This month, we will be exploring the topic of handwriting – writing by hand in either print or cursive.  Handwriting is so important to student brain development, as it contributes to stronger reading skills, basic writing skills and academic writing skills, all of which contributes to deeper academic thinking and text analysis skills that kids need in college and in life.   School-age students that find handwriting challenging can find school assignments frustrating, and they might limit how much they write and thus limit the ideas they want to share.

 

This skill begins when kids are young, by developing fine-motor (finger-strength) and pre-writing skills.  Historically, young kids used to engage in a lot of fine-motor and pre-writing activities, such as coloring, make-believe writing with crayons and markers, playdough, crafts, picking up tiny items such as coins, beads, tiny rocks, you name it.  Today, in the age of screens, it is much harder for kids to naturally develop these fine-motor skills, and they see much less modeling from adults as well.

 

If you have younger kids, or even school-age kids that struggle with handwriting, strengthening their fine-motor skills is often a good place to start.

 

Here is a very good article on activities your child can do to build up fine-motor strength:  https://occupationaltherapy.com.au/improving-your-childs-pencil-grip/