Ocean Township School District
Waretown, New Jersey
Pre-K and Kindergarten
Handwriting Resource
Waretown Elementary School
64 Railroad Ave
Waretown, NJ 08758
609 693-3131
April 2014
Pre-K and Kindergarten
Handwriting Resource
Table of Contents
Introduction and Purpose
1
Stages of Development
2
Pre-requisite Skills
3
Ability to Cross the Midline
4-5
Ability to Use Two Hands
6-7
Understanding of Directional Terms
and the Ability to Recognize
Similarities and Differences in Forms
8-9
Hand Dominance
10-11
Functional Pencil Grasp
12-14
Ability to Copy Lines and Shapes
15-16
Materials to Have on Hand
17
Glossary
18
Bibliography
19
Introduction/Purpose
In the past several years there have been many changes in pre-kindergarten
and kindergarten classrooms. The expectations within the early childhood
classroom have
greatly risen. The focus on reading and accompanying writing
in the early
childhood years has moved pre-kindergarten and kindergarten
students to early involvement in journals and draft books, with many
students engaged in these experiences from the very beginning of the school
year. It has
become apparent that letter formation can either hinder or
help the writing process.
It is imperative that parents and teachers use every opportunity to assist
children in acquiring the prerequisite skills for writing as well as practice
correct pencil grasp* and letter formation. Without these skills, there cannot
be automaticity when students begin to write. This lack of automaticity will
slow down a student’s ability to generate writings.
The following resource was put together to assist parents in a
number of
ways. It will offer information on the developmental stages of writing and
strategies for developing the prerequisite skills for handwriting. It was
modified from its original form which was prepared for teachers by
teachers and staff developers of the Frederick County Public schools,
Frederick, Maryland, July 2003.
*Bolded and terms are defined in the Glossary (pg.18).
1
Stages of Development
Pre-printing strokes usually develop in a specific sequence. However, while
there are general age guidelines for when each stage develops, children will
individually vary in the amount of time needed to pass through each stage.
The information below offers some general developmental information:
Ages 1 and 2- The child engages in random scribbles. As the
child gets closer to age 2, the scribble will often develop a very
distinct direction-horizontal, diagonal or vertical. This is most
often done in imitation of an adult’s writing. At this stage, the
child is not ‘copying’ or reproducing a specific shape from a
picture. The child is ‘imitating’ or reproducing a form after
watching someone else draw it first.
Ages 2 and 3- The child can copy vertical and horizontal lines.
As the child becomes nearer to age 3, circles may also be
copied.
Ages 3 and 4- The child can imitate and then copy a cross or a
plus sign. By age 4, the child may be able to imitate and then
copy a square.
Age 5- The child can imitate and copy a triangle. Once this is
clearly established, children are capable of learning to print.
Given these developmental levels, it is apparent that most children will not
enter kindergarten having mastered printing. The time in both pre-
kindergarten and kindergarten should be spent building the foundation of
prerequisite writing skills.
Sources: “The Development of Pre-Printing Skills.” found on
http://www.skillbuildersonline.com last visited April 4, 2014.
2
Pre-requisite Skills
Before children are instructed in correct letter formation, they should have
developed skills that are pre-requisites for handwriting. These skills
include:
•
ability to cross the midline
•
ability to use two hands
•
understanding of directional terms
•
ability to recognize similarities and differences in forms
•
hand dominance
•
functional pencil grasp
•
ability to copy lines and shapes
The following section offers specific activities to assist in the development of
pre-
requisite handwriting skills.
3
Ability to Cross the Mid-line
“Children process language in the frontal lobe of the brain’s left hemisphere.
They process verbal information into receptive and expressive vocabulary.
The left brain is the area where information is organized, sequenced and
analyzed. Combining these skills with the creativity of the brain’s right
hemisphere creates a balanced approach to developing essential skills for
communication, reading and writing.”
(Adapted from Brain-Based Activities for Young Learners by Ellen Booth
Church)
The ability to cross the midline of the body is a brain-based developmental
function that requires coordination within the brain and collaboration
between the brain’s two hemispheres. The two sides of the brain (the left
and right) each control different functions. They must work together when
an activity requires movement to cross over the midline of the body, thus
engaging the whole child. These skills are prerequisites for the development
of hand-eye coordination and visual perception tasks such as reading and
writing. With our focus on handwriting, a student’s ability to cross the
midline becomes a necessary prerequisite for writing. To facilitate
development of crossing the midline, children should participate in the
following activities:
•
Pre-writing Exercises:
o Windshield Wipers: Arms above head, cross straight arms ten
times like scissors then put bottom arm over top hand and do
ten more.
o Scissor Cuts: Same as windshield wipers only arms are pointed
straight down with palm up.
•
Daily experiences: Have your child zipper their coat, button their
pants or tie their shoes.
•
Balancing: Encourage your child to build with blocks and use both
hands to balance
their structure.
•
Lacing cards: Have your child lace, weave or sew using cards.
4
•
Cross-Crawling Obstacle Course: Create an obstacle
course with
things for your child to crawl in and out of, over and under,
up and
down. Remind him/her to move opposite hands and feet when they
crawl. (Crawling is one of the first midline-crossing activities babies
learn. It is always helpful to go back and practice those skills.)
•
Mini-Movements: Roll out paper on the floor and tape it in place.
Invite your child to find a place alongside the paper where they can
lay
on their stomachs to paint. Using finger paint, encourages
your child to make a
variety of tiny movements with their fingers
that matches the rhythm
of music being played.
•
The Cross-Crawl Limbo: Play the traditional game “The Limbo,”
holding a stick in the air. Ask your child to find way
to go under
the stick without bumping it. Each time through, lower the stick.
Eventually, he/she will have to crawl forward on his/her stomach to
get beneath the pole.
•
What a Racquet: Use a racquet to play a game like Badminton
where y o u r c h i l d c a n hit a b a l l o o n , ball or birdie back and
forth to a partner or tap it straight up in the air.
Sources: Brain-Based Activities for Young Learners by Ellen Booth Church,
“Handwriting Exercises” http://knox.link75.org/bcs/OTwebsite/
Handwriting_exercises.html last visited April 4, 2014.
5
Ability to Use Two Hands
As children begin to gain strength and progress with their hand
development, they also begin to naturally use both of their hands to
complete a task and gain bilateral hand skills. This is the ability to use one’s
hands together to accomplish a task. One hand leads and the other assists.
The development of hand dominance determines which hand is preferred and
which hand assists with a task. Examples of this prerequisite skill include:
1) holding a piece of paper with the non-dominant hand and using the
dominant hand to color or draw
2) holding a piece of paper with the non-dominant hand and using the
dominant hand to cut with a pair of scissors.
To ensure that your child acquires the ability to use two hands, you can
incorporate the following activities into your child’s play:
•
Tearing paper: Create art projects by tearing paper
into small
pieces instead of using scissors.
•
Cutting with scissors: Cut paper with scissors, starting with
basic lines and then moving to more complex shapes.
•
Tracing letters: Use stencils or trace objects,
shapes
and/or letters.
•
Making letters: Make letters using yarn, shoestrings or wax-
coated string.
•
Gluing objects: Glue small manipulatives to a letter. (Glue
popcorn to the letter P or beans to the letter B.)
•
Stapling paper: Staple papers together while making books or
packets to encourage the use of both hands.
•
Punching holes: Use single-hole punchers to make
designs on
paper.
•
Wringing out sponges: Wring out sponges to increase muscle
development.
•
Sewing and lacing: Use string or yarn to sew letter cards.
6
•
Stringing beads: Make pattern necklaces by
stringing
colored beads onto kite string.
•
Performing finger plays: Sing songs that require the
use of both
hands such as “Where is Thumbkin?”
•
Clapping: Use both hands to clap syllables in words or to clap to
the beat of a song.
•
Constructing with blocks: Using Legos®, blocks or Popsicle sticks,
will encourage your child to use both hands to create a building.
•
Pre-writing exercises:
o Mickey Mouse Ears: Place fists next to ears, squeeze, and
then open and close the fingers. Complete the activity 10 to
15 times.
o Door Knob Turns: Arms in front of you, elbows slightly
bent, move wrists from side to side as if you are opening a
doorknob. Move wrists to the right and then to the left.
o Finger Opposition: Hold fingers next to ears and have the
students touch their thumb to each finger and back again.
Complete 10 to 15 sets.
o Butterflies: Hold arms straight in front of your body and
make an X with thumbs, palms facing down to resemble a
butterfly. Make small circles 10 times to the right and then
10 times to the left.
Sources: “The Development of Pre-Printing Skills” at
http://www.skillbuildersonline.com last visited April 4, 2014.
“Handwriting Exercises” from Brain-based Activities for Young
Learners by Ellen Booth Church at http://knox.link75.org/bcs/
Otwebsite/Hendwriting_exercises.html last visited April 4,
2014.
7
Understanding of Directional Terms and the Ability to
Recognize Similarities and Differences in Forms
(Kindergarten)
Following directions is necessary and inherent in all aspects of formal
education. Understanding of directional terms becomes important in
handwriting for fostering left to right directionality in writing. Children
need to develop the understanding, as they learn to read and write English
independently, that they begin at the left side of the page and progress to
the right side of the page.
In addition, children need to develop the ability to recognize similarities and
differences in form and line through visual discrimination and perception
skills. Children should be encouraged to recognize form and line, describe
their characteristics, and identify the forms as letters. By participating in
activities that require matching, finding differences between lines and
forms, locating missing parts, and talking about what they notice, students
reinforce visual discrimination skills that assist them in the abstract task of
writing.
The teacher’s role is to model writing as a process inherent throughout each
school day. During the writing process, students should observe both the
formation process of letters including basic strokes as well as the finished
products of writing letters or words. By incorporating writing across the
curriculum, students will realize the importance of writing and the purpose
for learning this valuable skill.
In order to acquire the prerequisite skills of understanding directional
terms and the ability to recognize similarities and differences in form and
line, parents can provide opportunities for their child to strengthen these
abilities by incorporating the following activities into their daily routines:
•
Simon Says: Students will increase their listening skills and enhance
their directional skills by participating in a game based on directions.
•
Daily Routines: Parents can set up routines which assist students in
following directions and sequencing events throughout the day.
8
•
Drawing: Have your child draw pictures and ask questions that
focus
attention to similarities/ differences (Ex. – “How do you know those
are both people?” “Why is this shape your dad and this shape
your
mom?” “What makes the dog different?”)
•
Read Aloud: Point to text as you read aloud to your child, modeling
left-to-right progression so they understand and visualize left-to-
right directionality.
•
Labeling the Room: Encourage your child to label objects in various
rooms and compare objects for similarities/differences.
•
Following Directions: Have your child follow directions in a
sequence by
completing the task step-by-step.
•
Writing Stories: Have your child tell you a story and record their
ideas in a sequential format, modeling for your child the visual cues
of writing from the left to right.
•
Parquetry Shapes: Have your child use geometric, wooden shapes to
make
objects following a pattern card.
•
Puzzles: Children can build puzzles sorting through each puzzle piece
to find the shape that they need to make the pieces fit together.
•
Sorting: Children can separate objects according to size,
shape,
color, etc.
•
Straight Line/ Curved Line Exploration: Have your child
manipulate
commercially-made wooden, plastic or foam pieces, cut
into big and small lines and curves, to form letters.
Sources:
“Handwriting in an Early Childhood Curriculum”
by Linda Leonard
Lamme
“Helping Hands: A World of Manipulatives to Boost Handwriting
Skills”
by June M Naus
9
Hand Dominance
Hand dominance is the natural tendency for human beings to favor one hand
over the other. It requires coordination of the small muscles in the hand to
properly control a writing tool. This skill facilitates efficient use of the
hands. The dominant hand develops skills and precision to perform fine
motor tasks while the non-dominant hand supports and assists with the task.
Natural-handedness should be determined before students begin to write. In
order to develop hand dominance, parents need to provide their children with
opportunities to explore hand preference. As a precursor, children must
develop their small muscles, which aid in fine motor skills. The following
activities will increase hand strength (Miller and Decker, 1989):
•
Tearing paper to make art projects.
•
Using plant sprayers to water household plants.
•
Gathering small objects from around the house (buttons, beans,
and
beads) and placing them in a small container. Children can use
tweezers or tongs to place the items back into the container.
•
Using a meat baster to have a cotton ball race across the table.
•
Using eye droppers to transfer water from one container to another.
•
Singing finger play songs and rhymes with your child, using his/her
fingers to act out the rhyme.
•
Finger painting with Jell-O on a paper plate.
•
Stringing popcorn, buttons and beads to make necklaces.
The following activities will encourage hand dominance (Naus, 2000):
•
Playing “Simon Says”: Give directional clues to your child and observe hand
preference. Ex. -“Put one hand on your head.” Drawing with stencils,
templates, or a ruler: Children should use their dominant hand to
manipulate the writing utensil and their non-dominant hand to
hold the
object being drawn or traced.
•
Opening containers with lids: Children demonstrate hand
preference by holding the container with one hand and using their
dominant hand to remove the lid.
10
•
Using wind-up toys: Children use their dominant hand to wind up the
toys as they play with them.
•
Wearing a bracelet or ring as a reminder: Place a visual clue on
your child’s hand so he/she can remember with which hand to
color/paint.
11
Having a Functional Pencil Grasp
Before being able to hold and control a writing tool, children must be able to
coordinate movement and have control over the small muscles of the hand.
Small muscle coordination activities should be a part of handwriting
instruction. The following activities may be helpful if your child is struggling:
Using manipulatives:
•
Jigsaw puzzles
•
Legos®
•
Tinker Toys®
•
Snap beads
Molding with:
•
Clay
•
Sand
•
Play-dough
•
Silly Putty®
•
Paper-mâche
Practicing art skills:
•
Coloring
•
Drawing
•
Sketching
•
Tearing paper
•
Folding paper
•
Cutting paper with scissors
Playing with small toys:
•
Cars
•
Miniature gas stations
•
Transformers
•
Doll furniture
Using “daily experience activities”:
•
Zipping
•
Buttoning
•
Sewing
•
Screwing lids on small jars
•
Screwing nuts and bolts
•
Typing
•
Tying knots and bows
•
Playing a piano
Once children have developed small muscle coordination, introduce a variety
of “hand tools” requiring a variety of grasps. These tools can be
incorporated into a sand or water table. Include items such as:
•
Sponges
•
Funnels
•
Straws
•
Squeeze bottles
•
Sieves
•
Strainers
•
Tongs/ Tweezers
•
Containers of different
shapes/sizes
•
Sticks
•
Shovels
•
Pails
12
•
Sequencing: Direct your child to use only one hand when sequencing
items.
•
Cutting with scissors: Have your child cut out pictures from
newspapers or magazines that have a black marker line drawn around
the picture to provide a guide for cutting.
Once children are ready to move on to using writing tools, they can begin
using markers or felt tip pens. These two tools are easy to use because
students do not need to apply pressure to get results. All too often, crayons
are introduced and used as beginning writing tools. However, children are
required to use more pressure when writing with a crayon than with markers
or felt tip pens to get colorful results. After children have had practice
using markers, pens and crayons in a variety of activities, they should be
introduced to using pencils.
Primary or “fat” pencils are often used in kindergarten classrooms.
Traditional thinking was that these were the most beneficial types of pencils
for young writers to use. However, current research (Lamme, 2000)
suggests there is no real advantage to giving students primary pencils. In
fact, some students write better using regular adult-sized pencils or smaller
“golf pencils”. Regular sized pencils with soft lead are the most useful tools
for children to use. These regular pencils make grasping easier, which
results
in smoother, clearer strokes.
Pencil grasp refers to how a child holds a writing implement. It is
important that a child learns how to hold a writing tool correctly from an
early age. Incorrect grasps are very hard to change. As a child’s hand
muscles become stronger, he/she should naturally develop an increasingly
more effective pencil grasp. The development of an effective and correct
pencil grasp will improve a child’s ability to learn to print.
Initially, children will hold a writing tool with a closed fist. This is commonly
referred to as a power grasp or gross grasp. When using a power grasp,
children move
their writing tool by moving their shoulder. This is considered
to be an inefficient grasp because:
•
Children use a lot of energy to perform this grasp which causes their
hand and arm to become fatigued
•
This particular grasp prevents a child from forming symbols/letters
that require small, precise movement
13
By the age of four, most children will have progressed through a number of
different grasps. As their hand muscles get stronger, children begin to
place their fingers in different ways on the pencil until they develop a more
effective pencil grasp. The most efficient grasp is called the tripod grasp.
This grasp consists of the following steps:
•
A child holds the pencil with three fingers – the middle, the thumb
and the index fingers.
•
The pencil is resting on the knuckle of the middle finger while being
pinched between your thumb and index finger.
•
The ring and “pinky” finger are bent and rest on the table.
This is considered to be an efficient grasp because:
•
It requires less energy to perform, which causes a child’s hand to
become less fatigued.
•
It allows for the greatest amount of movement and precision, which
makes it easier for a child to form symbols/letters that require
small precise movements.
If a child has difficulty using a correct pencil grasp, encourage practice
using
the following writing tools:
•
Small/broken pieces of crayons and chalk
•
Primary crayons
•
Primary-sized markers
•
Adaptive pencil grips
Adaptive grips are used to position fingers correctly on the pencil. It is
very important that children only use these grips for a short period of time
each day. These short time periods will give children a chance to get used
to the feeling of a new grasp without making them feel discouraged.
Source: “The Development of Pre-Printing Skills” at
http://www.skillbuildersonline.com last visited April 4, 2003.
14
The Ability to Copy Lines and Shapes/Basic Strokes
Once a child begins to develop eye-hand coordination and pencil grasp,
they will begin to use these skills to scribble. Eventually, a child’s scribbling
includes the use of basic strokes to form definite shapes and pictures.
Before receiving formal handwriting instruction, children must be able to
form basic strokes smoothly, in the appropriate direction and with clean,
precise intersections. The following are examples of basic strokes:
•
Vertical lines
•
Horizontal lines
•
Diagonal lines
•
Circles
•
Partial circle strokes
It is very important that a child learns to make these particular
strokes from top-to-bottom and from left-to-right.
One way for parents to observe the appearance of basic strokes is to study
a child’s drawings, because circles and straight lines occur naturally
in
artwork. A parent can observe if a child can form circles and lines, how
smoothly the strokes are drawn and how precisely the lines and circles
are
connected. Parents can check to make sure that the circles are round and
closed and that the straight lines intersect properly. Observe your child’s
drawings for body parts attached to bodies, kites attached to strings, etc.
Until these basic strokes appear in a child’s drawings of people, houses,
flowers, etc., the child is not ready for formal handwriting instruction. The
following activities give students an opportunity to practice using basic
strokes:
•
Drawing
•
Painting
•
Stirring
•
Sand play
•
Water play
•
Finger painting
•
Filling in the missing parts of pictures/letters
•
Connecting dots
•
Tracing
•
Drawing lines to connect matching pictures on paper/chalkboard
15
Although it is very important that parents examine their child’s artwork to
observe the use of basic strokes, parents should keep in mind that
a child
should not receive formal instruction in basic strokes while
creating a work
of art. These strokes evolve through time and experience, which enhances a
child’s creativity as well as their handwriting.
Sources:
“Handwriting in an Early Childhood Curriculum”
by Linda Leonard
Lamme
Helping Hands: A World of Manipulatives to Boost Handwriting
Skills by June M. Naus
16
Materials to Have On Hand
Some materials that are good to have that can promote your child’s hand
development are listed below. Most of these are inexpensive and normally
found within the early childhood classroom. However, you
may want to
keep these in a storage tray that can be easily accessed
specifically
for pre-handwriting activities. Young children also benefit greatly from
using vertical surfaces as opposed to horizontal ones. Therefore, be
creative! Think of ways to place some of these materials on a vertical
frame. Helpful
materials include:
•
small individual chalkboards
•
large chalkboard
•
wide and thin tipped markers
•
crayons of varying widths
•
small pieces of chalk
•
easels and paint
•
finger paint
•
clay/play dough
•
unlined paper
•
lined paper
•
rubber bands
•
pencils in a variety of widths
•
stamps and stamp pads
•
pincers and cotton balls
•
newsprint for tearing
•
beads for stringing
•
laces and lace-up pictures
•
pegs and pegboards
•
variety of manipulatives- Legos®, Bristle Blocks®, etc.
•
scissors (Fiskar® or Crayola®)
•
eye droppers
•
dice games
•
coins
•
buttons
•
plant sprayers
•
tweezers and tongs
•
finger play songs and puppets
17
Glossary
These terms have been bolded throughout the document.
1. Adaptive Grips- A tool added to a pencil to help correct an
ineffective pencil grasp.
2. Automaticity- A task completed with ease, fluency and without
hesitation.
3. Basic Strokes- Lines used in handwriting to create definite shapes,
forms and pictures; basic strokes include vertical, horizontal and
diagonal lines as well as circles and partial circle strokes.
4. Bilateral Hand Skills- The ability to use the hands together to
accomplish a task.
5. Dominant Hand- The hand that develops strength, skills and precision
to perform fine motor tasks.
6. Explicit- Direct instruction of handwriting skills.
7. Eye-Hand Coordination- The ability to use fine motor skills to
accomplish a task that the eye and brain wish to complete.
8. Hand Dominance- The natural tendency for human beings to favor one
hand over the other.
9. Implicit- Handwriting instruction based on modeling that is imbeded
into a task. Ex. - modeled writing during the Morning Message.
10. Midline – The imaginary vertical line that divides the body into two
equal and symmetrical halves.
11. Non-Dominant Hand- The hand that supports and assists with a task.
12. Pencil Grasp- How a student holds a writing tool.
13. Power Grasp- Holding a writing tool with a closed fist.
14. Tripod Grasp- Holding a writing tool with three fingers; the pencil is
resting on the knuckle of the middle finger while being pinched
between your thumb and index finger.
18
Bibliography
Berry. Jayne. Fine Motor Skills in the Classroom. Framingham, MA: THERAPRO,
Inc., 1993.
Church, Ellen Booth. Brain-Based Activities for Young Learners. New York:
Scholastic, 2002.
Knight, Janice Miller and Mary Jo Gilpin Decker. Hands at Work and Play.
Tucson,
AZ: Therapy Skill Builders, 1989.
Lamme, Linda Leonard. Handwriting in an Early Childhood Curriculum. Young
Children, 35(1), 20-27.
Naus, June M. Helping Hands: A World of Manipulatives to Boost
Handwriting
Skills. Teaching Exceptional Children, 32 ( ), 64-70.
Olsen, Jan Z. Handwriting Without Tears Teacher’s Guide. Cabin John, MD:
Handwriting Without Tears, 2001
Vreeland, Eileen. Handwriting: Not Just in the Hands. Hanover, NH:
Maxanna
Learning Systems, 1998.
Zaner-Bloser. Handwriting Opens Doors to Communication.
Zaner-Bloser, Handwriting Research and Resources: A Guide to Curriculum
Planning. Columbus, Ohio: Zaner-Bloser, Inc., 2000.
“Handwriting Exercises.” at
http://knox.link75.org/bcs/OTwebsite/Handwriting_exercises.html. last
visited 4/04/14.
“The Development of Pre-Printing Skills.” at
www.skillbuildersonline.com last visited 4/04/14.
19
