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Developing Children's Handwriting: Strategies and Activities © Beverley Paine [an excerpt from Developing Children's Handwriting, a Practical Homeschooling Booklet, by Beverley Paine, available from Always Learning Books.] There are several ways in which you can help your children develop their handwriting skills. The following are a selection to help you begin thinking about the processes involved. There is never any ‘right’ way of learning. The more strategies you develop to help your children learn the more successful they will be. Present your young children with as many opportunities for tracing, either with their fingers, arms, pointing sticks, writing utensils, etc. They can trace shapes, pictures, letters, numbers, symbols, straight or curved lines, etc. As children get older and more skilled at writing find more complicated and sophisticated tracing activities, such as maps or mandalas. You and the child vocalise the movement of the hand, direction, starting place, etc. when writing or scribing, e.g.
Using this type of language has the added bonus of developing spatial mathematical
understanding. You can also use imaginative language - often how you verbally
illustrate the physical processes involved in handwriting will depend on the Encourage your children to discuss and experiment with the feeling and sensation of movement and position when writing, e.g.:
Using all of the senses to learn handwriting skills will promote successful outcomes for all children. Concentrating on visual learning works for some children better than others, but all benefit from using methods which encourage using all senses. Children discuss the shape and orientation of letters, and discuss similarities and differences discovered, e.g.:
Make a ‘handwriting file’ for each of your children and keep it with writing utensils and different writing media (different colours and grades of paper, card, etc.). You can direct each child to use the file as the need arises, for practice in specific handwriting skills. The file could contain:
Children experiment with different surfaces for writing, e.g.:
Children experiment with different handwriting implements, e.g.:
Children experiment with different handwriting positions, e.g.:
Children note aspects of handwriting they find particularly difficult and devise their own practice activities and opportunities. This could involve practice worksheets, incorporating words, individual letters, combinations of certain letters, etc. or providing opportunities to practice handwriting in real tasks or playful tasks. Children can be encouraged to concentrate of starting places, sizes and directions, etc. according to purpose and proposed audience.
Children discuss, and perhaps list, occasions when neatness and presentation are of prime importance. Your children can use this list to make a personal chart for their handwriting file for future reference. Children make autograph books and collect samples of other people’s handwriting. You could discuss how handwriting styles have changed historically, and compare the different styles taught in schools this century. Children can make alphabet books using different handwriting styles, or practice calligraphy. You could print various fonts from the computer and let the children practice copying them. Children can add these styles to their charts and suggest and record appropriate times to use them. Children can research in various ways handwriting styles and alphabets of other countries and cultures. They can also research the origins of these, and our own, alphabet and writing styles. You can encourage your children to create their own alphabet or code, demonstrating others that have been used in the past or in literature. You can provide appropriate models of handwriting styles, presentation, format, etc. according to the purpose and audience of the writing, e.g.:
Encourage your children to proof-read and edit their writing, and ask them to consider the audience and purpose of their writing, especially in relation to:
Encourage your children to explore and experiment with the social aspects of handwriting, e.g.:
Encourage your children to experiment with different handwriting movements and discuss the effects of the different movements on speed, legibility, handwriting style, etc. Children can practice, e.g.:
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education in Australia. State and Territory governments are responsible for regulating home education and have different requirements, however home educating families are able to develop curriculum and learning programs to suit the individual needs of their children.
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Pioneering members of the home education movement in Australia, Beverley and Robin Paine are passionate advocates of true educational choice for families. They began homeschooling their children in 1986 and three years later started the South Australian Home Based Learners network.
Beverley wrote Getting Started with Homeschooling in 1995-97 and since then continues to write books and booklets on home education. She balances spending time helping home educators with working in her garden and renovating her home, as well as continuing to build her collection of writing on a variety of homeschooling subjects. Beverley maintains an extensive collection of websites as well as several Yahoo groups supporting families teaching their children at home.
In 2007 Beverley joined the HEA and was a committee member for three years during which time she edited and produced the HEA Newsletter, Stepping Stones for Home Educators magazine, annual Resource Directory and other HEA publications.
If you'd like to keep in touch with what Beverley is up to her in her life, sign up for the Homeschool Australia Newsletter or visit her Homeschool Australia Facebook page.nor do they endorse or recommend products (other than their own) listed in contributed articles, pages, or advertisements.