July (Half 2), Coming in August (Half 3) 2025 

Introduction

If you’re simply studying this text for the primary time, I recommend you click on again to my June 2025 article right here, which explains the event of an acceptable pencil grip from delivery to about age 5 previous to studying this month’s article.

As a prelude, listed below are a few paragraphs from my final article:

Query: When these pencil grip, writing posture, sequences of strokes for letter formation are uncared for, what usually outcomes?

Reply: Poor letter formations, decreased legibility, and most significantly, decreased handwriting fluency/serviceability (ease of writing with out fatigue). The kid finds writing by hand laborious at finest and inconceivable at worst. This little one typically refusing to jot down by hand in any respect.

What Can I Do to Enhance a Youngster’s Pencil Grip?

Except for engaged on the gadgets I wrote about in my June weblog discussing the improvement of a useful pencil grip, listed below are some ideas for enchancment as wanted–and it’s by no means too late::

1-Communicate along with your little one or pupil about pencil grip and why will probably be simpler for them to interact at college and at dwelling if they’ve a useful pencil grip. Youngsters will likely be extra cooperative in the event that they perceive causes for what they’re requested to do.

2-Train them in regards to the pincer grasp, hand power, hand positioning, and writing posture (once more, check with my June weblog).

3-Apply briefly periods (5 minutes for creating writers, longer for these children about 8 years previous) utilizing some ideas and methods listed under. Purchaser beware! Many pencil grips will not be definitely worth the cash (and they’re cheap!) to provide them, not to mention buy them. Recommend you actually throw away all different instruments other than those pictured under:

The Twist ‘N Write Pencils insist that the author to make use of a tripod grip and open net area (open area between the thumb and index finger). Do word the bent thumb and arched index finger. Additionally word the curved indentation for the index finger placement. It is vital that college students use the Twist ‘N Write persistently in each the varsity and residential environments. These instruments generally is a bit expensive. Recommend checking on Amazon for the deal on the ‘barrel of them’ dimension. It has been my expertise that college students ultimately swap out to a typical pencil. I’m not a fan of the laborious to make use of erasers (pictured to the scale of the index finger), so I recommend having a stand alone eraser helpful. A separate eraser is a small worth to pay to encourage a useful pencil grip!

The poor man’s model of the Twist ‘N Write includes the usage of an ‘elephant clip’ on a typical pencil. A lot inexpensive, higher eraser, and offers a virtually comparable stage of assist. Do word the bent thumb and index finger. Recommend starting with the Twist ‘N Write and transitioning to the elephant clip.

For college kids requiring maximal assist, I recommend the Writing Body, pictured left. Sometimes, college students with extreme dysgraphia would discover this handy. As one can see, it fosters the tripod pencil grip, in addition to present assist within the placement of the scholar’s hand and remaining fingers. Once more, if one must work with a pupil utilizing the Writing Body, transitioning to the elephant clip could be a superb choice.

Screenshots by Lori Josephson

One final trick, and courtesy of Instagram, I didn’t should create this video. Some college students merely see this ‘trick’ and revel in a serviceable pencil grip instantly! All you want is a small hairband!

4- Be affected person! Remediation takes time and endurance. And one different factor: typically you can be unsuccessful, however most frequently, this is not going to be the case and your efforts will likely be price your time.

High Causes Why Youngsters Profit From a Useful Pencil Grip

1-Useful Pencil Grip’s Direct Connection to Literacy Growth/Studying

The Youthful Scholar

As talked about within the prelude above, early ‘Readers-In-Coaching’ be taught letter recognition, sound-symbol affiliation, in addition to sound mixing (decoding…AKA ‘sounding out’ phrases) and sound segmentation (encoding…AKA ‘spelling phrases’). Sound mixing facilitates decoding (studying), whereas segmenting facilitates encoding (spelling). I clarify these ideas intimately in Calling All Neurons! How Studying and Spelling Occur. The truth is, they’re ‘two sides of the identical coin’.

Picture ©Lori Josephson 2024

College students finest be taught the foundational expertise of sound mixing and notably sound segmentation when taught in conjunction with taking a look at and writing the letters particularly when spelling. Clearly, if one writes by hand, one wants to make use of a writing utensil, most optimally with a useful pencil grip (tripod, quadrupod, or modified tripod or ‘artist’ grip). Many curricula aligned with the Science of Studying have college students manipulating plastic letters or letters printed on tiles to observe spelling. These curricula even have college students placing a pencil to paper and/or a marker to a whiteboard.

The neurons within the visible, auditory, language, and motor elements of the mind are stimulated concurrently when a pupil writes,. This facilitates and maximizes studying. Using a useful pencil grip aids in facilitating and maximizing the impression of the motor neurons in studying. In flip, these expertise improve (not at all times, however usually) the complete improvement of literacy expertise.

What number of of you’ve gotten mentioned these phrases? “If I don’t write it down, I’ll neglect about it.”

Picture created by Lori Josephson

A phrase about ‘whiteboards and markers’. In my humble opinion, I’m ‘all in’ as a method for college kids to observe letter formations and spelling with whiteboards and markers, however….I recommend offering college students with skinny slightly than thick, cumbersome markers. Little palms have a really laborious time utilizing a useful pencil grip with these huge, clunky markers. As well as, whiteboard/marker observe has a very completely different ‘really feel’ than the stress required when a baby places a pencil to paper. Far larger hand power is required when a pupil makes use of pencil and paper versus a marker on whiteboard.

Screenshot and caption by Lori Josephson

‘Readers-In-Coaching’ have to develop the ability of orthographic mapping. This course of permits college students to right away acknowledge phrases with out the necessity to ‘sound them out’.  Truly, writing phrases by hand has been proven to enormously improve and help on this course of. By the point kids are 8 or 9 years previous, they’ve orthographically mapped hundreds of phrases. A useful pencil grip facilitates this course of, as writing is much less laborious.

Picture ©Lori Josephson 2024

The Older Scholar

College students progressing by way of the grades will likely be required to repeat from the board, full worksheets and homework, take assessments, and write brief paragraphs finally resulting in essays in writing. You would possibly disagree with me, however in my years of lots of of visiting lecture rooms, I routinely witnessed college students writing by hand slightly than keyboarding or dictating responses.

Moreover, the act of writing by hand requires eye-hand coordination, which in and of itself, aids within the studying course of. Many college students (youthful and sure, older), really ‘contact the textual content’ when studying. Touching the textual content is used as an assist to enhancing phrasing, when then improves studying fluency. And the way about highlighting textual content utilizing a highlighter? Isn’t eye hand coordination required for this job?

Improved Retention of Materials

Indiana College Psychology Professor Karin James’, analysis signifies enchancment in total retention of what’s anticipated to be realized in any topic space. Fuirthermore, taking notes by hand is healthier than merely listening or taking notes on a keyboard (I used to be personally so bummed out after I learn that discovering since taking notes on a pc avoids all that ‘paper’!!).

Once more, I repeat, have you ever ever uttered these phrases:

“If I don’t write it down, I’ll neglect about it?” 

I say this on a regular basis and if I don’t write it down, I in reality, DO neglect about it!

Don’t underestimate the ‘energy of the pen[cil]’!

2-Growth of Writing Fluency…What’s That?

Writing fluency is outlined as the convenience with which one makes use of a writing utensil on the writing floor with minimal fatigue. We all know homework is 10 minutes/grades…doubtless the amount of steady writing time is analogous. In accordance with the builders of the Handwriting Pace Check (HST) and DASH (Detailed Evaluation of Pace of Handwriting), as anticipated, completely different age teams are capable of write at completely different speeds. Youngsters aged 5-12 write between 5-10 phrases per minute, relying on their age and academic background. As kids enter their teenage years, their handwriting velocity usually will increase as a result of extra developed motor and cognitive expertise. On common, youngsters can write between 10 to fifteen phrases per minute.

In accordance with Anna Barnett, et. al. of Oxford Brookes College, highschool college students can write as much as 50% sooner than elementary faculty college students (on common 10-15 phrases per minute), because of their improved motor expertise, cognitive improvement, and the upper instructional calls for. That mentioned, it is very important word that youngsters spend much less time working towards handwriting as a result of the usage of know-how, which might typically restrict their proficiency and velocity.

One other thought so as to add into the combination I not too long ago heard on NPR stating “blue books” are coming again because of the introduction of AI (synthetic intelligence). A “blue e book” is actually a e book with about 20 lined pages that faculty, graduate, and typically highschool college students use to reply take a look at questions by hand.

The truth is, I not so fondly recall the callus on my dominant hand’s center finger (I exploit a standard tripod pencil grip) as a result of fixed writing come center elementary grades. Check out your little one’s writing hand to see if he/she/they sports activities a callus . Find the place it’s, take note of pencil grip.

What about letter formations? Listen as a result of ease of writing usually impacts the amount of how a lot a ‘Reader-In-Coaching’ is keen and/or has the aptitude of writing.

3-Elevated Written Language Output

Inform me, do you proceed with duties you discover difficult? I do know that I don’t!! I get them over with as rapidly as potential. Don’t give me one thing to repair or construct…it can doubtless be a catastrophe.

Identical for teenagers and writing. If writing fluency isn’t in place, most of us will attempt to spend as little time as potential on this job.

Picture ©Lori Josephson 2024

4-Improved Math Efficiency

I have a tendency to jot down about literacy, however I ask you:

“What occurs throughout math class to college students who’re requested to present their work?”

Let me inform you what occurs. Oftentimes, these college students, even once they provide the right reply, lose credit score just because they selected to omit ‘displaying their work’ when fixing computations. Academics are sometimes extra all for “the method” slightly than the ultimate solutions. Generally, lecturers give ‘partial credit score’ to college students who present their work in writing (their thought processes) and commit the numeric equal of a ‘typo’. Generally, college students are closely penalized even when they provide the right reply, however select to omit displaying their work. Do word that some college students who manifest extreme handwriting points have problem organizing numbers in rows and columns (I like to recommend giant dimension graph paper for these college students).

Both method, if college students are requested to indicate their work, however discover writing laborious, the result is oftentimes not optimum. Please go to this web site by Veronica Lewis (she has each low imaginative and prescient and and dysgraphia). Test it out!

Screenshot by Lori Josephson

Featured picture by Ana Ara from Vecteezy

Coming Points of interest Subsequent Month: What In regards to the Affect of Display Time on Writing By Hand? Half 3