Foundational Skills in Handwriting for Kindergarten Classrooms

Appendix B

Foundational Skills in Handwriting

for Kindergarten Classrooms

Maria Fiela Paje-Delos Reyes, OTR/L

Foundational Skills in Handwriting for Kindergarten Classrooms

Maria Fiela Paje-Delos Reyes, OTR/L

Permission is granted to reproduce and distribute copies of the instructions, illustrations, forms, and diagrams contained in this manual in limited quantities for non-commercial, educational use only.

OBJECTIVES:

Foundational Skills in Handwriting Program is designed to provide kindergarten teachers classroom support to improve the students’ handwriting performance by means of engaging in a structured program that utilizes an eclectic approach (cognitive and multisensory techniques) in handwriting instruction. Students using this program will participate in classroom centers or activities utilizing different sensorimotor components such as visual perception, visual-motor integration, proprioception/kinesthesia, body awareness skills, and in-hand manipulation skills. The main goal of the program is to enable at-risk students with fine motor delays to improve their fine motor and visual skills to the point where they can succeed in school and develop their writing skills that will prepare them for succeeding years in academic tasks. Objectives have been developed for all those participating in the program:

1. Provide a structured program for teachers to increase their understanding of their students’ hand functioning and developmental progression in teaching handwriting.

2. Provide additional knowledge for teachers in modifying classroom environment and develop remediation activities to improve hand skills.

3. Increase awareness of teachers and administrators of occupational therapy as a resource service.

4. Enable at-risk students with fine motor delays to increase their knowledge of hand function and become more actively involved of their own skills.

INTRODUCTION:

Handwriting is an important skill for children to develop in primary years. It is a primary way to communicate with and necessary to complete assignments, seatwork, homework, and many tests. “Children in elementary school spend 31 to 60% of each academic day on fine motor tasks including handwriting” (McHale & Cermak, 1992). As such, difficulty on this area may pose a significant risk in the child’s academic success.

Studies by Oliver and Reisman (as cited in Hammerschmidt & Sudsawad, 2004) show that problems with handwriting have been identified as one of the most common reasons for referrals for occupational therapy services. Occupational therapy practitioners work with students and teachers through direct therapy and consultation services on the goals of improving student’s abilities and skills needed for academic success, including handwriting.

As with any skill, teaching handwriting requires many prerequisite skills necessary for the skill acquisition. By providing a solid foundation in handwriting, students will be able to improve their hand functioning in the classroom and become more actively involved in the development of their own hand skills. Therefore, it is important for the teachers to gain understanding of what constitutes an effective handwriting instruction.

FINE MOTOR MILESTONES:

>Grasping Skills according to Erhardt Prehension Developmental Levels

1. Grasp of the pellet (prone or sitting)

Age / Milestone
natal / No grasp or visual attention to the object
3 months / No attempt to grasp, but visually attends to the object
6 months / Raking and contacting objects
7 months / Inferior scissors grasp: raking object into palm with adducted totally flexed thumb and all flexed fingers, or two partially extended fingers
8 months / Scissors grasp: between thumb and side of curled indexed finger, distal thumb joint slightly flexed, proximal thumb joint extended
9 months / Inferior pincer grasp: between ventral surfaces of thumb and index finger, distal thumb joint extended, beginning of thumb opposition
10 months / Pincer grasp: between distal pads of thumb and index finger, distal thumb joint slightly flexed, thumb opposed
12 months / Fine Pincer grasp: between fingertips or fingernails, distal thumb joint flexed

2. Grasp of the cube

Age / Milestone
natal / Visually attends to object, grasp is reflexive
3 months / Visually attends to object and may swipe. Sustained voluntary grasp possible only upon contact, ulnar side used, no thumb involvement, wrist flexed
4 months / Primitive squeeze grasp: visually attends to object, approaches if within 1 inch, contact results in hand pulling object back to squeeze precariously against the other hand or body, no thumb involvement
5 months / Palmar grasp: fingers on top of surface of object press it into center of palm with thumb adducted
6 months / Radial palmar grasp: fingers on far side of object-press it against opposed thumb and radial side of palm
7 months / Radial palmar grasp: fingers on far side of object-press it against opposed thumb and radial side of palm, with wrist straight
8 months / Radial digital grasp: object held with the opposed thumb and fingertips, space visible between
9 months / Radial digital grasp, with wrist extended

Source: Cottrell, R.F. (2006). National occupational therapy certification exam: Review and study guide. Evanston, Illinois: International Education Resources, Ltd.

3. Releasing skills

Age / Milestone
0-1 month / No release; grasp reflex is strong
1-4 months / Involuntary release
4 months / Mutual fingering in midline
4-8 months / Transfers objects from hand to hand
5-6 months / Two-stage transfer; taking hand grasps before releasing hand lets go
6-7 months / One-stage transfer; taking hand and releasing hand perform actions simultaneously
7-9 months / Volitional release
7-10 months / Presses down on surface to release
8 months / Releases above a surface with wrist flexion
9-10 months / Releases into a container with wrist straight
10-14 months / Clumsy release into small container; hand rests on edge of container
12-15 months / Precise, controlled release into small container with wrist extended

3. Bilateral hand use

Age / Milestone
0-3 months / Asymmetric movements
4-10 months / Symmetric movements
12-18 months / Uses both hands for different functions
18-24 months / Manipulation skills emerge
2 1/2 / The ability to use different hands for two very different functions emerges

4. Manipulating skills according to Exner’s Classification system

Age / Milestone
12-15 months / Finger to palm translation: a linear movement of an object from the fingers to the palm of the hand
2 – 2 ½ years / Palm to finger translation: with stabilization, a liner movement of an object from the palm of the hand to the fingers
3 – 3 ½ years / Shift: a linear movement of an object on the finger surfaces to allow for repositioning of the object relative to the finger pads
2-2 ½ years / Simple rotation: the turning or rolling of an object held at the finger pads approximately 90 degrees or les
6-7 years / Complex rotation: the rotation of an object 360 degrees
6-7 years / In-hand manipulation with stabilization: several objects are held in the hand and manipulation of one object occurs, while simultaneously stabilizing the others

5. Pre-writing skills

Age / Milestone
1- 1 ½ years / Palmar supinate grasp: held with fisted hand, wrist slightly flexed and slightly supinated away from mid-position; arm moves as a unit
2 – 3 years / Digital-pronate grasp: held with fingers, wrist neutral with slight ulnar deviation and forearm pronated; arms moves as a unit
3 1/2– 4 years / Static tripod posture: held with crude approximation of thumb, index and middle fingers, ring and little fingers only slightly flexed, grasped proximally with continual adjustments by other hand, no fine localized movements of digit components; hands moves as a unit
4 1/2- 6 years / Dynamic tripod posture: held with precise opposition of distal phalanges of thumb, index, and middle fingers, ring and little fingers flexed to form a stable arch, wrist slightly extended, grasped distally, MCP joints stabilized during fine, localized movements of PIP joints
6-7 years / Complex rotation: the rotation of an object 360 degrees
6-7 years / In-hand manipulation with stabilization: several objects are held in the hand and manipulation of one object occurs, while simultaneously stabilizing the others

6. Scissor use skills

Prerequisite skills for scissors use include the ability to:

a. Open and close a hand.

b. Isolate or combine the movements of the thumb, index and middle fingers.

c. Use hands bilaterally; one hand to use the scissors, one to stabilize the item being cut

d. Coordinate arm, hand, and eye movements.

e. Stabilize the wrist, elbow, and shoulder joint so that movement can occur at distal joints.

f. Interact with the environment in the constructive developmental play stage

>Stages of development in scissor use, the child sequentially:

Age / Milestone
2- 3 years / Shows an interest in scissors
2 – 3 years / Holds and snips with scissors
2-3 years / Opens and closes scissors in a controlled fashion
3-4 years / Manipulates scissors in a forward motion
3-4 years / Coordinates the lateral direction of the scissors
3-4 years / Cuts a straight forward line
3-4 years / Cuts simple geometric shapes
3 ½- 4 1/2 years / Cuts circles
4-6 years / Cuts simple figure shapes
6-7 years / Cuts complex figure shapes

Source: Cottrell, R.F. (2006). National occupational therapy certification exam: Review and study guide. Evanston, Illinois: International Education Resources, Ltd.

PATTERNS OF PREHENSION:

Below are examples of types of grasps used during drawing and writing activities. Common maladaptive grasps are also described with remediation recommendations. Intervention needs are outlined beside the inefficient prehension patterns.

CLASSROOM REMEDIATION IDEAS:

1. Check the height of the student tables. Check if the student’s feet are flat on floor, with knees bent to around 90 degrees with hips slightly above the level of knees. The upper body or torso should be more or less vertical and head as upright as possible.

2. Teach the students correct paper positioning for a writing task. Make sure the paper is tilted about 45 degrees angle. If the student is left handed, the top left corner should be closer to the body than the top right corner. If the student is right handed, the top right corner should be closer to the body than the left corner. The child’s forearm should be perpendicular to the bottom edge of the paper, this will naturally create a 30 degree angle from his upper body or torso.

3. Give the students proper tools for writing. Use small pieces of chalk, crayon, etc. Be explicit about proper finger placement. Teach the concepts of “writing hand” and “helping hand.”

4. Before students are instructed in correct letter formation, students should have developed skills that are pre-requisites for handwriting. These skills include:

a. Ability to cross the midline

b. Ability to use two hands

c. Understanding of directional terms

d. Ability to recognize similarities and differences in forms

e. Hand dominance

f. Functional pencil grasp

g. Ability to copy lines and shapes

(Please refer to Fine Motor Centers for suggested classroom activities)

OCCUPATIONAL THERAPY ACCOMMODATIONS FOR THE CLASSROOM:

A. For students who have difficulty forming letters:

1. You demonstrate and have the child imitate you.

2. Give the student a letter strip to use at his/her desk and at home. Have parents work on correct letter formation.

3. Provide explicit verbal directions as you form the letter and have the students follow along, repeating the directions using the same words as they make the letter.

4. Using the “Handwriting Without Tears” format, re-teach the correct stroke sequence for problem letters. Teach the concept that letters start at the top (either at the corner or at the center.

B. For students who reverses letters or numbers:

1. Choose one reversal per assignment to work on. If the child reverses many numbers, work on them one at a time, beginning with the lowest number.

2. When using the slate chalkboard, use the “starting corner” and the child will quickly learn to form the letter the right way.

3. You demonstrate and have the child imitate.

4. Allow the student to keep a letter strip at his/her desk for quick reference.

5. Some students may benefit from a “green” (go) hand on the upper left hand corner of the desk and a red (stop) hand on the upper right corner.

C. For students who hold pencils too lightly:

1. Have the child practice coloring shapes light gray, medium gray, dark gray, and black to increase awareness of different degrees of pressure on the pencil.

2. Try a weighted pencil to give the child more awareness of the pencil.

3. Try using pencil grippers.

4. Do warm up activities before writing.

5. Have the student write on paper over a grainy surface.

6. Try a soft-lead pencil.

D. For students who hold pencil too tight and writes with too much pressure:

1. Correcting the pencil grasp might help. Experiment with various pencil grips.

2. Increase the child’s awareness of pencil pressure by having the student color shapes in either light gray, medium gray, dark gray, or black.

3. Have the student write on a soft surface such as blotters, layers of paper, a mouse pad, phone book, or a piece of Styrofoam.

4. Modify the pencil.

5. Try a mechanical pencil so the student has to learn to control the amount of pressure used.

6. Cue the student to write faster (if legibility is not compromised too much).

E. For students who have difficulty spacing letters and keeping the letters on the line:

1. Try popsicle sticks or placing a finger down between words.

2. Try using a stamp pad and have the student stamp his/her fingerprint between each word.

3. Use the concept of exaggerating the spacing by putting “nothing” between words.

4. Have student place dashes between words.

5. Experiment with different kinds of paper such as bi-color, raised line, Sky-Grass-Earth, Handwriting Without Tears paper

6. Skip lines (using regular notebook paper)

7. Highlight or darken baseline

8. Highlight margins

9. Try teaching the student cursive.

F. For a student who has tremors:

1. Use weighted cuff.