Teaching handwriting – Help pupils improve their handwriting with this advice
Have your pupils’ handwriting skills slipped over lockdown? Go back to basics with this advice, from Laura Dobson…
- by Laura Dobson
Cast your mind back to when you learnt to drive. Remember the brain space that the mechanics of driving took up; there was little room left to think about directions. These days you drive to get somewhere and the mechanics are just part of the process.
The same is true of the transcriptional skills of handwriting and spelling.
They are not the reason we write, but if we are using up our brain capacity thinking about them, the real purpose of writing (to persuade, entertain or complain, for example) becomes secondary.
Although handwriting is not the most important factor of writing, children often place importance on it (and parents do too). Pupils will consider themselves a good writer if they have neat handwriting and vice versa.
It has an impact on self-esteem. Poor handwriting often means a child cannot read their own work. How can they edit and improve if they can’t understand what it says?
If writing takes ages to do well, or it physically hurts, this undoubtedly has an impact on a child’s enjoyment of writing.
Here are some reasons that children struggle with handwriting, and how to rectify them.
Are pupils developmentally ready?
Handwriting is a complex task and children need to be developmentally ready to sit and write. You can find many fabulous pre-writing activities online to develop the skills and muscles needed to write well. A good starting point is the Leapkids Facebook page (tinyurl.com/tpleap). Sitting at a desk to write before pupils are strong enough can lead to poor posture. It’s far better for early writers to mark-make while lying on their stomach to develop strength in the shoulder girdle muscles, or write on a vertical surface to encourage wrist extension.
Are they sitting right?
If a child’s core, shoulders and hands are strong enough to write, poor handwriting could be due to incorrect writing posture. Pupils should sit right back in their chair, knees at a 90° and feet planted on the floor. The chair should be tucked in, but children’s torsos shouldn’t touch the table so there is space to bend. Use cushions on chairs or steps under feet to rectify issues with wrong-sized furniture.
Is the paper positioned correctly?
With their forearm resting on their paper to anchor it, children should move the paper up the table with their non-writing hand as they write, allowing their wrist to stay below the writing line. So often I see children with hands ‘hooked over’ their writing because they haven’t moved the page. Sometimes this is simply because the table is too cluttered.
Tilting the paper makes writing more comfortable and allows children to see what they are writing. Left-handed writers will tilt the paper down and right-handed writers up. Children won’t do this automatically so model it and help them find the correct tilt.
Is their grip good?
Once they are developmentally ready, most children will benefit from being taught the dynamic tripod grip. However, there are slight adaptations to this which can also work well. Pupils should be able to see the nib of their writing implement and their wrist should be below the writing line. They shouldn’t be pressing too hard and writing shouldn’t hurt. There are some excellent grips available, but the end goal must be for children to have a good grip without aids.
How is their spatial awareness?
Can the pupil reproduce shapes? Do they have good spatial awareness? Do they use their non-writing hand to stabilise the paper and have a dominant writing hand? If any of these skills are lacking, handwriting will be difficult.
Are they in the mood?
Handwriting takes time and care to master. Attitude and mood can have a huge impact on it. Have a go at writing in Chinese script – it’s hard and requires real focus and attention to detail. It will remind you how complex handwriting is.
KS1 tips
Ensure your handwriting scheme or policy is being followed by all. The national curriculum guidance states that there should be frequent and discrete direct teaching of handwriting.
Keep it interesting with a multi-sensory approach and lots of modelling. It will take more thought in the current climate, but find ways to make writing fun (gel pens, writing in the air, chalk writing on the wall, etc).
The more children practise, the better they will get. Ensure handwriting is closely monitored and all staff know what correct formation and grip look like.
In the autumn term, re-evaluate posture, hand position, grip and paper position. If children have got into bad habits it will feel strange doing something different, but it is important to rectify these now or pupils could find writing painful, slow, and infuriating in the future.
No one is designed to sit and write for long periods of time, especially young children. Consider how you can provide breaks within the current restrictions. Warming up before writing can help (see panel, right). Ensure you also continue to focus on building up pupils’ strength and hand-eye coordination.
KS2 tips
It’s never too late to put things right. Re-evaluate and identify any issues which require focus – seating (left and right-handed children not bumping), posture, hand position, pencil grip, letter formation, paper tilt.
Get children to evaluate their own handwriting. The National Handwriting Association has created this free poster – ‘S Factors’ – which encourages children to consider particular aspects of their writing: size, shape, slant, spacing, how words sit on the line and speed.
Let children try out different writing implements and discuss their likes and dislikes. Consider any difficulties children may have copying from the board (light reflecting or losing their place, for example). Find ways to rectify these, such as numbering the lines.
Tips for left-handers
- Position left-handed children so their elbows don’t bump with right-handed classmates.
- Left-handed pupils often have an inclination to form letters in the wrong direction – repetition of correct formation will help with this.
- Put any text to be read or copied on the right-hand side of their page so their arm doesn’t obstruct it when they are writing.
Handwriting warm-up ideas
- Chair push-ups
Develop shoulder strength by grabbing the sides of your chair and pushing your bottom in the air, ideally with your feet off the ground.
Hold your arms out in front of you then cross them over up and down. This helps with crossing the midline (the ability to reach across the middle of the body with your arms or legs) and shoulder strength.
On the floor, push up from sitting with your tummy in the air and walk around on your hands and feet to improve wrist and shoulder strength.
One-by-one, push your fingers together. This helps with finger strength.
Improve finger strength by wrapping a rubber band around your finger and thumb and stretching them apart ten times. Repeat on the other side.
Laura Dobson worked for many years as a teaching and learning adviser for a large company and local authority. She now runs Inspire Primary English, providing consultancy and training in all areas of English. Find out more at inspireprimaryenglish.co.uk and follow on Twitter at @inspireprieng.
