Cursive handwriting can be simpler than this

[debbie]

A tweet about dyslexia led me to a website and this picture:

http://educationblog.dallasnews.com/fil ... exia-2.jpg

Note the child in the middle, why is he holding his pen like this?

He has slipped through the net of how to hold a pen or pencil with a tripod grip.

Is this because of 'him' as an individual - or because of the teaching or teachers' provision?

You can teach a child from three years old how to hold a pencil (an ordinary sized pencil) with the tripod grip.

Don't think you must wait for 'developmental readiness' - you could be waiting for ever and we now have mass grotesque pencil holds in schools (most schools) where teachers have not taught this ability early enough or well enough. Indeed, half the teaching staff nowadays have very unusual 'holds' for writing implements - but as 'professionals' you surely have a duty to teach a good tripod grip from the outset and model it as a constant.

Grouped desks instead of desks facing forwards have much to answer for as children seek to copy information from the main whiteboard. They end up with very poor posture and 'see' the board from obscure angles - and often end up hooking their wrists around which usually means writing words from 'above' the words and not 'below' the words. This is crazy and unnecessary.

Then, note the capital letters in above the main whiteboard. Nowadays, do we really need to have a different style of handwriting for capital letters?

Many schools simply teach the capital letters in their print style and continue to use that same print style when teaching joined handwriting (cursive) for the lower case letters.

I'm included in that approach. We don't need to double the teaching and learning for the capital letters - especially worrying if the child is already struggling with basic literacy skills.