Category: handwriting

Teaching Special Needs Kids How to Write? I Wrote a Handout Pack for YOU!

My handout packs for pre-writing and handwriting with neurotypical kids have been a big success; lots of therapists, teachers, and parents have learned things that took me decades of professional experience and continuing education to master! NOW…it is time for children with special needs to get their own handout pack! I started with an expanded…… Continue reading Teaching Special Needs Kids How to Write? I Wrote a Handout Pack for YOU!

What Happens When Adults Don’t Teach Handwriting

This is not a post about the developing world, where getting a full meal supersedes writing a full sentence. It is about allowing errors to go ignored because a child “tried their best, and we don’t want them to get discouraged”. Handwriting is not intuitive.  Walking appears to be a skill that we are programmed…… Continue reading What Happens When Adults Don’t Teach Handwriting

3 Hidden Causes of Handwriting Errors

Lined paper.  Pencil grips.  Easels.  Tutoring. All of these solutions can help a child who has illegible handwriting.  There are more handwriting devices and strategies than pencils in my desk drawer.  But three contributors to poorly legible writing are often easily forgotten:   Room temperature.  Children that are chilly or too toasty will be fidgety.…… Continue reading 3 Hidden Causes of Handwriting Errors

How To Write Numbers And Letters To Avoid Confusing Young Children

One of the common questions children will ask me when I am working with them on handwriting is “Why is your “6” different from my book’s “6”? , or why is your ” M” different from my book’s “M” ? This is an EXCELLENT question. Here is the answer: because a computer made those numbers…… Continue reading How To Write Numbers And Letters To Avoid Confusing Young Children

Why A Circular Scribble ISN’T a Circle

I spend a lot of time in telehealth with toddlers and young preschoolers doing pre-writing.  It requires few tools, it is easy to demonstrate, and it is fun.  But when parents tell their two year-old that they drew a circle after they scribbled in a circular pattern, I stop them. Why? After all, copying a…… Continue reading Why A Circular Scribble ISN’T a Circle

How to Help Toddlers Prepare to Write

Ian, Lila, and Tom aren’t writing. They are drawing! Contrary to the ideas of some preschool teachers, most three year olds don’t write their names.  In truth, most young fours don’t either.  I refuse to count the kids who “draw” their names like the photo above.  That isn’t writing.  That is drawing, the same as…… Continue reading How to Help Toddlers Prepare to Write

Try “Rainbow Tracing” to Build Pre-Writing Skills With Creativity

I am not a huge fan of teaching preschool children to trace strokes.  I am very interested in the use of simple drawing to build pencil control and other pre-writing skills.  But done right, tracing can be fun and useful for both the child and the adult.  Here is one way to use tracing effectively:…… Continue reading Try “Rainbow Tracing” to Build Pre-Writing Skills With Creativity

Using A Vertical Easel in Preschool? WHERE Your Child Draws on it Matters!

There are a few equipment and toy recommendations that every home-based pediatric OTR makes to a child’s parents:  Play-Doh, puzzles, tunnels, …and a vertical easel.  Found in every preschool, children from 18 months on can build their reach and proximal (upper body) control while coloring and scribbling on a vertical surface, rather than a tabletop.…… Continue reading Using A Vertical Easel in Preschool? WHERE Your Child Draws on it Matters!

Need a Desk Chair for Your Hypermobile School-Age Child? Check out the Giantex Chair

One of my colleagues with a hypermobile third-grader told me this chair has been a great chair at school for her child.  It hits a lot of my targets for a good chair recommendation, so here it is:  The Giantex chair. Why do I like it so much? It is a bit adaptable and it…… Continue reading Need a Desk Chair for Your Hypermobile School-Age Child? Check out the Giantex Chair

When Should You Tell A Child NOT to Erase Their Mistake?

I wrote a post on erasing Teach Your Kindergartener How To Erase Like a Big Kid and one on erasers Problems With Handwriting? You Need The Best Eraser , but there are a few situations in which you don’t want a child to run for the eraser. The child who stalls for time.  Some kids want to…… Continue reading When Should You Tell A Child NOT to Erase Their Mistake?

Does Your Older Child Hate Writing? Try HWT’s Double-Lined Paper

  This paper has been more useful to older kids (6+) that I see for handwriting help than any other paper on the market, and almost any other tool Problems With Handwriting? You Need The Best Eraser , Great Mechanical Pencils Can Improve Your Child’s Handwriting Skills .  Why?  Regular lined paper, and almost all worksheets, are usually jam-packed…… Continue reading Does Your Older Child Hate Writing? Try HWT’s Double-Lined Paper

When Writing Hurts: The Hypermobile Hand

Many children resist doing their homework, but most kids say “Its so BORING!” not “My hand hurts too much”.  If a child is complaining of pain, and they don’t have a joint disease such as JRA, the first thought is hypermobility.  The good news is that there are a few fast fixes that can decrease…… Continue reading When Writing Hurts: The Hypermobile Hand

Deluxe Water Wow Pads Offer More Challenge And More Fun To Preschoolers and Kindergarteners

  My clients and colleagues know how much I love the original Water Wow books.  They are reusable and mess-free fun for kids at home, at the doctor’s office, the restaurant and the plane ride.  These bigger books are going to be even more fun for preschool kids and kindergarteners! Here are some great reasons…… Continue reading Deluxe Water Wow Pads Offer More Challenge And More Fun To Preschoolers and Kindergarteners

KickStart Kindergarten: Get Your Child Ready for Kindergarten Writing The Easy Way!

  Starting kindergarten is so exciting for most kids, but learning to write can be challenging for those children that have fASD, SPD, fine motor or visual-motor issues.  Even though fewer and fewer teachers know how to teach handwriting well, it is still a necessary skill for young children.  Learning Without Tears has developed an…… Continue reading KickStart Kindergarten: Get Your Child Ready for Kindergarten Writing The Easy Way!

Is Automaticity The Key To Handwriting Success?

I know that this is a bold statement.  Handwriting is a complex skill, with visual-motor coordination, perceptual, cognitive and postural components.  But when I evaluate a child’s writing, and I watch them having to think about where to start and sequence movements to form a letter and place it on a line, and then decide…… Continue reading Is Automaticity The Key To Handwriting Success?

When Should You Begin To Teach Handwriting? (You May be Surprised!)

Many formal handwriting programs begin at 4 years of age.  Handwriting Without Tears, Fundations, and others begin with children tracing letters and quickly progress to writing.  But the foundational skills for handwriting actually begin early.  Before your child’s first birthday.  Yes, that early.  And, believe it or not, that is when you could be teaching…… Continue reading When Should You Begin To Teach Handwriting? (You May be Surprised!)

Which Improves Pencil Grasp Best: A Pencil Grip Or A Thicker Pencil?

    As a pediatric occupational therapist, I am often asked to weigh in on this debate.  Not often enough, it seems.  There are a lot of kids out there using pencils with wonky grasp patterns because no one has made an effort to improve the way they hold a pencil, or they doubt that…… Continue reading Which Improves Pencil Grasp Best: A Pencil Grip Or A Thicker Pencil?

Have More Fun When You Use Drawing To Develop Pre-Writing Skills

  Why should learning to write mean a pile of boring worksheets?  It shouldn’t!  This week, try teaching your preschooler to draw fun shapes that mirror correct letter formation, start/sequence and connections, and watch their handwriting skills take off! Why draw?  Because some kids need more practice, avoid writing due to fear of failure, or…… Continue reading Have More Fun When You Use Drawing To Develop Pre-Writing Skills

Why Gifted Preschoolers Should Be Taught Handwriting Early (And With The Best Strategies!)

Gifted children are often identified by their asynchronous development. The three year-old that can read the names on cereal boxes, the two year-old that can play a song on the piano after hearing it once at music class, the four year-old that can complete his sister’s math homework…from second grade! These children have one or…… Continue reading Why Gifted Preschoolers Should Be Taught Handwriting Early (And With The Best Strategies!)

The Elf on the Shelf Could Get Your Child to Write a Letter to Santa!

  ‘Tis the season, and Elf On The Shelf is back for more fun!  Some parents adore the concept and cannot wait to move that little elf around the house every night, and others mock him and his expanding merchandising.  Now that he is getting kids to write and draw, and parents will be able…… Continue reading The Elf on the Shelf Could Get Your Child to Write a Letter to Santa!

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