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Developing strong handwriting skills is crucial in a child’s journey towards effortless word recognition and reading fluency.
There has been discussion recently about the viability and necessity of learning penmanship skills. Yet research shows that writing by hand engages the brain and is a vital literacy component. Since handwritten testing throughout the school system is unlikely to change any time soon, learning to write quickly and clearly is an important means to an end. With the adoption of the Common Core State Standards, the emphasis and expectations placed on classroom note-taking and expository writing in grades K–5 is greater than ever.
Whether a child prints or uses cursive writing, it must be legible to convey correct test answers, thoughts, instructions, etc. throughout his academic career and life. Therefore “handwriting” is a skill that must be learned and serves many purposes besides legibility.
While we may take the ability to write correctly for granted, many support skills must first be learned requiring the hand, eyes, and brain to work harmoniously. This becomes more challenging when a child is experiencing a delay in certain areas of development. This in turn can leave a child with feelings of frustration, decreased confidence, and success, and often results in avoidance of the very repetition necessary to build skill.
The years between the ages of 3 and 5 are the time your child will build the motor coordination required to develop the dexterity, hand strength, and endurance to shift from a fisted grasp to an adult 3-finger, (tri-pod) dynamic grasp that will allow them to control the pencil with ease.
The “Handwriting Club” at Child Success Center is a program customized to meet each child’s needs. The program is designed and run by licensed and highly skilled Occupational Therapists and features multi-sensory strategies, whole-brain learning, and the extremely successful Handwriting Without Tears® program.
For more information or to enroll, call the Child Success Center – 310.899.9597 or email: Enroll@childsuccesscenter.com
Read the complete article: “Handwriting – A Dying Art or Important Skill?”– by Melissa Idelson, Director, Child Success Center