Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Children have to practice handwriting on special handwriting worksheets. Teaching them on a normal notebook paper will lead to confusion. On handwriting sheets every letter or number is written within a character spacer line. Writing lines act as a guide – they help the child to write the letter with the correct height, width and length.

Another important thing is the spacing between letters and spacing between words. The spacing has to be consistent through out. Initially they could space two words by measuring the space between words with their small finger. When a child gets comfortable with the sizing of the letters and spacing them correctly they can make the transition from the handwriting paper to a normal notebook paper.
Once we have the handwriting paper sorted the next thing to focus on is the right way to practice each alphabet. As an adult we sometimes tend to forget how hard writing alphabets can be for kids. We need to teach them to write each alphabet the right way.

Good handwriting worksheets will have numbers and arrows on each alphabet. There are usually three numbers on each alphabet. ‘1′ is where you start from – so the child starts at ‘1′ and goes along the direction of the arrow. And then the child goes to ‘2′ and moves along the direction of the arrow next to ‘2′. And then finally the child goes to ‘3′ and moves along the direction of the arrow next to ‘3′.

Next step is to practice, practice and practice. Make it a fun exercise. Don’t practice handwriting for too long every day. This will make children too tired and bored and as a result they might not look forward to the next handwriting practice session. Oversee your children’s work. How quickly they finish the exercise is not important. More important is how well they are writing each alphabet. Sit with them when they are practicing. Your involvement will make it more fun for them.

A good pencil grip is extremely important. If a child has incorrect pencil grip then correct them. The pencil should be positioned so that there is equal pressure between the thumb, the side of the middle finger and the tip of the index finger.

If your child has problem with smudging with pencil then use a harder lead pencil (a higher number for your lead pencil).

If your child is left handed then small changes to paper position will help them to learn good handwriting skills. There are special products specifically designed for left handed children. You should consider using them and it will make the whole learning process much easier.

Be patient with your children. Learning handwriting is not an easy task. It takes time, effort and a lot of practice. Encourage your children. Praise their achievements. In time they will master perfect handwriting.
And finally never ever compare one child’s handwriting with another. Every child will learn good handwriting skills in their own time. As long they are practicing the alphabets regularly and learning handwriting skills the right way they will all become masters in their own time.

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Engaging young minds is most effective when learning is fun. Introducing new concepts through new methods draws and keeps attention. Activities for teaching vocabulary can be just as enjoyable. As the key partner to comprehensive in a child’s learning journey, vocabulary requires retention. And retention is fueled by activities that build memory and cognitive skills.

For example, rhyming is a powerful tool in building retention. Exercises with rhyming words is just one of the activities for building vocabulary used in this accessible and fun e-book program. The activities will support your child’s learning of parts of the body, manners, what baby animals are called, and much more. In addition, the activities relate to practical matters, such as what objects are used for particular tasks, in what order things occur, what individual does what jobs, and what various places are called. Word Gymnastics will stretch the possibilities for a stronger vocabulary, encouraging your child to explore new words, their meanings, and how to use them in writing and speaking.

Building vocabulary encourages the learning of more words through reading.

Increasing vocabulary supports reading comprehension as genuine understanding of new and increasingly complex words is achieved.
A child equipped with a great capacity through vocabulary will be less intimidated about choosing a more challenging book on library, in having conversations with older children and adults, and in growing her writing skills. Vocabulary supports confidence and is one of the keys for success in life and work. Starting your child on the right foot in the vocabulary journey is just the beginning, but setting the stage for him to find the right word for the future school and work projects that lie ahead is invaluable.

Convenient printable worksheets provide parents and teachers with easy tools for reinforcing learning through Word Gymnastics. The worksheets provide parents with a traceable means to teach and build vocabulary. You will find the principles shared in our e-book can be applied in your continuing work with your child as new capacity for language and the words that comprise it grows.

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Poor vision and poor hearing will affect a child’s learning and social skills.

Signs of poor eyesight: If a child complains of headaches, eye strains, or is rubbing eyes excessively, has difficult reading, or holds the object too close to the eyes to view it or has difficulty concentrating then get your child’s eye tested. A simple eye test can detect if there are any problems. Fixing the eye problem will give your child’s learning abilities a huge boost.

Signs of poor hearing: Proper hearing is vital for a child’s speech, language and social skills development. If your child is not responding when you call out his/her name or to other normal sounds then get your child’s hearing tested.

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Teaching the child the right way to sit when writing plays an important part in teaching the child good handwriting skills. If a child’s posture is not correct it makes the child uncomfortable and this in turn affects his or her handwriting.

A posture is how a person holds his or her body when walking, sitting and lying down. A good posture is one where there is minimal stress to your joints. This prevents abnormal fixings in your spine. This also prevents back pain and muscular pain. And let’s not forget the appearance factor – good posture portrays you as a confident person. Correct posture contributes to good appearance. It also helps you to be more relaxed.

If you are slumping when walking or sitting then that is bad posture.

Bad posture can be corrected. This is not something we are born with. Anyone can correct theirs and convert it into a good one. Walking and sitting the wrong way creates stress on young and old spines. In this article I am going to concentrate on good posture habits for young children when they are writing.

We know a child has a bad posture if he or she is slumping when writing or if the child has a tendency to lean to one side in an awkward position.

Rather than correcting the child only when the child is writing or reading, it is a good idea to teach the child correct posture when they are walking, sitting, standing and lying.

The first step towards good posture is to get the right table and chair for writing. Get a chair and table specifically designed for writing and reading. The table and chair have to be steady. It is not good for the child to sit on a chair that keeps swinging when they are writing. A lot of plastic chairs which are mainly designed for entertainment might not be the best option.

The child’s back has to be supported by chair. The child’s bottom has to be pushed into the back pocket of his/her chair. The child’s head has to balanced on top of shoulders – the head should not tilt sideways or lean forwards. It is also not good for them to have too much strain on their shoulders. Don’t allow them to bend sideways when writing.

Make sure that the table is not too high for the child. The table should be at about elbow height. One table and chair might not suit all the children in your house. It varies based on the height of your child. The child’s arms should rest comfortably and the feet should be supported by the floor rather than hanging loosely. The child should not cross their legs when sitting. Encourage them to keep their feet apart when they sit to write.

If a child is slouching when walking then it is a lot of strain on their neck and back. It will lead to back pain. So correct them whenever they slouch.

Make the child comfortable and the handwriting skills will develop as a result. If the child is not sitting the right way then the child is not going to enjoy the task at hand.

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

In the last few years the number of left handed persons has increased dramatically. This is partly because left handed children are not forced to use the right hand for writing any more but are rather encouraged to use whichever hand the child shows a preference to. Previously a left handed child was always corrected and encouraged to use the right hand.

A left handed child cannot be taught to write using the same principles that are used to teach a right handed child. The normal and the more regular methods of teaching are more suited for a right handed child. Often a right handed person is not even aware of the problems a left handed person has to face.

Here are some of the common problems faced by a left handed child:

Push Vs Pull: When a right handed child is writing he or she is pulling the pen/pencil across the paper. This works well because we write left to right. Left handed children have to push their pen/pencil across the page. This is quite hard. This also makes the nib of the pen/pencil go deeper into the paper rather than flow smoothly.

Smudging: When a left handed child is writing on the paper his or her hand is following the pen/pencil. And this way it is easy to smudge the letters they just wrote. This can cause a real mess. The mess can be even more when a left handed person uses a proper nib in cartridge or a fountain pen.

Watch What You Write: Since we write from left to right (in majority of the languages), a right handed person can watch what they are writing as they are writing. This is often difficult for a left handed person and hence they can develop bad handwriting if not taught using the correct method and approach.

Here are some of the ways in which you can help a left handed approach:

Mindset: First and foremost never ever discourage a left handed child from using the left hand for writing.

Paper Position: Rotate the paper 45 degrees clockwise (top to the right). This way by moving the paper to the right (rather than the traditional approach of keeping it to the left) you are allowing the left handed child to view their writing as they write. This gives them confidence, makes them right faster and teaches them handwriting skills.

Pencil Position: Left handed children should hold their pencils an inch and half higher than right handed children. Encourage them to keep their wrist and hand below the writing line. If you find there is a lot of smudging then may be use a harder lead pencil like number 3 instead of a number 2 lead pencil.

Avoid Hooking: One of the main problems faced by left handed children is that they cannot see what they are writing. In order to be able to see what they are writing they tend to hook their hands above the writing line and write. This is a very difficult posture and cumbersome. Discourage them from hooking. A proper paper position and pencil position will enable them to see what they are writing. So encourage proper paper position and good pencil position and discourage hooking.

Special Products: There are special pens and pencils specifically designed for left handed persons. Make use of them and teach your children handwriting skills the correct way.
And finally Happy Handwriting to one and all…Teach kids handwriting without tears.

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

We have all heard ‘handwriting analysis’ before. ‘Graphology’ is the analysis of handwriting particularly in relation human mind. People who have the skills to analyze handwriting determine a person’s character by analyzing their handwriting.

We also know that the best time to develop good handwriting skills is between ages 3 and 10. In the past ten years there have been numerous studies done to show that if we can improve a child’s handwriting we can also alter the child’s behavior for better. A handwriting analyst can look at a child’s handwriting and can tell you the letters that are not properly aligned or not slanting the right way and how hanging them can improve the child’s behavior. Understanding the work of a handwriting analyst is actually beyond my skill level. However my theory is if we stick to the foundation style of writing and help our children to write the alphabets the right way then it will definitely improve our child’s handwriting (and in the process make a positive impact on their behavior). Of course the best way to do this is to practice, practice and practice.

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

“We all know alphabets, so why not we just write the alphabets on a paper and get our children to practice them?”

If you are thinking like that then you are not alone. However I am sorry to say that it is the wrong approach. We need to write the alphabets as per the method approved by the education board.

Look at the alphabet above. Its got numbers – ’1′ is where you start from – so the child starts at ’1′ and goes along the direction of the arrow. And then the child goes to ’2′ and moves along the direction of the arrow next to ’2′. And then finally the child goes to ’3′ and moves along the direction of the arrow next to ’3′

One of the many benefits of getting children to practice the letters in between the lines is that you are teaching them about proportion of the lines.

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

There are many activities you can expose your children to – A lot of activities are fun and also help in developing fine motor skills…..There are basically three kinds of activities which will help to develop your child’s fine and gross motor skills:

• Grasping – example: using a pencils, crayons, brushes etc
• Manipulating – example: scissors, kneading, picking etc
• Hand-eye co-ordination – example: writing, cutting, threading etc

Here are a few activities that can improve your child’s fine motor skills:

• Playing with play-dough
• Using scissors to cut lots and lots of paper. Make sure the kids don’t use the adult scissors but use the safety scissors.
• Picking beads or other tiny objects using tweezers.
• Finger painting
• Stack objects – cards, coins, blocks etc
• Connect the dot puzzles
• Drawing and scribbling
• Beading activities
• Doing puzzles
• Any activity which isolates finger activity – example playing a piano or typing
• Kneading dough, mixing cake batter – get them to help with your cooking…

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Fine Motor Skills is the ability to control small precise movements with the fingers, wrists and hands. These skills are important for day to day activities in life. They also play a very important role in the school activities. A child’s handwriting skills depends on the child’s fine motor skills. There are lots of activities you can do to improve your child’s fine motor skills.

Its not a good idea to get a child to practice handwriting until we expose the child to writing some straight lines and curves etc.

There are many more such activities in handwriting ebooks

Read my previous post for examples of some fine motor skills activities.

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets

Here are some tips for right posture when your child is working on the computer:

• The computer monitor has to be at the child’s eye level. Otherwise they will strain their necks. Above eye level is not good at all.
• The keyboard and mouse have to be slightly lower than a writing desk so that the shoulders can be relaxed.

And here are some other tips which I mentioned in another post but are applicable here as well -

• Make sure you child has her own table and chair for writing purposes (height has to be adjusted as per the child’s height).
• Feet has to be flat on the floor or on a foot rest.
• The child’s back has to be supported by chair. The child’s bottom has to be pushed into the back pocket of his/her chair.

Click here to get access to over 200 handwriting worksheets