In the diverse classroom landscape, teachers encounter students with various needs and preferences, including the unique challenges left-handed students face when it comes to learning handwriting. While most instructional materials cater to right-handed individuals, educators must adapt their approach to accommodate left-handed learners effectively. This blog post will explore some essential considerations and strategies for teaching handwriting to left-handed students.
As an occupational therapist working in schools, I have taught hundreds of children how to transition from printing to cursive. But it wasn’t until I uprooted my adult life and moved from the Midwest to the Pacific Northwest that I encountered the simple, elegant style known as italic cursive.
Many people have asked me how I am able to teach handwriting using Google, Zoom, or any virtual platform. When COVID-19 first shut down my OT clinic, I had the same question. Now I have some real answers, and I hope these tips will help you with your virtual interventions.
Today I am reviewing All About Spelling © 2015 which is Published by All About ® Learning Press My experience with All About Spelling
What does research tell us about the impact of fine motor skills on early academics?
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!
As an occupational therapist, I get many referrals for children who have difficulty with handwriting speed & legibility. Teachers and parents often assume that the reason for a child having problems is that they have fine-motor difficulties or delays.
Hand strength and endurance is one-factor limiting sustained writing. As an occupational therapist, I am always looking for ways to improve kid’s hand strength! Since punching holes is so motivating for kids, I use punch cards as an engaging way to combine phonics and motor skills into a fun task for independent or partner work. Punching is so fun children will choose to do it during free choice or privilege time!
The four main factors that interfere with pencil grasp development and what parents and teachers can do to address those factors.
Understanding and Supporting Pencil Grasp Development: 3 – 6 years First off, this first installment of a 3-part blog post will explore What grasps look like in the major three categories. Why some grasps are more advantageous than others. What ages typically-developing children are using these three types of grasp.
