Teaching children to button is easy and straightforward, but is a skill that is often overlooked.
Category: Just for Pre-K
Four Essential Printing Readiness Skills
Do your students have the motor skills they need to be ready to learn to print? Over many years of teaching children early drawing, pencil skills and handwriting, I have found that there is a particular foolproof order of pre-writing development. First: Children need to be able to imitate fine motor actions. Learning the song plays that are associated with singing is a fun way to learn motor imitation. 1. Imitating Gross and Fine Motor Actions Second: They need to be able to follow dot cues to form early lines and shapes. They learn to control the pencil so that they can stay within paths. 2. Starting at a Go-Dot 2. Staying Within a Path Third: They learn to look ahead to where they want the pencil to go to make consistent, recognizable shapes. They first learn this skill when they are looking at the shape they want to draw.
The Fine Motor Advantage: Nuts and Bolts
So what are the fine motor skills that give young children such a serious academic advantage?
The Fine Motor Advantage
What does research tell us about the impact of fine motor skills on early academics?
Is Your Child Afraid of Going to the Doctor?
If your young child is fearful of going to the doctor, there are many things you can do to help them feel calmer and to prepare them for their next visit.
8 Essential Handwriting Readiness Skills
Do your students have the pre-writing, visual-motor, fine motor and executive functioning skills that they need?
Apples or Oranges, Handwriting Practice or Instruction?
Functional handwriting is a key to both learning and expressing one’s self. Automatic handwriting skills open doors for children, allowing them to take in, process, and recall new information, and to express themselves through written language. If you are a parent, teacher, or therapist and you tend to think of ‘handwriting instruction’ and ‘handwriting practice’ as one in the same, check out this post!
6 Ways To Help Young Children ENJOY Non-Preferred Tasks
Whether you are a parent, teacher, or therapist, do you know children who would benefit from play experiences and practice performing tasks that do not come easily?
Part 3. Ten Tips and Tricks To Support Pencil Grasp In The Moment
After you have identified and started to address the root issue interfering with pencil grasp, see Part 1 & 2, you can apply a variety of strategies to specifically facilitate and teach pencil grasp.
Part 2. Factors Interfering With Pencil Grasp Development: Addressing The Root of the Problem
The four main factors that interfere with pencil grasp development and what parents and teachers can do to address those factors.