From worksheets to short essays,
there are a lot of assignments for your kid to crank out -- and his teacher has
to be able to read them. "Despite the increasing amount of technology in
classrooms, a child's schoolwork still is mostly handwritten," says pediatric
occupational therapist Jan Z. Olsen, founder of the Handwriting Without Tears
curriculum program. "Teachers think good penmanship is crucial for
communicating effectively." In fact, less than half of first- to
third-grade teachers said that their students' handwriting was fast enough to
keep up with classroom demands, found a Vanderbilt University poll.
If your child is struggling to put
his words down on paper, he'll have less energy to focus on what he wants to
say. Switching to a computer isn't the solution. Second-graders generated more
ideas when writing by hand than by using a keyboard, University of Wisconsin
researchers report. A sliver of kids who write illegibly, have a hard time
forming letters, or find it difficult to complete written assignments may lack
graphomotor skills and may benefit from occupational therapy.
Still, many kids with penmanship
problems simply aren't getting enough practice. Bridge the gap at home with
these clever ways to start off right.
Invisible
Ink
Trace letters and simple words on
your child's back and see if she can guess what you're writing. Then, swap and
have her "write" a letter or word on you. Focus on the letters that
are hardest for kids this age. Another Vanderbilt University study found that j,
k, n, q, u, and z account for 48 percent of the mistakes when kids
attempted to write the lowercase letters of the alphabet. How-to videos at
parents.com/handwriting can help you teach your child these tricky letters.
Get
a Grip
Kids who don't hold a pencil correctly
may get tired of writing. Slide-on rubber grips, sold at school-supply stores,
might help. But try a fun alternative: a small pencil, like the ones used in
mini golf. Save them for games of pretend. Tell your child to imagine he's a
waiter and have him write down your order. Or encourage him to dress up like a
rock star; then ask for his autograph.
Picture
This
Take out the markers or crayons and
draw a single capital letter on a piece of unlined paper. Ask your child to
make the chosen letter part of a bigger picture. She might turn a capital I
into a butterfly or transform an O into an octopus. As she decorates the
letter, she'll also be focusing on its shape.
Outsider
Art
Using sidewalk chalk, have your
child write a giant note that could be seen from outer space, then a tiny one
for ants to read. (Or if your lawn looks like a winter wonderland, ask your
glove-clad kid to write letters in the snow.)
Mail
Tale
Buy a notebook and ask your child to
keep a journal for a week. Send it to a relative to add comments on your
child's week, record a week in her life, and mail it on to another loved one.
The last person should mail it back to your child. She'll get reading practice
too!
Pick
a Winner
Designate one night a week as
activity night. Help your child write down stuff he'd like to do on slips of
paper and place them in a jar: Suggest games (board, card, or sports), movies,
or whatever interests him (building with Legos or baking muffins). When it's
time, have your kid choose one and ask him to add a fresh idea to keep the jar
fun-filled.
Love
Notes
Leave surprise messages for your
child -- on her pillow, the bathroom mirror, or in her backpack. End each one
with a question, and ask her to write an answer on the back and leave it for
you in a surprise location as well.
Minute
Man
Get into the habit of asking your
kid to write things for you. Dictate shopping lists, have him address envelopes, and
jot down reminders on the family calendar. The more practice, the better.
Tools
of the Trade
Stock up on office supplies. Collect
awesome writing tools (gel pens, scented markers, funny-shaped pencils) and all
sorts of paper (lined sticky notes, doodle pads). Stow them in strategic spots
around the house. She'll also be more psyched to scrawl if her pencil has a
cute eraser.
Originally published in the January
2013 issue of Parents magazine.
