HOW CAN WE HELP OUR KIDS WITH HANDWRITING? 9/29/13

Today, most adults use a computer for writing emails, office papers, essays, and many other writings, at home and in the office. Why then teach good handwriting to our kids? The main reason is that research has proven that handwriting benefits the cognitive development, motor skills, attention to content, elaboration of details, and organization of ideas in children. Research has also shown that good handwriting leads to good reading comprehension. Even though we are moving towards computer based writing, we can’t deny that handwriting is necessary to communicate with both at work and at home. As adults, we constantly write notes, journal, make lists, and so on. Imagine if all of these had to be done in the computer for others to understand. It is through penmanship, in the elementary grades, that we teach the cleanliness and organizational skills your children will later in life, even when they get to computer based writing in higher grades. I will be working hard to help my students improve their penmanship and I would like to ask for your help at home. Your children are learning the following on penmanship at school: A) Correct sitting position for writing – o Help your child with a relaxed sitting position by reminding him/her to place both feet on the ground. B) Correct positioning of the paper – o Right handed students should place the paper so that the lower left corner of the paper points to their belly button area. o Left handed students should place the paper so that the lower right corner of the paper points to their belly button. o The non-dominant hand should be place at the top of the paper to keep it from moving. o The paper moves upward as the writing goes down on the paper. C) Correct position of the pencil – o The pencil is held with the tips of the fingers. o Have your kid/s put the pencil down on the table in front of them, place horizontal to the edge of the table where the student is sitting, with the tip of the pencil facing your kids non-dominant side (example: if he is right handed, the pencil tip faces the left side of the table). o With the tip of their index finger (some of them use their middle and index fingers and it is a correct grip too) and their thumb have them grab the pencil where the paint meets the wood. o They should at this time pick up the pencil and turn it around until it rests on top of the area that connects the index finger and the thumb. I would like to encourage you to help your kids’ fine motor skills. Visit the following website to find many fun ideas for activities to strengthen your kid/s fine motor skills. http://www.makelearningfun.info/2011/06/50-fine-motor-skills-activities-for.html