Handwriting is a lifelong skill. It begins as young as 3 years of age, when children start identifying shapes, letters, and numbers. Handwriting and letter recognition are important for communicating (e.g. sending cards and emails) and for completing age-appropriate tasks (e.g. homework assignments; writing grocery lists).
Below are many of the components your child’s occupational therapist looks for during a handwriting sample in order to work towards a clear and legible final product:
- Sizing: Are the letters all relatively the same size (e.g. all upper case the same size and all lower case the same size)?
- Spacing: Are the letters and/or words too close together? Or is there at least a finger or pencil width between each word?
- Mixing of upper case and lower case: Is there inconsistency between the use of upper case and lower case letters? Are upper case letters used correctly (e.g. start of a sentence or for a name/title)? Mixing of upper case and lower case letters is appropriate until 6 years of age.
- Capitalization: Are names, titles, and beginning letters of a sentence appropriately capitalized?
- Formation of letters: Does the child form each letter in the right direction? (e.g. ‘b’, ‘d’) Does the child use the correct number of lines and curves? (e.g. ‘m’, ‘n’) Letter reversals are appropriate until 7 years of age.
- Complete sentences: Are there clear and complete thoughts? Is the correct punctuation used at the end of the sentence?
- Floating letters: Do all of the letters sit clearly on the line?
- Pencil grasp: Does the child hold the pencil or marker age appropriately? The static tripod grasp is expected around 3 ½ – 4 years of age. This is when the pencil is held between the thumb and index finger, with the pencil resting on the middle finger and the child uses and moves his wrist/arm to make movements with the pencil. The dynamic tripod grasp is expected around 4 ½ – 6 years of age. This is when the pencil is held between the thumb and index finger with the pencil resting on the middle finger, and the child uses and moves his fingers to make movements with the pencil.
- Posture in chair: Is the child slouching or falling out of the chair? Is the child propped or leaning? Are his feet flat on the floor? Is the table the appropriate size?
- Pressure used: Is the child’s writing legible? Or does he press down too hard or too lightly with the pencil, causing the writing to be hard to read or his hands to fatigue more easily?
This list of handwriting aspects may give you ideas of what to look for in your child’s handwriting during activities/assignments at home. If you notice that your child is having trouble in any of these areas, encourage him to focus on one of those aspects each time he practices writing (to break down the task). Your child will work on these aspects of handwriting during his occupational therapy sessions, but it is also very important to provide your child with similar learning opportunities and feedback at home.
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