5 Skills a Child Needs for Writing Success

When is a child ready to write letters? Expectations for kindergarten are continually increasing, it is not college yet, but sometimes it feels that way. Many parents get nervous about kindergarten and wonder if their child is ready to write. As an occupational therapist, I emphasize the development of a solid skill base before my preschoolers are expected to write.

Typically, a child is ready to trace and copy some letters at the age of 4. At the age of 5, the child generally has the foundational skills to expand writing skills. The necessary skills include proper pencil grasp, ability to draw prewriting strokes and simple pictures, and letter recognition.

If your child is a child who attended a structured preschool program, his/her teachers followed a fine-motor curriculum. If it was not a formal motor curriculum, your child unquestionably participated in tasks such as coloring, painting, and worked on adorable preschool art projects. She played with blocks, beads, pegs, puzzles, magnets, and other preschool manipulatives. Her little hands worked hard to lay the groundwork for successful writing. 

Hand Dominance

It is important to have hand dominance for writing. When children are younger, it is reasonable to experiment with tasks with both sides of the body. However, around age 4, consistent hand preference should be apparent. When uncertain, watch your child. Which hand does she eat with, color, throw a ball, and zip a jacket? Skilled observation will help determine which hand is more efficient. When the hand dominance is decided, then encourage your preschooler to use the preferred hand for writing tasks.

Parents often ask me about a child being ambidextrous, and my answer always is that hardly ever anyone writes with both of their hands. In twenty years as an occupational therapist, I never met anyone who writes skillfully well with both hands. In fact, per literature, only 1% of people are naturally ambidextrous. More commonly, children who have mixed-handed characteristics, and do not have a clear hand preference by age 4, might demonstrate learning challenges. Predominantly, everyone has one hand that is more skilled and more efficient to execute legible writing.

Proper grasp on the writing tool  

Proper grasping of a pencil is essential to have efficient handwriting. The most efficient and practical way to grasp a writing tool is a tripod grasp. Tripod grasp means that we hold a pencil between the pads of our thumb and index finger, and the marker rests on the first joint of the middle finger. Our ring finger and pinky are bent, stabilizing hand on the writing-table. Tripod grasp is the most desired grasp for useful handwriting, and children will advance in writing skills quicker with the proper pencil grip. 

The critical aspect for a proper grasp is finger dexterity and hand muscle strength. Incorporating fun hand activities will assist with developing efficient grasping patterns. Some examples of such activities include;

• picking up small objects with tips of fingers
• kneading, rolling and poking play-dough
• playing with resistive blocks 
• squeezing spray bottles
• coloring with short crayons 
• animals walk to encourage strong hands and wrists, such as crab walk, bear walk, and wheel-barrow
• learn more fine-motor activities

Can your child draw prewriting strokes? 

There are several geometric shapes that children need to learn to draw before they are ready to write capital letters. As toddlers begin to scribble, preschoolers start working on controlled prewriting strokes. There are nine strokes and shapes needed to create letters, which include the following: vertical line, horizontal line, circle, plus/intersecting lines, square, diagonal lines -starting top left ( ), then starting top right ( / ), diagonal X, and triangle. Mastering all these nine prewriting strokes is a pre-cursor to successful letter writing. Another essential aspect to add is that we teach our preschoolers to trace copy and write uppercase letters first. Uppercase letters are easier to write; they are the same size and always start the top.

After preschoolers are sufficient with capitals, then we introduce lowercase letters. Some children are pushed too soon to write lowercase letters and form lousy writing habits. It is crucial to follow the developmental writing progression for a solid foundation and writing achievement.

Children are drawing simple pictures

Another pre-requisite to writing letters is the ability to combine prewriting strokes into simple representational drawings. Favorite preschool drawings start with a smiley face and emerge into self-portrait and family drawings. Drawing a house, flowers, trees, and animals are well-liked, as well. Children often start drawing from imagination. They also attempt to copy pictures from books and try drawing everyday objects from their environment. Drawing is a crucial skill that comes before writing. At times, parents often overlook the importance of pictures and jump straight into writing letters.

Letter Recognition

Another important aspect of determining if a child is ready to write letters is the ability to identify letters. All children are different and recognize letters at different ages. A child will know the letters in their name before learning additional alphabet letters. For writing to have any meaning to a child, they must first understand letter recognition. It is wise to emphasize learning letters of the child’s name first before expecting the child to copy or write. Some fun ways to incorporate letter learning is playing with letter puzzles and reading books. If the child does not understand what they are writing, they will become disinterested and unmotivated.

Check out our letter recognition fun practice materials.

Attention and motivation

Participating in paper and crayon activities requires our kids to engage in the task and be willing to work on the intricate art of creating something meaningful. Ideally, for preschoolers, we would want at least 10 minutes of productive crayon and paper time. Slowly building up and increasing time is valuable. Our preschoolers must have frequent and regular time to transform their imagination on paper. It is essential to mention that cultivating concentration for crayon activities does not have to always done while sitting at the table. Encouraging prewriting skills might be done while laying on tummy on the floor, exploring with sidewalk chalk or paint, drawing at the easel, or even on the wall during bath with washable crayons. Little steps will create leaps in increasing attention span for writing tasks.

Prewriting Strokes and Drawing Development Stages

Toddlers (1-2) 

• Marks/dots paper
• Random scribbling

Toddlers (2-3)

• Controlled scribbling, linear and circular motions
• Imitates vertical line, horizontal line, and circle 

Preschoolers (3-4)

• Copies vertical lines and horizontal lines
• Copies controlled circles
• Copies intersecting lines
• Draws simple pictures such as; smiley face, tree, flower, 

Preschoolers (4-5)

• Copies square
• Copies rectangle 
• Copies diagonal lines
• Copies diagonal X
• Drawing examples include; self-portrait, family, animals, cars, house 

Kindergarten (5-6)

• Copies triangle 
• Copies heart
• Copies combined shapes 
• Drawings become more detailed and precise (i.e., eyelashes on self-portrait) 

Summary

Preschoolers need a tremendous amount of fine-motor development opportunities before they are ready to write letters. Early childhood is the time when children discover, engage, and practice an ample amount of age-appropriate activities that will assist them in developing writing readiness. Toddlers and preschoolers explore with both hands before they establish hand-dominance and use proper grasp for writing. Copying shapes and expanding meaningful drawings takes a lot of practice and effort, which in turn will help with increased attention and motivation. A child with a rich preschool fine-motor and literacy experiences will blossom into a child who is set-up for writing success!  

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