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Home › Articles › Back to Preschool Headquarters › Handwriting 101

Handwriting 101

Helping Your Child Learn to Write

By Teri Brown

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are a couple of medical reasons for poor handwriting skills, as are upper body weakness, poor tactile discrimination and poor visual perception skills. An evaluation with an occupational therapist can pinpoint the problem and work to solve it. Your child's teacher or physician will probably be able to refer you to a good therapist. If you have tried everything and your child still has poor handwriting, it may be time to just accept it.

"What matters is writing content and correctness, not necessarily the presentation," says Karres. "Some children are just better at handwriting than others. Let's celebrate our talents and diversities."

Keep in mind:

  • Children develop fine motor skills at different rates, so don't be concerned if Susie isn't writing as well as Johnny from down the street. Spend a lot of time doing prewriting activities with your child and the handwriting will come!
  • Correct pencil grip is the No. 1 most important aspect of handwriting. Children should grip the pencil equally by the thumb, the side of the middle finger and the tip of the index finger. If your child's finger becomes red or the knuckle is white from the pressure exerted, then the child is holding the pencil too hard.
  • Practice makes perfect when it comes to handwriting, but making it a fun thing that you and your child do together will increase the chances that not only will your child handwrite successfully, but will enjoy it a whole lot more!

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