Get a Grip! 

           Does it really matter that your child may hold his/her pencil in a non-conventional way?  My answer is, "Absolutely!" A child's ability to hold a pencil properly is based on the development of his/her fine motor skills.  Having a proper pencil grasp (thumb and index finger holding the pencil and middle finger providing stability) is important for several reasons: First, it is through the pincer muscles (located in the thumb and forefinger), that the brain records dynamic information.  A proper grasp also provides more agility and flexibility for the child to form specific letters, which results in more legible writing. A poor pencil grasp is tiring and inflexible which often causes illegible handwriting.  As the child grows he/she may experience difficulty keeping up with writing and compositions. Also, an inability to write fluently can affect note taking in class. If the child's brain is concentrating on his/her ability to form specific letters, there is less ability to hear and understand what is being said.  

Researchers Berninger and Wolf (2009), listed 14 signs and symptoms to help detect if your child is struggling with handwriting (also known as dysgraphia):

•  Cramping of fingers while writing short entries
•  Odd wrist, arm, body, or paper orientations such as creating an L shape with your arm
•  Excessive erasures
•  Mixed upper case and lower case letters
•  Inconsistent form and size of letters, or unfinished letters
•  Misuse of lines and margins
•  Inefficient speed of copying
•  Inattentiveness over details when writing
•  Frequent need of verbal cues
•  Referring heavily on vision to write
•  Poor legibility
•  Handwriting abilities that may interfere with spelling and written composition
•  Having a hard time translating ideas to writing, sometimes using the wrong words altogether
•  May feel pain while writing

    For those of you who live in the Lakes Region of NH, Discovery Learning NH can help your child by using NILD educational therapy.  Check out our site:

http://www.discoverylearningnh.org/Services-Offered.html  

Free consultations available

Notes:

Berninger, V.W.; B.J. Wolf (2009). Teaching students with dyslexia and dysgraphia: Lessons from teaching and science. Baltimore, Maryland: Paul H. Brooks Publishing Co.. pp. 1-240.

                            

What's so Important about Learning Cursive?

All lower case letters  begin on the line

Many schools are doing away with cursive writing. Some believe it is not a necessary “21^st century skill”.  Classroom teachers feel they are too busy preparing students for standardized tests and don’t have time to teach such skills. 

I happen to believe that cursive writing is very important.  Here are a few reasons why:

1)      It is consistent.  All lower case letters begin on the line, as opposed to printing when some begin at the top and others begin in the middle of the line.

2)      It reduces confusion for students with directionality problems. For example, b and d look different in cursive.

3)      When we write in cursive, words are connected and written in “chunks”.  There is no question where one word begins and the other one ends.

4)      Printing is easier to forge

5)      Students will no longer be able to read historical documents such as the Constitution, The Declaration of Independence, let alone their great grandmother’s journal.

6)      It helps students cultivate their fine motor skills since one needs dexterity to create fluid motions, and perfect the proper pressure to put the writing utensil on paper.

7)      Most importantly, handwriting reinforces and supports the learning process. Research conducted by neurophysiologist Jean-Luc Velay at the University of Marseille and  Associate Professor Anne Mangen, at the University of Stavanger’s Reading Center found that “writing by hand strengthens the learning process. When typing on a keyboard, this process may be impaired…something is lost in switching from book to computer screen, and from pen to keyboard.”  The research reveals that

when writing by hand, our brain receives feedback from the movements our hand makes when we write, together with the sensation of touching a pencil and paper. These kinds of feedback are significantly different from the feedback we get from touching and typing on a keyboard.  For the complete article see Science Daily (Jan. 19, 2011).  Better learning through handwriting

Now I ask you: What’s so important about Cursive? Lots!