Helping Your Child's 'Messy' Handwriting, Part II

�� Here are tips for parents and teachers for conducting good handwriting practice sessions:

�� -- Move chairs and tables so that all children are facing the board. When they face each other or look sideways at the board and then down at their papers, lines get mixed up.

�� -- If your desk or table top tilts, that's great; the paper surface will be at a more favorable angle.

�� -- Keep at-home lessons short - maybe 10 minutes.

�� -- Break up chalk and pencils so that they are child-sized. Golf pencils work great!

�� -- Show the child how to hold a pencil correctly, using a photo or drawing from an instruction guide purchased from a school-supply store or online. Do this over and over until the right grip is automatic. Watch the index finger so that it's the right distance from the pencil point.

�� -- Watch the child's posture: back straight, feet on the floor or on a box so that they're flat. Show how to tilt the paper slightly. The child should hold the paper still with the left hand - "the helping hand."

�� -- It's important to say, over and over, that for the most part, we form our letters from the top down. Give them a starting point!

�� -- Model the "strokes" we need for letter formation: big line, little line, big circle, little circle, big curve, little curve, big diagonal, little diagonal.

�� -- You don't want the kids to rush, but for fluency purposes, you do want them to form the letters in one stroke if possible, without lifting the pencil from the page. Kids have a tendency to stop and start, and that can create bad habits. Only to cross the "t," dot the "i" and "j" and complete the "k," "x" and "y" should the pencil be lifted for lower-case letters. Many capitals require more than one stroke, but follow an instruction manual to teach kids the most efficient way for each.

�� -- Model a "vertical" stroke and a "horizontal" stroke. Some kids make their vertical strokes from the bottom up; have them practice a number both ways, and see how much straighter and faster they can make vertical strokes from the top down. Kids are competitive; show them that top-down writing is faster!

�� -- Model the top, middle and lower positions the letters make. Call an ascender a "head" and a descender a "tail." Some letters have just a body -- the middle position, such as a lower-case "a". Some have a head and a body, like a "b." Some have a body and a tail, like a "p."

�� -- Model the proper letter formation on the board, and have kids imitate you at their desks. Enlarge a photocopied letter formation chart from an instruction manual, purchase an above-the-board "strip" or have a manuscript poster laminated, so that YOU are forming the letters correctly, too!

�� -- If you have a clock or a drawing of a clock face with the numbers, post it by the board and demonstrate how to draw lines that are "counter-clockwise."

�� -- Remember, always write strokes from top down. All letters except "d" and "e" start at the top.

�� -- Always write curves counter-clockwise. Demonstrate with a clock face. For a "c" and an "e," show kids that the place to start the curve is at about 2 o'clock, and the place to end it is at about 4 o'clock.

�� -- The direction of lines is always "the way we write" - which is what you say instead of "from left to right." You don't want to confuse the children and start the bad habit of letter reversals by having them stress out over what's "left" and what's "right." Just demonstrate "the way we write." That will help them with word reversals in reading, later on.

�� -- Always stop on a solid line. Kids need boundaries!

�� -- Make sure schoolwork has properly-lined space on which children should write, including math. A lot of early primary classrooms expect children to be able to write letters and numbers on only one line, instead of the familiar top line and dotted middle line on traditional manuscript paper. Kids need guide lines!

�� -- Make sure the lines aren't too far apart, about a half-inch or slightly more. Many kindergartens use manuscript paper that's an inch apart - 'way too big for many children. That makes the children "draw" the letters rather than "write" the firm, straight and relatively short strokes necessary for good penmanship. It's why kids sometimes double- and triple-draw some strokes - because the space between the lines is too far for their eyes to gauge the accuracy of what they've drawn. They can see that their lines aren't right and they go back and try to fix them. Soon, they lose confidence. Try some paper with solid lines a half-inch or so apart; if the handwriting is lots better, order it at home for practice - ask for it at a school-supply store or an office catalog -- and show the teacher the difference in your child's handwriting.

�� -- A child who is struggling might be better off with paper that omits the middle dotted line. It can get too confusing! If you can't find paper with just two lines, a half-inch or so apart, draw your own! Put a sheet of paper horizontally, go down an inch or so, and draw two horizontal lines a half-inch apart. Then skip about an inch (to make room for "heads" and "tails") and draw another set of two lines. You should be able to get six sets of lines per page. Then photocopy.

�� -- It's counter-productive to give a child a practice sheet that has the letter formed correctly once, and then the child is expected to copy it five, 10 or even 15 times next to the example letter. The further away from the example, the funkier the letters get. The eye bounces back and forth, and that's not good, either. It's best to keep the kids to one to three "practice" repetitions per example.

�� -- A common reversal that kids struggle with is "b" and "d." Here's a phonics-based way to help them tell the difference. Look in a mirror and say the phonogram / b /. Did your lips form a line? Yes! So you know the line comes first when you write a "b." Now look back in the mirror and form the phonogram / d /. Did your lips make a circle or a line? A circle! Can you even MAKE the sound of a / d / with your lips forming a line? No! So the circle comes first when you write a "d." (The same trick works when you're teaching a child to mind his or her "p's" and "q's.")

�� -- If your child has trouble making accurate, well-positioned lines and shapes, give your child tracing activities, dot-to-dots and mazes to develop smoothness and confidence in making the strokes. Children generally move from scribbling to coloring, then channeling (drawing a line between two guided lines), tracing and copying.

�� -- A fun way to show a child if he or she is pressing too hard or too lightly is to use some old-fashioned carbon paper under the writing practice paper. First, you write a word with a moderate amount of force and show how it looks under the carbon. Then have your child try, 'til the pressure is moderated.

�� Remember, keep the work sessions really short, but really sweet! Have fun, and before you know it, your child will be writing you a heartfelt thank-you note!

Homework: An excellent resource for parents and teachers is "Handwriting Without Tears" by Jan Z. Olsen, www.hwtears.com

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