Helping kids improve their Handwriting

“One in 3 teenage boys and one in 4 girls says that they only write when they have to, and even then, they write as little as possible."

                                                   Schools Examination and Assessments Council. 1991

If your child has poor handwriting and hates to put pen to paper, he or she is not alone.

Recent research has revealed that poor handwriting can affect children’s learning and future academic performance.

During the last five years, British and Australian studies have proven what teachers have known for decades… kids who have to actively concentrate to write neatly find it difficult to simultaneously ‘think’ about higher order ideas.

Lenora Delaney is a Paediatric Occupational Therapist at award winning children’s education and health centre, Kids First Children’s Services.

She has supported many children with handwriting and other fine motor issues and says that handwriting is a crucial, but often forgotten, component of literacy.

“Children who have poor handwriting are often so busy trying to be neat that they can’t allocate sufficient processing capacity to more complicated tasks like creative writing and composition,” she said.

‘Their inability to write easily and ‘automatically’ often impedes their ability to plan, conceptualise and execute written tasks. As a result, they sometimes find it hard to produce work that that truly reflects their academic skills.’

Lenora says that unless children’s fine motor difficulties are addressed early, kids can end up being slower and less confident in the classroom.

“Many parents tell me that their children have great ideas, but that they hate writing things down because the whole process is too difficult.”

“When this kind of avoidance becomes an issue, class writing tasks and homework time can become a challenge for everyone concerned.”

Tips to help kids improve their handwriting

Lenora says early intervention is the key if parents want to help their children to overcome fine motor issues.

“The muscles in a child’s hands are small and when children are very young, just five minutes of functional play can encourage the development of strong hand muscles and good fine motor control.”

“From a young age, children can enjoy activities like dot-to-dot and maze puzzles that require them to control their pencil and connect lines.”

“Tracing, colouring and cutting activities are also very helpful, while manipulative resources like Silly Putty and Play Doh are great for refining children’s dexterity and strength.”

Lenora recommends Occupational Therapy for older children who have developed poor pencil grip habits or an aversion to writing.

“After Year 4 or 5, it can be very difficult to resolve fine motor issues completely. Habits are too well formed and things like changing a pencil grip often results in more stress and poorer performance by an older child.”

“An Occupational Therapist can help older children by assessing their needs and making recommendations to schools about compensatory strategies like the use of a computer in the classroom, printing instead of cursive handwriting styles or extra time in tests.”

Lenora said that regardless of a child’s age, it is important to rule out the possibility that a child’s writing problems are caused by poor muscle tone or another underlying concern.

“If this is the case, an assessment will determine the right course of treatment and get the child back on track so that their performance at school is not affected by their handwriting challenges,” she said.