Good Handwriting is Easy to Master with These 5 Easy Steps!

Handwriting is a crucial component of a child’s learning journey. While it might not seem to be a large problem when they are young, the longer the problem of bad handwriting persists, the more inconvenience it will create in the future. Handwriting acts as the presentation of one’s work, hence proper handwriting that does not wear down the eyes can help increase receptivity of the work and make it look more presentable overall.

As such, parents should take the initiative to help their children refine their handwriting, ideally by the age of 6. This is because at this age, most children would have developed the dynamic tripod grasp, which is the ideal grip on the writing tool for improving handwriting. Here are some tips and tricks to help your child improve his handwriting!

Correcting the grip hold

The most important thing that determines good handwriting would be the correct grip hold on the writing tool.

Handwriting - hold the pencil correctly!
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The pencil should be held with the tripod grasp, which is using the thumb, index and middle fingers.

Your child should already know how to hold the pencil accurately by the time he enters preschool. You can encourage your child to imitate the proper grip by modelling it and helping him understand how to hold a pencil properly.

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Maintain a light grip

Ensure that your child does not stress his grip, which can be noticed if there are indents on the next page. The pressure placed on the pen or pencil can be unhealthy in the long run, leading to finger cramps and eyesight issues.

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Promote dexterity and coordination

To improve handwriting, dexterity and coordination needs to be perfect. There are a multitude of non-writing activities like cutting paper, colouring, using cutlery, playing LEGO and Jenga, using clay and stringing beads that can aid in strengthening your child’s wrist and fingers. These activities can also enhance coordination, focus and dexterity.

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Understand letter proportions

Another reason why some children fail to write well is because they do not take special notice on letter proportion. Each letter has a distinct proportion and feature, hence practising good handwriting means respecting the size, width, distance and style of each letter.

To aid this, model and illustrate the difference between a capital letter and a lower-case letter to your child, both in terms of size and style. Help your child practise his handwriting by grouping similar letters together, such as ‘m, w, v and u’, ‘g and j’ or ‘t, l, and I’. This will aid them in developing a cursive and fluent handwriting style.

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Practise, practise, practise!

Lastly, keep practising! Handwriting is a form of art that can only be mastered through consistent practice. Try to make practising handwriting fun by utilising handwriting-based games and interesting handwriting practise worksheets that can be found online. Be patient with your child and stay encouraging throughout his journey to improve his handwriting!

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