Handwriting development: what’s normal?
Handwriting is such an important component of the educational experience, and handwriting struggles can often interfere with a child’s performance in other academic areas that would otherwise seem unrelated because those struggles limit a child’s ability to communicate fluently in writing. But the thing about handwriting skills is they take time to develop, and sometimes what may seem like a problem to a parent is actually completely normal for that stage in the child’s development. Even if a child is advanced in their language and speaking skills, knows all their numbers, and is trying to read, that doesn’t mean they should necessarily be capable of writing their name (or even have a desire to). So what is normal? Let’s explore some aspects of handwriting and when they most commonly develop in order to understand better.
Hand dominance.
Although hand preference can begin to appear as early as 18 months in some children, true hand dominance isn’t often established until between ages 4 and 6. Until hand dominance is established, it can be difficult for children to perfect activities that require more precision—like handwriting.
Forming letters.
Very young children just aren’t able to form letters using a pencil or crayon. In fact, until age 3, many kids can’t do much more than scribble. Circles and lines are the first shapes your child will likely master (usually around age 3), followed by crosses, squares and triangles around age 4 or 5. If you think about how these shapes compare to most letters in the English language, you can easily see that most kids also won’t be forming letters until around age 4 or 5, and they may not know how to write all of their letters until age 6.
Pencil grip.
Did you know there are actually multiple correct ways to hold a pencil? In fact, many experts agree on 4 different correct pencil grips—dynamic tripod, lateral tripod, dynamic quadrupod, and lateral quadrupod. As the names imply, two of these types of grips use three fingers to hold the pencil, and two use four. In two the wrist is straight with the pencil pointing away from the body, and in two the wrist is bent with the pencil pointing toward the body. These pencil grips may not develop until a child is 6 or 7 years old. Bottom line, if your Kindergarten or first grade child is still not consistently using one of these grips, then you probably don’t need to worry, and if your older child is consistently holding their pencil differently from the way you hold your pencil, don’t just assume it’s wrong—it might actually be a correct and perfectly normal grip.
Legibility and speed.
Even once your child begins to write, the letters may not always be perfectly formed and handwriting will likely be slow and deliberate. And as long as your child isn’t complaining of pain or becoming frustrated, this is completely normal. With continued practice writing will become easier and happen more quickly, and they may not write at what you consider to be a normal adult level until high school. If, however, both you and your child are struggling to read your child’s written assignments, if your child becomes frustrated during handwriting or complains of pain, or if slow writing speed is making it difficult to complete grade level appropriate school assignments in a timely manner, then you may want to talk to an occupational therapist and get a handwriting evaluation. Sometimes a simple change to the way your child completes handwriting assignments or a new strategy or approach to teaching handwriting lessons may be all your child needs to succeed in this important skill!
References:
Case-Smith, J. & O’Brien, J.C. (2010). Occupational therapy for children, (6th ed.). St. Louis: Elsevier.