Development

A poor hand position can cause a poor pen grip!

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We often talk about the most appropriate grip for handwriting being the tripod grip; but this usually only refers to finger position. It is easy to forget the importance of the actual hand position in relation to the pen and paper for handwriting.

The ideal position is for the hand, wrist and elbow to be below the tip of the pencil and under the writing line for both left and right-handed writers.

Some children will hold the pencil in a tripod grip but develop a hooked hand position or move the elbow too far up the table, causing the forearm and wrist to be nearly horizontal with the table edge, because they feel they can see what they are writing more clearly.

A hooked grip puts unnecessary strain on the hand ligaments and forces the body into a poor sitting position, again putting extra strain on the body. This in turn makes handwriting a tiring and uncomfortable task, impacting on a child’s overall learning experience.

It takes time to correct a poor hand position but it is well worth the perseverance as it will enable a child to write freely and more comfortably.

When writing normally, encourage children to angle the paper appropriately as this will also help to correct a poor hand position. With the correct paper tilt, they will always be able to see what they are writing. If the paper is tilted at the correct angle for them, they will find a hooked hand position, or having their forearm further up the table, more difficult and uncomfortable to maintain.

Some children will find writing on a sloped desk helpful. Not all are comfortable writing or drawing on a flat surface and may benefit from the paper being positioned on an angled or sloped board. If you are not sure, instead of buying a specialist board, you could make one. Try using a ring binder or lever arch file stuffed with magazines and newspaper to make a sloped board. Tape the edges to stop the papers falling out or you could cover it in sticky back plastic to give a smoother finish to the board. The advantage of this is that you can make them to any angle of slope. Try a few to see which, if any, your child prefers. You may find that they only need the sloped board for a short while. It may also help to reduce the angle of the slope over time so that they gradually get used to moving from a sloped to horizontal writing plane.

What is classed as a poor pencil grip?

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Once a child has gone through the five pencil grip stages, so after the age of about 6, a poor pencil grip is any that causes:

  • a very small or closed web space (as seen in the two photos below),
  • restricting the movement of the fingers and wrist,
  • makes handwriting hard work.

This is sometimes referred to as a “death grip” pencil grip.

The most effective grip recommended for children by Occupational Therapists and Handwriting Specialists worldwide is the dynamic tripod grip, which gives an open web space. This allows the fingers to move freely so that a fluid handwriting style can be achieved.

For an explanation of what the dynamic tripod grip looks like for left and right-handed writers:  https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/tripod-pencil-grip.html

For videos on how to use our quick drawbridge flip, self-correcting method to help children pick up a pencil so they have holding it correctly in the tripod grip for both left and right-handed writers:  https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/teaching-tripod-pencil-grip.html

Why do Children Fidget or Appear Bored When Handwriting?

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There are two key elements that can cause a child to fidget or appear bored when handwriting, both relate to being able to sit correctly:

  1. The height of the table and chair.
  2. The child’s physical core strength.

Table and Chair Height

A poor and uncomfortable sitting position that causes a child to fidget and wriggle about affects their ability to concentrate and pay attention; for example, when listening to a teacher, as well as distracting them from the task and breaking their train of thought. It also puts unnecessary strain on the body, making sitting tasks such as handwriting more tiring.

When a child is sitting on a chair too high for them, they may sit swinging their legs, causing the body to rock slightly. They might wrap their legs around the legs of the chair to stop them aching, which is not good for their circulation and can cause them to lean back away from the table top. Some children will sit with their legs underneath their bottom which often causes them to lean too far over the table due to being off balance, once again not good for their circulation or for handwriting and other fine motor skill activities such as eating or drawing.

If a table is too high for a child, they will have their arms raised too high, causing tension in the upper arms and shoulders or they may rest their head on the table. Both have a profound effect on a child’s ability to handwrite with fluidity, comfort and for any period of time. Another result of this is a child fidgets as they try to readjust their position to get comfortable, which in turn distracts them from the task at hand. 

For tips and ideas on how to help a child develop a good sitting posture and position for handwriting check out our FAQ section of the ‘Sitting’ section on the Parent area of our website: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/sitting-faq.html

Teachers will find useful information using this link to our website:

website: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/handwriting-sitting-position-desk.html

Sitting and Core Strength

We often see children slouched over a desk, laying their head on the table or with their head propped up by their hand and arm, or fidgeting about while they are sitting at the desk writing. This can look as if they are bored and disinterested in what they are doing. However, this is not generally the case.

A poor posture position is not always due to boredom or incorrect chair and table height. For some children it is a lack of body strength or core muscle tone (the large muscle groups that control shoulder stability and the trunk of the body) that work to enable us to sit and stand upright for sustained periods of time.

We expect our children to sit at a desk for long periods of time at school. To be able to maintain a good sitting position for writing over any length of time requires good core strength. Those who lack strong core strength tend to slouch over the desk, lay their head on the desk, hold their head in their hand or pull their chair in so far that they can rest their tummy on the edge of the table to help them keep a more upright position.

This is bad for them, as it puts unnecessary strain on the body, causing neck or backache and discomfort, which in turn make them fidget as they try to get comfortable. All this can distract them from the task in hand and limit their handwriting ability as it reduces their hand and fingers movements to handwrite freely.

For more information, games and activities on developing a child’s core strengths check out our ‘Play’ section of the Parents area of our website: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/games.html

Teachers will find useful information using this link to our website: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/handwriting-difficulties.html

Handwriting is a Physical Activity

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Handwriting with fluidity, speed, accuracy and over longer periods of time requires a complex range of whole body and hand strengths and skills. So, it is not surprising that many children find handwriting challenging.

For a good handwriting style children need to develop their:

  • Gross Motor Skills – so they can sit correctly for periods of time.
  • Fine Motor Skills – so that they can hold and control the pencil and move the paper up the table as they write.
  • Motor Memory Skills – so they can recall how to form the letters.
  • Visual Memory Skills – so they recall what a particular letter looks like.
  • Spatial Awareness Skills– so they can place the letters correctly on the paper and in relation to one another.
  • Eye Tracking Skills– scanning from left to right so that the letters are formed and placed correctly.

If a child is struggling with handwriting it is important to take a closer look at their physical abilities. If they do not have all the appropriate key physical strengths to support their handwriting development getting them to do more of the paper and pencil activities is not the answer.

Our assessments are simple to complete and do not need any specialist equipment. The important elements are; your knowledge of the child and your observations of them at play and while they are engaged in normal day to day task.

For information on how to assess your child at home follow this link: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/parent-assessment.html   

For information on how to assess at child at school follow this link: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/teacher-assessment.html

A better understanding of a child’s key skills abilities enables you to focus more effectively, through targeted physical games and activities, to help them build and develop their skills.

You will find ‘Games to build gross and fine motor skills’ here: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/games.html

Handwriting is such an important skill as it engages the neurological pathways and working memory in a way that pressing a keyboard just doesn’t; so once mastered it helps to open up the doorways to other literacy skills such as phonics, reading, spelling and composition.

Warm up for #Handwriting!

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Before starting to work on letter formation, joins or even the pre-handwriting patterns it is a good idea to help focus your child’s body on the activity that it is about to be performed in a fun and relaxed way.

The exercises only take a couple of minutes to do. Not only can they be done at the beginning of the session but throughout and at the end to help relax muscles and release tension that may build up over the session. Tense muscles can make handwriting activities difficult and tiring for your child.

They are fun to do, which usually brings a smile and often laughter, an added tonic to any learning experience.

Five areas to support the body with handwriting are covered in the warm up exercises:

  1. Shoulder stability and strength
  2. Crossing the mid-line
  3. Wrist strength and flexibility
  4. Thumb and finger strength and dexterity
  5. Whole hand strength and dexterity

For more information go to our teach handwriting website here is a direct link to the warm up page:  https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/warm-ups.html

#Christmas Finger Printing a Fun Way to Support Handwriting

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Hand and finger printing can be a fun way of getting your child used to touching and using different textured mediums. The creative element can help some children to cope with, and learn to overcome, some sensory tactile defence difficulties. Being happy holding objects allows them to hold a pencil comfortably, leading to better handwriting.

Handwriting requires a child to apply the right amount of pressure to get the pencil marks of the letters on to the page. Too little pressure and the writing is often faint and wriggly in appearance (like a spider has walked across the page). Too heavy and the marks are very dark and can tear the paper; often the writing looks big, angular and laboured. Not being able to apply the correct pressure also affects how a child holds the pencil, which can cause the hand and fingers to tire more quickly, making writing tasks challenging.

Printing activities help your child to start to become aware of how to control the amount of pressure they use and the effect that this has on the quality of the work produced. Learning to control the amount of pressure exerted and how it feels can be very difficult for some children and it takes time and a range of experiences to develop these skills.

There are some fabulous printing ideas out on the internet; one of my favourite art resources is The Usborne Art Idea Books. Hand and finger printing can create some amazing artwork which can be used to make wonderful personalised Christmas cards, tags and paper.

Who could not be charmed by these fun thumb and fingertip snowmen or robins or delighted by a hand print angel?

For other useful tips on printing and setting up a printing work station, check out our ‘More fun handwriting activities’ in our Parents section under Learning Through Play: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/more-activities.html

Tips for Supporting #Left-handed Writers

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Surprisingly there are few differences when teaching left and right-handed children to handwrite. A left-handed child needs a slightly different pencil grip, and needs to hold the pencil slightly higher up the shaft, as well as a different paper position and tilt. Some left-handed children do find handwriting challenging to start with because they naturally want to draw straight lines right to left rather than left to right.

Check out our Left-handed Writers Page for more information and tips on how to support them: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/left-handed.html

Paper Position & Tilt are Important for Good Handwriting

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The paper position and tilt on the desk, for both right and left-handed writers, can make a big difference to a child’s handwriting experience and comfort and yet it is an element which is often neglected.

The correct paper position and tilt enables your child to handwrite comfortably while being able to see what they are writing. It also allows the non-writing hand to move the paper up the table so that the writing hand elbow can stay in the same position. The aim is to have the paper move up the table, rather than the writing hand moving down and eventually off the table.

With the non-writing hand moving the paper up the table the writing line stays in the same place which means eye movements are less, helping to make the writing experience less tiring and stressful.

If the paper is positioned and tilted correctly, with their writing hand under the writing line, they will also be able to see more easily what they have just written and where to place the next letter, word or section of text on the page. This is especially important for left-handed writers.

The most appropriate paper tilt angle is generally suggested as anywhere between 20 to 45 degrees anti-clockwise for right-handed writers and 30 to 45 degrees clockwise for left-handed writers.

For more tips and advice on developing a good paper position and tilt:

For Parents: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/paper-position.html

For Teachers: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/paper-position-for-comfortable-handwriting.html

The Most Efficient Pencil Grip for #Handwriting – Tripod Grip

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The Dynamic Tripod Grip is still the most efficient grip for handwriting, for those with good fine motor skills, as it allows the fingers to move freely; so, the writer can form the letters more smoothly.

The following link will take you to the grip section of our ‘Parents’ section of the teachhandwriting.co.uk website where you will find information on the tripod grip for left and right-handed writer: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/tripod-pencil-grip.html

The Drawbridge Flip Method is a simple way of helping a child pick up a pencil and hold it correctly in the tripod grip for handwriting. This can also be used as a whole class approach to support correct pencil grip development for handwriting.

Follow this link for an instructional video for both left and right-handed writers on how to use the Drawbridge Flip method: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/whole-class-tripod-pencil-grip-teaching-ks1.html

Drawbridge Flip instructions:

•  Place the pencil on the table in front of the writing hand, so it forms a straight line up the table with the writing tip of the pencil pointing towards you.

• Then using your thumb and index finger pinch the pencil either side of the shaft about 2 cm up from the tip for a right-handed writer and about 3 cm up for a left-handed writer. Dots or sticker may be placed on the pencil to help thumb and finger placement.

• Pick the pencil up off the table and place the fingernail of the middle finger on to the pencil just above the tip.

• Keep the ring and little finger gently curled in.

• Push down with the middle finger so that the pencil moves up and over like a drawbridge, keep pushing until the pencil is supported in the cup (web of skin that joins the thumb, hand and index finger) and the pencil is resting on the inner edge of middle finger.

• When writing, the end of the pencil will be angled towards the shoulder for right-handed writers and the elbow for left-handed writers.

A Good Sitting Position for #Handwriting

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Learning to sit correctly at a table for handwriting type activities is not just important for developing a physically comfortable and maintainable sitting position; it also allows the arms and hands to move freely and enables the paper to be tilted and positioned correctly, helping to improve the quality of the handwriting.

Learning how to sit correctly, so that it becomes second nature, needs training and takes time. Many children do not sit correctly at a desk, when they are asked to do so, because they have not been taught or do not understand what they are meant to do.

For tips and ideas on how to help a child develop a good sitting posture and position for handwriting check out our ‘Sitting’ section on the website: https://www.teachhandwriting.co.uk/handwriting-sitting-position-desk.html

Some children find sitting correctly at a desk difficult because they have not acquired all the gross motor skills needed to sit correctly for long periods of time. These children may require additional posture base and bilateral coordination games and activities to help them build the appropriate gross motor skills.

For more information on developing a child’s core strengths check out the Key Strengths section of our website: https://teachhandwriting.co.uk/handwriting-motor-skills.html