters have different start points.
  • There are a number of different letter finish points.

Cursive or Continuous Cursive?

Be aware, some schools will say they are teaching Cursive when in fact they are teaching Continuous Cursive.

They are in fact 2 different handwriting fonts.

Cursive:

  • The letters start at different points (the same as print).
  • The finishing points for all the letters is the writing line; except for, o, r, v and w, which have a top exit stroke.
  • The single letter formations are taught with just the exit strokes.

 Continuous Cursive:

  • The starting point for all the letters is the same; on the writing line.
  • The finishing points for all the letters is also at the writing line; except for, o, r, v and w, which have a top exit stroke.
  • The single letter formations are taught with the entry and exit strokes, this makes the transition from single letter formation to joined handwriting very straightforward and allows it to occur sooner.

Check out our Letter Formation section of the website for more information, free animations and worksheets: http://bit.ly/2F9P7cI

Warm up For Handwriting!

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tommy-thumb

Well the festive holidays are over and many of us are back at work and school. So it is time to get back into good habits for the New Year!

So, before you try to encourage your little darlings to sit and write, get them to do a few physical handwriting ‘Warm Up Exercises’.  Not only do they help to prepare the hands and fingers for the task ahead, they also help to release any tension that has built up. They are fun to do, which usually brings a smile and often laughter, an added tonic to any learning experience.

The warm up exercises can be accessed through a number of ways:

  • Teachers through the content section for the Key Stage you are teaching by clicking on the Handwriting warm up activities button.
  • Parents through the getting the most from our website section by clicking on the picture under the Taking the tension out of handwriting title.
  • Resources in the How to Teach Handwriting section by clicking on the Handwriting warm up activities button.
  • Follow this link: https://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/handwriting-warm-up-exercises.html

Back to School – What Letter Font is Your Child’s School Teaching?

lucyteachchildrenLeave a comment

There is no standardized font style or teaching route stipulated in the National Curriculums for schools in the UK, only that it needs to be a consistent approach throughout the school.  So it is really important that you know which font and teaching route your child’s school is using.

There are a 4 teaching routes a school can choose from when teaching lower-case letters:

  1. Print, then Cursive; finally introduce Continuous Cursive to join the cursive letters.
  2. Print, then Continuous Cursive.
  3. Cursive and then Continuous Cursive for join the cursive letters.
  4. Continuous Cursive.

All the above are good teaching routes, the only difference is how many font styles a child has to learn and how long it takes before they learn how to join their letters.

The Difference between Print, Cursive and Continuous Cursive Handwriting Fonts

Print Font

  • The letters have different start points.
  • There are a number of different letter finish points.

Cursive or Continuous Cursive?

Be aware, some schools will say they are teaching Cursive when in fact they are teaching Continuous Cursive.

They are in fact 2 different handwriting fonts.

Cursive:

  • The letters start at different points (the same as print).
  • The finishing points for all the letters is the writing line; except for, o, r, v and w, which have a top exit stroke.
  • The single letter formations are taught with just the exit strokes.

Continuous Cursive:

The starting point for all the letters is the same; on the writing line.

  • The finishing points for all the letters is also at the writing line; except for, o, r, v and w, which have a top exit stroke.
  • The single letter formations are taught with the entry and exit strokes, this makes the transition from single letter formation to joined handwriting very straightforward and allows it to occur sooner.

Check out our Letter Formation section of the website for more information, free animations and worksheets: http://bit.ly/1dqBYFm