Handwriting

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Handwriting
By Michelle

Those handwriting lessons do get long! My favorite way of keeping up the interest is to use art. There is an excellent book called Draw Then Write from the Evan-Moore company. You lead the kids through a simple lesson
on drawing which is excellent for developing fine motor skills. Then, you write about your picture which gives you the opportunity to do your handwriting. I like to let the kids dictate then copy. When I use HWT, I usually have the kids do their drawing on a blank sheet of paper and then do the writing on the HWT paper instead of using the actual worksheets with the kids. This makes

a great Friday reward activity!

I also highly recommend using things other than pencil and paper. Cheap, crumbly chalk on chalkboards and crayons on cheap, rough construction paper give more tactile feed back than markers on a white board. I purchase all of the above at Walmart.

You might also want to ask your principal if a consultation with the occupational therapist could be arranged. He/she can easily give you some suggestions on setting up a fine motor kit for each child to use as a warm-up before handwriting each day. For example: nuts and bolts to screw/unscrew, small erasers for thumping, thera-putty for hand strength, pop-beads for hand strength, sunflower seeds to pick up and line up on a sheet of paper, etc.