28 Sep Tips to improve your child’s handwriting
The pen is mightier than the keyboard – tips to improve your child’s handwriting.
In a digital age where our kids tend to be far more tech savvy then us parents – is handwriting still an important skill for them to learn?
Put simply – Yes! Handwriting is a complex process that is much more involved than just putting pen to paper. The benefits of your child becoming proficient at handwriting are far reaching; superior academic achievements, improved memory, supports fine motor development, better comprehension, healthy self esteem to name a few.
Signs your child may need some help when it comes to handwriting:
- Legibility issues
- Complaints of pain or fatigue
- They are not writing as quickly or as much as their peers.
So how can we as parents, help to improve our children’s handwriting skills?
Here are my top 5 tips:
1) Set up: Your child should be seated with their feet on the floor or a box; hips, knees and ankles should be bent at 90 degrees and the desk should be at a height that allows their forearms to rest comfortably on the surface.
2) Pencil Grip: Encourage your child to hold the pencil correctly from the start to avoid bad habits. After the age of 8, it becomes more difficult to change (your child would need to be quite motivated to adjust their grasp). A functional tripod grip will let their hand and fingers control their pencil properly, allowing for adequate movements at their thumb and finger joints.
3) Letter formation: Ensure your child is forming all the letters of the alphabet correctly. Using the correct formations will make it easier for them to make cursive joins later, as well as increasing their handwriting speed.
4) Spacing: Encourage children to leave a finger space between their words – this will make each word look more defined and easier to read.
5) Practice: It may sound cliche but practise really does make perfect when it comes to handwriting!
If you want a hand with your child’s handwriting (pun intended!) please reach out to us at Melbourne Hand Rehab. We look forward to helping you.
By Crystal Goodwin
Book an appointment today with one of our physiotherapists or occupational therapists.
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