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  • Home
    • Disclosure Policy
    • About Me
  • What's New! (Blog)
  • Low-Carb Lifestyle!
    • Trim Healthy Mama-inspired Grocery Lists
    • THM-style Beverages >
      • Mock Starbucks Mocha Frappuccinos
    • Family Favorite Recipes (Not Low Carb) >
      • Snacks >
        • Delicious Homemade Gooey Granola Bars!
        • Healthy Peanut Buttery Treats
      • Soups and Stews >
        • Jamaican Seafood Chowder
        • Chicken and Gnocchi Soup
      • Salads >
        • Red Cabbage Coleslaw
      • Main Dishes >
        • Beef >
          • Beef Stroganoff
        • Chicken >
          • Chicken Fiesta
          • Chicken Nachos
          • Marinated Zucchini and Chicken Sandwiches
          • Chicken or Turkey Enchiladas
          • Hungarian Chicken Paprikash
          • Green Chili Chicken Lasagna
        • Lamb >
          • Slow-Roasted Lamb Shoulder
        • Seafood >
          • Chilled Quinoa and Salmon Salad (E)
          • Shrimp and Zucchini Tostadas
        • Pasta Recipes >
          • Baked Lemon Pasta
          • Paccheri (Pasta) with Cauliflower and Tomatoes
      • Desserts >
        • Cookies >
          • Free Christmas Cookie cookbook download!
          • Healthier Gingerbread Man Cookies
          • Healthier Holiday Cut-Out Cookes
          • Maple Leaf Cookies - YUMMM!
        • Donuts
        • Frozen Desserts >
          • Lemonade Ice Cream Pie
    • Recommended Ingredients and Foods >
      • Inspiration Mixes - Gluten/Dairy/Caseine/Wheat Free and delicious!
      • Organic Maple Syrup
  • Homeschooling
    • Homeschool Curriculum & Product Reviews >
      • Homeschool Curriculum Reviews >
        • Art >
          • ARTistic Pursuits
          • Simply Draw!
        • Grammar >
          • All About Homophones - (Marie Rippel)
          • Time 4 Learning
          • Daily Grams
        • Handwriting >
          • Cursive Handwriting - New American Cursive
        • History >
          • The Mystery of History >
            • MOH vol. 3 Audio MP3's
          • Tapestry of Grace History
          • U.S. History >
            • America, The Last Best Hope (William Bennett)
          • Winter Promise
        • Latin >
          • Latina Christiana, by Memoria Press
          • Visual Latin
        • Literature-based Unit Studies >
          • Beyond Five in a Row
          • Further Up and Further In by Diane Pendergraft
        • Logic and Reasoning >
          • Building Thinking Skills (Critical Thinking Skills Co.)
        • Math >
          • Math Mammoth
          • Math Tutor DVD.com
          • MathRider: Horselovers' Math Facts Software Game!
        • Music and Composers
        • Online Educational Courses >
          • Aleks Online Courses
        • Science >
          • Apologia Science >
            • Apologia Science's Notebooking Journals
            • Zoology 1 - Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day
          • Science Weekly newsletters
        • Spelling >
          • Phonetic Zoo (by IEW)
        • Writing >
          • The Write Foundation: Level 2 - Paragraphs
          • WriteShop's StoryBuilders
      • Homeschool Product Reviews >
        • eBooks >
          • College Success Begins at Home (TOS eBook)
          • Dreams and Designs—Homemade Supplies to Complement Your Homeschool
          • Help, Lord, I'm Getting Ready to Start Homeschooling My High Schooler!
          • The 2010 Schoolhouse Planner
        • Online Educational Website Memberships >
          • KB Teacher
        • Science >
          • Polymer Crystals
    • Driver's Education for Homeschoolers
    • Foreign Language >
      • Latin >
        • Christmas Songs in Latin
        • Latina Christiana (Level 1) >
          • Latina Christiana Level 1 Lesson Links >
            • Charts and Helps
            • Year One Sayings
            • LC1 Intro and Lesson 1
      • Latina Christiana (Level II) >
        • Latina Christiana Level 2
        • LC2 Intro and Lesson 1
    • Forms and Charts >
      • "Week At A Glance" Planner
      • 2012-2013 Homeschool Attendance Form
      • 2012-2013 Homeschool Attendance Form
    • Free Audio Books to Download
    • Free Homeschool I.D. Cards!
    • Government and Civics
    • Handwriting
    • History: Classical / Chronological >
      • The Mystery of History, by Linda Lacour Hobar
      • The Middle Ages (MOH vol. 2)
      • Ancient History (MOH vol. 1) >
        • Ancient Rome >
          • Roman Architecture
          • Roman Houses
          • Roman Town (software game by Dig-It)
          • Roman Trade and Commerce
    • Language Arts
    • Science
  • Free Printables
    • Holidays >
      • Christmas
  • Book/DVD/Audio Reviews
    • Children's Movie/DVD Reviews
    • Other Product/Company Reviews
  • Home & Family
    • Frugal Living
    • Gardening and Herbs
    • Marriage - God's Way
    • Life at Home
    • Godly Kids & Teens >
      • Godly Womanhood
      • Sharing God With Your Children
      • Training Our Daughters to be Keepers at Home >
        • Keepers At Home - "Beginning of Club Year" Helps
        • Keepers At Home - "End of Club Year" Helps
        • KAH Skills >
          • Bible Memory >
            • Memorizing New Testament Books and Their Meanings
            • Proverbs 31:10-31
          • Cake Decorating
          • Card Making >
            • Stitched Cards
          • Computers
          • Character Studies >
            • Contentment and "I'm Bored" phrases
            • Willingness
          • Decoupage
          • Hospitality
          • Library Skills and Literature Pins
          • Sewing >
            • Beauty and the Pig - Goldie Doll
            • Edwardian-Style Aprons
            • Paper Piecing
      • Children >
        • Bible Study Bookmarks
        • The Church History ABCs (for kids!!!)
        • The Lord's Prayer - copywork
        • Some Thoughts...Family Bible Time
        • Running Away...with permission
      • Young Adults (Teens) >
        • Stepping Heavenward, by Elizabeth Prentiss
        • Deeper Roots: Discovering Our Amazing God
  • Frugal Family Trips to Washington, D.C.
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Helping with the Correct Pencil Grip

8/20/2010

7 Comments

 

 


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    Sometimes, teaching a child how to hold a pencil seems so difficult - and yet it's so important to a child's future skills in writing and many academic tasks.

     I had a little bit of trouble teaching my girls how to hold a pencil properly, but it wasn't too painful.  In our spelling/reading/writing curriculum when they were beginning readers (Spell to Write and Read), there was an instructional paragraph and a diagram of how to help children learn how to hold the pencil correctly, and I found that helpful.

     It's not that a child can't write well with an improper pencil grip...it's just that the likelihood of that child not enjoying writing is much higher.  Their fingers, hands, and wrists easily get tired and cause them to not want to practice handwriting skills or to write lengthier paragraphs. 

     Also, when a child has a confident and comfortable pencil grip, he or she will generally have the tendency to write neater than if he or she did not.

     I can't promise that my children have a "perfect" pencil grip.  It's not exactly like it you'll see it in the videos below.  But it's pretty close!

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     One thing I did do correctly when the girls were just learning to write was that I recognized that Kelsi (daughter #1) had very poor fine motor skills.  She literally could not write in manuscript (print).  Even though her mental and verbal skills were advanced, she had a lot of difficulty holding pencils, markers, and crayons and trying to use them well.  Manuscript printing requires the writer to pick up and put down his or her pencil tip frequently, and this creates a problem with transitioning from one letter to the next, and in writing step-by-step within individual letters. 

     Kelsi also had a visual tracking disorder, which made writing a bit more difficult for her.  I have the same visual problem.  While it took Kelsi and I a tad bit longer to learn how to blend letters and phonograms together using an excellent reading program, we did catch on.  (I was taught to read using a very similar method when I was a child.)  Fortunately, her tracking disorder was not severe enough to require vision therapy. 

     When she started the first grade at home, I began using an old-fashioned technique that I had heard from a lot of people in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s: 


     Teach cursive first. 


    What?  Are you crazy? 


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     Over the years, I have spoken with many older and wiser people who have told me that when they attended public schools in the 20s, 30s, and 40s, they were taught to write using cursive first.  Later, when their cursive handwriting was eligible and neat, they were taught how to print for the purpose of writing on diagrams, posters, and science labs.

     I know that some Americans in that era did learn to print first, however.  Some of them probably grew up in the more "progressive" states like California and New York, which were some of the first states to experiment with "newfangled" ideas in education.

     From what I've been able to learn, though, many people around the world were taught to write using cursive handwriting first. 

     Since the author of the reading/spelling/writing program we used (Mrs. Wanda Sanseri) also recommended to me in one of her classes that we teach our children cursive before manuscript, I decided to give it a try.

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      Elizabeth FitsGerald, who teaches classes on Spell to Write and Read, designed a handwriting program that teaches cursive handwriting - first.

     I hesitatingly began using Cursive First to teach Kelsi cursive handwriting.  It made me nervous.  How was she going to be able to make loops and tails if she struggled to write small, straight lines?
     I shouldn't have been concerned!  Amazingly, within three weeks, her cursive handwriting was at the fourth grade level, about where a child would be if she had been writing in cursive for one full year.

     Three months later, her cursive handwriting was as nice as a junior high student who had neat cursive writing.

     One year later, her cursive handwriting was as beautiful as an adult who wrote neatly in cursive!

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     I'm truly not trying to brag about my child at all.

     I'm just amazed at the miracle that transformed my daughter.  I'm so thankful that the Lord helped me be open-minded about trying something new if the old technique wasn't working well.

     After a couple of years using cursive handwriting, Kelsi wanted to begin learning printing.  This time, her fine motor skills were ready!

     I find it interesting that Kelsi really enjoys most fine motor activities now, and she does them well.  In fact, fine motor skills are her strength.  She enjoys playing the violin and piano, hand sewing, cross stitching and embroidery, keyboarding, drawing, and painting. 

     All from a child who, at the age of 6, could barely hang onto a pencil. 

     If your child, no matter what age, is struggling with holding a pencil correctly, I would suggest that you consider focusing on this and correcting it. 

     It may be painful; it may not be pretty.  But I do think it is important to at least make this a big priority in your child's life.

     If I had been able to watch these videos when my girls were young, I would have had more confidence in explaining the pencil grip in a way that made sense to them. 

     If you have older children, the preschool videos obviously may not be appropriate.  But the first one will!

     I hope you will find these useful for your own children or grandchildren, or perhaps a child in your neighborhood or at your church.



    This first video will teach you how to show your child to hold a pencil correctly:


    This excellent video will demonstrate how you, as a parent or teacher, can make a quick, inexpensive pencil grip that will really work well for most children:

 
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Disclosure:  This review was provided for you from my own experiences in teaching handwriting.  My copy of Cursive First was purchased by me years ago to use with my children.  I was not provided any compensation or free product in exchange for this review.

7 Comments
Kelsi link
8/20/2010 11:47:09 am

Ha ha, Mom. Yes, my fine motor skills have certainly come a long way since then!

Although, I reflect that my typing is way too slow right now, with one hand stuck in a glass of cold water!

Reply
Julieanne
8/20/2010 01:08:07 pm

Kelsi, too funny! I love you, and even though you burned yourself making pancakes, thank you for all that you do for our family!

Love,

Mom

Reply
Becky
8/20/2010 03:40:24 pm

My Mom was a Kindergarten teacher and she worked so hard on this. After talking to her about it years ago, I began to observe. So many people have a BAD problem, wonder how they can write and how their hands must hurt!

Reply
Cheri
8/20/2010 03:41:12 pm

It's something I deal constantly with in my classroom.

Reply
Julieanne
8/20/2010 03:41:48 pm

Cheri, did you happen to watch the videos I posted there? Did you see the cotton ball technique for holding a pencil? Wow. I sure wish I had known this when the girls were younger.

Reply
Jayne
8/20/2010 04:22:39 pm

This was really interesting. I remember E's teacher working on different pencil grips with him.

Reply
Julieanne
8/20/2010 04:25:16 pm

I know that teachers really try hard to work on pencil grip with their students, but often when there are 28-30 students in one classroom, it is tough to really make a difference in their handwriting skills and neatness.

All of the handwriting curriculum that I've seen has told me to sit to the left of my child as she writes...to NOT let her do her handwriting practice on her own, without me, because she can easily get sloppy and not make the forming of the letters correctly.

It's really almost impossible for a teacher to set to the left of 20-30 students and really make sure that not only are they holding their pencil correctly, but they are forming each letter correctly.

I could have never helped them all as well as I would have wanted to, when I was teaching in a classroom situation.

Reply



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