Addressing Handwriting Challenges in School-Aged Children
by Rebecca Gilchrist
Handwriting is a vital skill for pupils in the school setting. Research shows that the ability to record information by hand provides many benefits to us beyond simply expressing knowledge. In fact, the act of handwriting promotes the development and interplay of many integral areas, including cognitive abilities, postural control, visual-motor skills, communication and literacy.
The component skills needed for handwriting begin to develop in children long before they put a writing tool to paper. Early sensory-motor skill development supports a child’s readiness for foundational milestones such as grasping a pencil, sitting upright in a chair, or making controlled marks on paper. Once a child is ready to begin handwriting, they will typically progress in stages which include prewriting shapes, single letter formation, and finally, joined handwriting.
Handwriting, like other motor skills, is a skill that can progress at varying rates between children, especially in the early years of childhood. When delays in skill achievement do arise, they can manifest in different ways. For some, difficulties in achieving foundational hand and visual skills are seen from early development. Other children may not show clear signs until reaching primary school, where greater demands for sedentary, visual-motor tasks, like handwriting, may be required of them for the first time. Still, in other cases, concerns may emerge in the later schooling years, with the child or young person developing a gap in their handwriting progression compared to peers. At whatever timeline handwriting difficulties present, the subsequent impact can affect academic performance in various ways, including the recording of schoolwork, reading skills, information processing and memory retention. Additionally, challenges in this area can impact self-confidence and self-view of learning potential.
If handwriting challenges are suspected, communication between carers and the education setting is an important first step to confirm if the child is meeting age-related expectations. For some children, an improvement in handwriting can be achieved through even small modifications, such as improving seated positioning, paper positioning and pencil grip. Building on hand strength and pencil control through activities can also support the progression of component fine motor skills. These suggestions can be beneficial to handwriting development not only to children with identified challenges but also to those with more typically developing skills. Therefore, in some cases, it may be appropriate to use either an individualised or group-based approach to support learners with handwriting needs.
If limited handwriting progress is seen following the implementation of generalised activities, however, it is recommended that the child be assessed by occupational therapy to gain a full view of underlying factors that may contribute, as a more bespoke intervention may be required. Occupational therapy input can be a highly beneficial resource given their clinical background in cognitive and physical childhood development, along with a professional focus on functional skill attainment. As a result, occupational therapists are well-trained for analysing contributing factors impacting handwriting development and creating bespoke interventions and support plans for the child when required.
We have created a fun handwriting activities book for you to download and distribute to the parents and guardians of your pupils.
