Here are a few specific suggestions for teaching handwriting: Of course, children also should have access to word-processing programs and assistive technology, with appropriate accommodations as needed for individual students. The early years of schooling are especially critical for handwriting instruction once children have formed counterproductive habits in handwriting, such as poor pencil hold or inefficient letter formation, those habits can be difficult to change.Įven for young children, however, handwriting instruction should occur in the context of a broader program of written expression in which children learn many other writing skills and develop motivation to write. Relatively modest investments of instructional time devoted to handwriting - perhaps the equivalent of ten or fifteen minutes daily - may pay off in preventing later writing problems, including difficulties with higher-level composition skills. If children have learned both manuscript and cursive, as is often the case with older youngsters, then assessment should consider the execution, legibility, and speed of both forms of writing. Speed is important as children advance beyond the first few grades so that they can use writing efficiently in a variety of tasks. Legibility involves the readability of letters, as well as spacing within and between words. Forming the letter beginning on the left side, without lifting the pencil from the paper, is much more conducive to building eventual speed of writing. For instance, young children may “draw” a letter such as m using separate strokes, starting on the right side of the letter. Counterproductive habits in these latter areas are not always obvious from looking only at writing samples and can greatly impede progress in handwriting. Attention to the linkages among handwriting, reading, and spelling skills can help to reinforce early achievement across these areas.Īssessment of handwriting should incorporate observations of execution, legibility, and speed of writing.Įxecution includes correct and consistent pencil hold, posture, and letter formation. Moreover, when handwriting is perceived as arduous and time-consuming, motivation to write may be greatly reduced, leading to a lack of practice that may further compound difficulties with writing.įinally, handwriting in the earliest grades is linked to basic reading and spelling achievement for example, when children learn how to form the letter m, they can also be learning its sound. Just as effortful word decoding may impair reading comprehension, or lack of automatic recall may reduce the mental resources available for learning advanced computational algorithms in math, labored handwriting creates a drain on mental resources needed for higher-level aspects of writing, such as attention to content, elaboration of details, and organization of ideas.īecause handwriting is a basic tool used in many subjects - taking notes, taking tests, and doing classroom work and homework for almost every content area as well as in language arts classes - poor handwriting can have a pervasive effect on school performance. One involves the concept of mental resources to which I have alluded in several other columns, in relation to reading and mathematics as well as writing. Contrary to the view that handwriting is a trivial skill, handwriting actually is important for a number of reasons.
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