Development

Stage 1 to #Handwriting Success – Pre-handwriting Patterns

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Last week we looked at non-pencil pre-handwriting pattern development, working on large scale movements through play activities.

The next stage in the progression is to move to pencil and paper activities.

Again ‘The writing framework’ states that:

“Teaching should then progress to specific handwriting lessons and practice. This might initially include systematic teaching of and practice in moving the pencil to master the horizontal, diagonal, vertical and circular strokes needed for writing.”

Department of Education; The writing framework: July 2025; page 25; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-writing-framework

Here at Teach Children Ltd we always recommend teaching the handwriting patterns in groups, as this helps to further develop the specific movements (pushes and pulls) required to form the patterns and helps commit them to the motor memory. A child can then recall these motor memories to support them as they begin to form letters.

Pre-handwriting patterns that encourage a child to move their pencil from left to right are very important for left-handed writers. They need to be taught this so that they can make the cross motion in the H, T, J, G and I from left to right, as their natural instinct is to go from right to left. If this is not corrected when writing E and F the cross lines will not be “anchored” to the letter.

Once the handwriting patterns have been mastered a child will have the confidence and skills base necessary to start forming letters, numbers and symbols.

Have you got your Free Pre-handwriting Pattern Animations & Worksheets?

For Teachers: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/pre-handwriting-patterns.html

For Parents: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/patterns.html

Stage 1 to #Handwriting Success – Non-pencil – Pre-handwriting Patterns

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Learning to handwrite does not start with pen and paper but through play (non-pencil activities), as children explore shape and motion (how the body moves) through their senses – touch, sight and body awareness. Play is such an important element of your child’s physical, emotional, social and academic development.

Pre-handwriting patterns are the first stage in supporting a child to handwriting success. They help the child to learn the shapes and directional pushes and pulls required to form letters. All letters are a combination of these shapes and lines.

Young children can start to learn these patterns through their play, long before they are ready to pick up a pencil, moving toys back and forth across the floor or whirling them around in the air. To a child it is just play and fun, but you are doing something far more powerful and constructive by helping them to develop the motor memory patterns and directional movement skills they will need for handwriting.

Later, as their coordination and gross motor skills develop, they make more controlled and varied movement patterns in their play. Changing directions, speed and size are all prerequisite skills needed for learning pre-handwriting patterns.

Once again ‘The writing framework’ acknowledges that:

“On joining reception, some children may need teaching and practice in using and manoeuvring their thumb, wrist and shoulder muscles in the way they need for handwriting. Initially, handwriting lessons could include learning the movements needed to form letters, practising these movements at a range of sizes…”

Department of Education; The writing framework: July 2025; page 24; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-writing-framework

It is through play that you can really engage a child in learning how to correctly form these movements, or what we refer to as Pre-handwriting Patterns, that have always been an important foundation stone in our Foundation Stage Teach Handwriting Scheme (https://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/handwriting-teaching-manuals.html#hs-fs ) and strongly promoted on our website 😦 https://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/index.html ) and blog (https://teachhandwriting.blog/ ) since 2012.  

Our non-pencil – ‘Big to Small’ activities are an easy fun way to start developing these skills early on through play: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/big-to-small.html

The Three Stages to Learning #Handwriting

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There are three distinct stages for children to progress through to develop a good handwriting style:

Stage 1 – Pre-handwriting Patterns

Pre-handwriting patterns support a child towards handwriting success. They help the them to learn the shapes and directional pushes and pulls required to form letters. All letters are a combination of these shapes and lines.

Stage 2 – Single Letter Formation

For children to develop a good handwriting style it is important to learn how to form the letters correctly.

Beginning with lower-case letters and only the capital letters for the first letter in a child’s name, examples: Peter Rabbit, Sally Green, George Blue or Mary Shell.

Learning the correct lower-case letter formation also makes the transition from single letter formation to joined letter handwriting much easier.

Stage 3 – Joined Handwriting

Learning to join letters for handwriting enables children to develop a speedy, fluid and legible handwriting style.

Why Placement (Preposition) and Directional Vocabulary is Important

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Teaching your child the vocabulary related to placement (preposition) and direction is import in supporting them to understand and follow instructions, as well as sharing information themselves, such as; ‘put your cup on the table’ or to say ‘teddy in car’.

We also use this placement (preposition) and directional language to explain how to draw shapes, patterns and write letters and numbers.

With handwriting now having to be taught separately from phonics and starting from the first term in reception, the writing framework recognizes that on joining reception:

“They may also need additional support to ensure they are secure in their understanding of key directional words such as, ‘up’, ‘down’, ‘round’ and ‘back’.”

Department of Education; The writing framework: July 2025; page 24/25; https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-writing-framework

To help support the development of this vocabulary we have created three sets of picture cards and games to help you support your child in developing and using positional (preposition) and directional vocabulary.

You can find these free resources on our Phonics website by following this link: https://www.teachphonics.co.uk/phonics-resources.html

You can find these free resources in the Parent section of the Teach Handwriting website by following this link: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/more-activities.html

What are prepositions?

“A word used with a noun or pronoun to show place, position, time or means, e.g. at home, in the hall, on Sunday, by train.” Definition from Oxford School Dictionary, third edition 2002.

Here are just some preposition and directional phrases you might like to use:

On the … On top of the … Above the … Over the…

Under the… Below the … Beneath … Underneath …

Behind the …

In front of the…

Next to …Beside the … On the right of … To the right of … On the right-hand side … On the left of … To the left of … On the left-hand side… Before the … After the …

In the…  Inside the …

Out of the … Outside of the …

Between the … In between the … In the middle … In the center …

Going up the ….  Going down the … Going towards the… Going away from …

The Simple View of Writing

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The writing framework explains, and shares, a simple illustrated example of “The Simple View of Writing” (see the end of this article), which we felt was a little too simplistic as a quick reference guide. So, we have created the one below which adds a little more information to what is in reality a complex set of skill factors.

Please note that criteria should all be considered in relation to the pupil’s age and stage of development.

What are language composition and transcription skills?

Language Composition

The writing framework explains language composition as; being able to express ideas by structuring them into speech and writing, which consists of two main but complex elements:

  1. Executive function (self-regulation, planning, organizing and monitoring) and
  2. Text generation (vocabulary, grammar and punctuation)

Executive function

This is a complex set of skills that have to come together throughout the writing process:

Self-regulation – the ability to keep control of their own thoughts, feelings and behaviors during the writing process. To help them remain focused on the task, to get started and to keep going (stamina to finish the task).

Planning – breaking down a task and organize it in a logical structure based on their knowledge of the topic, the context in which it is to be used, its purpose, and the audience it is intended for.

Organizing – covers a range of tasks such as deciding the best way to present some of the information, the relevance of information, what to keep and what to discard. Taking on new ideas that may conflict with their own thoughts.

Monitoring – their own writing process, reviewing and making amendments where necessary.

Text generation

Is the ability to correctly use grammatical conventions with a wide range of vocabulary and accurate punctuation.

Transcription Skills

The writing framework explains that transcription skills are handwriting and spelling.

Handwriting

The ability to handwriting with speed, fluidity and legibility. This means that the writer has correct letter formation and/or joining skills, placement, spacing, an appropriate consistent letter size for their stage of development and has or is moving to developing an automatic, sub-conscious approach to handwriting.

Spelling

The ability to spell accurately, which means having a good understanding of the alphabetic coding system (phonics) we use for the oral and written English language. This means being able to link the sounds heard in a word to the correct letter or letter combinations required to spell the word correctly. For example, in the word ‘fish’ we hear 3 phonemes ‘f/I/ ʃ’but spelling it correctly we need to know that the ‘ʃ ‘phoneme is represented by two letters ‘s’ and ‘h’=‘sh’.

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

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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: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/grip-development.html  

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. ‘Drawbridge Flip’ videos may help them to learn more easily how to form a tripod grip for handwriting: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/teaching-tripod-pencil-grip.html

You may our Pencil Grip Frequently Asked Question page helpful:  https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/grip-faq.html

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: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/hand-dominance.html

Is your child left-handed? 

If your child is left-handed for writing then you may find this link useful: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/left-handed.html

You may find our Hand Dominance Frequently Asked Questions page helpful: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/hand-dominance-faq.html

Summer Fun-Think more Play, Play and Play!!!

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We are half way through the summer holidays, six weeks may have seemed like a long time but it is amazing how quickly it is passing.

The last thing you and your child probably want to think about right now is developing your child’s phonological awareness skills ready for next term; and quite right too!

So, don’t think about it in the conventional way of practise, practise and practise.

Think more play, play and play!!!

Children learn so much through just playing; developing physical, mental, communication and vocabulary strengths and skills, which all support them at school and with learning. Once introduced to a new game or activity children will very often take it and make it their own, making new rules and introducing extra characters or challenges.

The skill as a parent is remembering to let go of your preconceived ideas about how a game should be played and letting your child take the initiative.

If you provide the opportunities it is amazing how they will take on the challenge of inventing a new game or (in their eyes) improving an existing one.

This does not have to cost a penny; use the toys they already have or make games using empty plastic bottles or cardboard tubes.

The following kind of play supports and develops language and communication skills your child needs to help them learn and you have not had to mention school or homework.

  • The local play park is a fantastic free resource; running, jumping, crawling and climbing can all be encouraged. If your child is a little reluctant then it may well be that they are unsure how to do some of these activities. Explain when jumping that they needed to land on their feet and bend their knees as they land. Start small and as their confidence grows so does the height or distance they jump. Climbing can be scary for some children so again explain how to climb, moving one hand or foot at a time so that there are always three other points of contact.
  • If you are lucky enough to have a garden then mud play is messy but so much fun, it can be contained in a small area and will not only make you a cool adult but, if you join in, it will knock years off you (have a go, it is a great free therapy session).
  • Skittle games are always fun. Extend the activity by decorating the skittles (plastic bottles or cardboard tubes) using anything from crayons, paint or even dress them up as people or animals.

Turn Taking Skills for Play

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This week we will look at turn taking in play a skill children need to learn to take part in meaningful interaction with others. These interactions are a vital part of children’s physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth and wellbeing.

Children need to learn the importance of waiting for their turn when playing with others, something many find hard to understand to begin with. 

Like most skills it needs to be taught and practised and is part of our phonological awareness development as it requires us to learn an associated vocabulary along with facial and other physical cue.

A child who is taught and given lots of practise at taking turns will find interacting and playing with others easier later on.

Turn taking is easy to implement into everyday activities and play and something you probably do anyway, without even thinking about it

Here are some ideas to help you to support your child:

  • Try to use the phrase “My turn”, “Your turn” or “Daddy’s turn” (name a third person) when playing or doing an activity such as sharing a book.
  • Toddlers have a short attention span so keep the turn short to start with.
  • Physical games such as rolling and kicking a ball or running and jumping activities can help to encourage turn taking and learning to wait for your turn. Again, don’t make the turns too long and to help keep your child engaged while you have your turn, talk with them about what you are doing during your turn and when they are having theirs.
  • Count Down or Up – To help young children develop an understanding that if they wait, they will get their turn, explain that you will count to 10 and then it is time to swap and someone else has a turn, count to 10 again and return the toy or wanted object to your child. It won’t take long for them to understand that they will get their turn without a fuss.
  • Turn Time – As your child gets older try using a timer/clock to help them increase the time scale between taking turns. Try not to make the gaps between turns too long to start with, as young children find the concept of time very difficult, 1 minute might as well be an hour in their eyes. Show clearly a start point and the finish point for the time scale so your child can watch or come back and check the passing of time. Don’t be tempted to ignore the timer if it is your child’s turn, make sure they are offered the toy or turn that is due to them, otherwise they will feel cheated and some of the trust is lost.
  • As children get older, playing card and board games helps to further develop their turn taking skills.

Handwriting Really Starts with Play

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Learning to handwrite does not start with pen and paper but through play, as children explore shape and motion (how the body moves) through their senses – touch, sight and body awareness. Play is such an important element of your child’s physical, emotional, social and academic development.

Young children learn many of the directional pushes, pulls and changes in direction, required for handwriting, on a much larger scale, long before they pick up a pencil, through playing with cars or pretending to cook. These movements become the drawings/scribbles which young children form once they start mark-making, initially as big uncontrolled movements then becoming more controlled and smaller as their gross and fine motor skills develop.

It is through play that you can really engage your child in learning how to correctly form pre-handwriting patterns and letters (the start points, orientation, directional movements and finish points).

Our non-pencil – ‘Big to Small’ activities are an easy fun way to start developing these skills early on through play: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/big-to-small.html   

Young children love seeing their name so it is a great way to introduce letter formation; here are some other fun ideas:

  • This activity can be done indoors on large sheets of paper or using chalk on a path or patio (the beach is also a great place to do this). Write your child’s name very big and make a mark on each letter that represents a start point (an arrow showing the direction of travel can also help). Remember to use a capital letter for the first letter of their name and we would suggest lower case letters for the remaining letters. Use the letters as a track for racing cars or toys. If you make the letters big enough your child could walk, hop, jump or skip around the letters. To help them remember the letters, once they have finished a letter, encourage them to say that letter‘s alphabet name (NOT a sound the letter can make).
  • Collect stones, twigs, leaves, etc…  Use them to make the letters of your child’s name. They may only make one or two of the letters, before making a hedgehog house, nest or den for their toys becomes more interesting, but this does not matter, it is all part of the adventure.
  • Feely bag games are a fun way to explore shape and form. Try placing the letters of your child’s name into a bag or box they cannot see into. It is useful to talk through the letter shapes beforehand so they can see them as they move them about in their hands; then place them in the bag. Ask them to put their hands in (both hands, if possible, but if not, then use the dominant hand) the bag, picks up a letter, feels it, identifies it and pulls it out to check only AFTER identifying it. If correct, they get to “keep” it, if wrong, you get to “keep” it. The winner is the one with the most letters at the end. For some children it can help to have another set of the letters outside the bag to help them identify the shape they are handling in the bag. Again, encourage them to use the alphabet name of the letter.
  • Play-dough, clay and Plasticine activities are great for developing hand strength for handwriting and learning how to form letter shapes.

Your child will love these sort of activities as they see it as just playing and they get your undivided attention. You will enjoy it as you are sharing quality time with your child helping them to develop more than just their letter formation ability but also their communication and social skills.

Learning through play is a powerful way of supporting your child’s development. So have fun and play!

For links and more fun Ideas go to: https://teachhandwriting.blog/

Different Types of Play and their Importance

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We are always being shown how important play is in the development of young animals’ survival and hunting skills. How many times have you thought how cute or lovely when watching kittens, puppies or polar bears playing?

Humans are also animals which thrive and develop through play; in fact, play is so important the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights state it as a right for every child (Ginsburg, 2013).

We often think of play as a frivolous pastime rather than a practical and meaningful one. However, here at Teach Children we see play as a vital part of a child’s physical, emotional, social and intellectual growth and well-being.

There has been considerable research over the years on play, which supports our point of view, with the consensus being that children need to experience five different types of play (Dr.D Whitebread, 2012). These five types of play are roughly based on the developmental opportunities they provide, especially if it is child driven rather than adult lead:

Physical Play – active exercise (running, jumping, skipping etc..), rough & tumble and fine motor skills activities to develop whole body and hand and eye co-ordination strength and endurance. The outdoor element of such play develops independence, resourcefulness and self-regulation while the fine motor skills activities support the development of concentration and perseverance.

Play with Objects – starts as soon as a child can grasp and hold an object; mouthing, biting, turning, stroking, hitting and dropping. It’s how we all learn through the exploration of our senses (sensory-motor play). This type of play develops our abilities to; physically manipulate items, think, reason and problem solve, to set challenges and goals as well as to monitor our own progress.

Symbolic Play – refers to the development of spoken language, visual symbols such as letters and numbers, music, painting, drawing and other media used for communication of thought and ideas. This type of play allows children to develop the abilities to express and reflect on experiences, ideas and emotions. Sound and language play develops phonological awareness required for literacy, while number play that relates to real life situations supports numeracy skills.

Pretence/socio-dramatic Play – Pretend play provides the opportunity to develop cognitive, social, self-regulatory and academic skills. This kind of play means children have to learn and pick up on unspoken rules of interaction, taking on the role of a character and playing within the expected confines of that role.

Games with Rules – physical games such as chase, hide & seek, sport, board and computer games. Develop social skills and the emotional skills of taking turns, winning and losing as well as other people’s perspectives.

                                                             So, to play is to learn!

Bibliography

Kenneth R. Ginsburg, MD, MSEd, 25/07/2013; ‘The Importance of Play in Promoting Healthy Child Development and Maintaining Strong Parent-Child Bonds’: THE AMERICAN ACADEMY OF PEDIATRICS: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/119/1/182.full

Dr.D. Whitebread, April 2012: ‘The Importance of Play’; Commissioned for the Toy Industries of Europe:  http://www.importanceofplay.eu/IMG/pdf/dr_david_whitebread_-_the_importance_of_play.pdf