How to teach handwriting

Author: Fleur Iggulden and J ulia Allen Page 1 of 22

r: Katie J ones.
Pearson PHOTOCOPIABLE
By Fleur Iggulden and Julia Allen


This article is aimed at teachers of young children who are still learning to form letters and words or those
who have students whose mother tongue is, for example, Arabic and so read from right to left. In these
situations both sets of learners need to be helped to write fluently and legibly in the roman script. Systematic
teaching with careful guidance is therefore, required.

Handwriting is the coordination of the hand and brain. In order to write the student needs to achieve finger
and hand control, then coordinate hand and eye movements simultaneously. When teaching very young
learners the following pre-writing activities encourage these basic skills:

i. Tracing/copying patterns from left to right in sand, on paper
ii. Joining dot to dot pictures and colouring them
iii. Jigsaw puzzles
iv. Free drawing
v. Sorting shapes, e.g. triangles, etc.
vi. Cutting out shapes and pictures
vii. Tracing line drawings/mazes
viii. Modelling in clay

If these tasks can be performed with sufficient handeye coordination and the learners are aware of the left to
right direction then they are ready to learn to write.

It is clear from the above list that the skills of reading and writing are interrelated. Visual abilities, visual
memory and left to right directionality all aid the development of reading and writing.




How to teach handwriting

Author: Fleur Iggulden and J ulia Allen Page 2 of 22
r: Katie J ones.
Pearson PHOTOCOPIABLE
From the beginning, forming letters properly needs to be demonstrated.

i. Write the letter on the board. Ask the class what shape it reminds them of.
ii. Ask what English words they know that begin with that letter.
iii. Trace the letter in the air with your back to the class so they can see how it is written.
iv. They then trace the letter in the air.
v. Ask them to trace the letter over the one in their workbook or write it in their books.

Learners must sit up straight and hold their pencils correctly between their forefinger and thumb whether
they are left or right or right handed. The paper needs to be placed straight in front of them.

After practising patterns and the formation of individual letters the learners can write a line of letters. Ensure
that:

i. They start and finish in the correct space.
ii. That all upward and downward strokes are the same length.
iii. The letters are in proportion and all the same size.
iv. The students use the line to write on.
v. Some letters are formed from left to right, e.g. n, and some from right to left, e.g. o. The
students need to form them in the correct way.
vi. When writing similar shapes, e.g. h and n, c and o, the difference between the letters must be
clear.

In learning to write fluently it is usual to print first and then proceed to cursive writing, i.e. joined up letters.

It is always essential to relate what they learn to what students already know so they see the reason for
practising that skill. For example, students choose a letter, then cut examples from magazines to make a
collage. Older learners can devise secret codes and write messages for their partners. Thus they will
understand that practising handwriting has a purpose and they will be engaged in the process.