PREWRITING AND

HANDWRITING
SKILLS
Chien-Yu Huang
Preliteracy Writing Development of
Young children
■ Many children begin to draw and scribble on paper shortly after they are able to grasp a
writing tool.
■ They write intentionally meaningful messages, first with pictures and then with scribbles,
letter-like forms, and strings of letters
■ Early elementary grades
– Mastering the mechanical and perceptual processes of graphics
– The acquisition of language and the learning of spelling and phonology
■ Early writing competence is highly correlated with later success in reading
Preliteracy Writing Development of
Young children
■ The prewriting and handwriting progress
– Controlled scribbles
– Discrete lines, dots, or symbols
– Straight-line or circular uppercase letters
– Uppercase letters
– Lowercase letters, numerals and words
Writing Development of School-Aged
Children
■ Write letters in kindergarten
■ Develop fluency until the third or fourth grade
■ Demonstrate adult speed in writing until the ninth grade
■ Handwriting
– Lower-level perceptual-motor processes
■ Eye-hand coordination (visual-motor integration is the strongest predictor)
■ Moderately associated with dexterity
– Higher-level cognitive processes
■ Executive planning
■ Working memory
■ Language processes
Writing Development of School-Aged
Children
■ Process of learning writing
– Use vision to guide a child’s hand movements
■ Visually analyzing form and space
■ Linking the image of a letterform to a motor plan
■ Visual-motor coordination and motor dexterity are critical skills
– Develop a kinesthetic memory of letterforms
■ Automatic process
■ Cognitive process become important
■ Handwriting fluency is a predictor of compositional fluency and quality
 Handwriting Readiness
■ Children master handwriting readiness skills before handwriting instruction is initiated
– Children are taught handwriting before they are ready
■ They may become discouraged and develop poor writing habits
■ Six developmental classification that underlie skilled use of the hands that contribute to
greater adeptness in operating a pencil
– Upper extremity support
– Wrist and hand development
– Visual control
– Bilateral integration
– Spatial analysis
– Kinesthesia
Nine figures of the VMI

■ Handwriting instruction be postponed until after the child masters the first nine figures
in the VMI
Problems in Handwriting and Visual
Motor Integration
■ Handwriting requires the ability to integrate the visual image of letters or
shapes with the appropriate motor response
■ Visual-cognitive abilities
– Attention
■ Correct letter formation, spelling, and the mechanics of grammar, punctuation, and
capitalization
■ Formulating a sequential flow of ideas necessary for written communication
– Visual memory
■ Recalling the shape and form of letters and numbers
■ Mixing small and capital letters in a sentence, writing the same letter many different ways on
the same page, and unable to print the alphabet from memory
■ legibility
Problems in Handwriting and Visual
Motor Integration
■ Visual-cognitive abilities
– Visual discrimination
■ Form consistency
– Recognize errors, recognize letters or words in different prints—copying from different type of print, recognize of
letters or numbers in different environments, positions or sizes
■ Figure ground
– Determine what is to be written
■ Important segments, writing speed
– Visual spatial
■ Reverse letters (m,w,b,d)—discriminate left from right
– Left-to-right progression in writing words and sentences
■ Over space or under space between words and letters, keeping within the margins
■ Incorrect and inconsistent spacing between writing units and variability in orientation of major letter features when the
letter is written repeatedly
Pencil Grip Progression

■ Primitive grip
– Holding the writing tool with the whole hand or extended fingers,
– Pronating the forearm
– Using the shoulder to move the pencil

1-1.5 years
 Brush grasp

Pencil Grip Progression

■ Transitional pencil grip
– 18 to 30 months
Digital pronate grasp Grasp with extended fingers
– Held with flexed fingers
1.5-2.5 years
– The forearm is pronated (thumb side downward), or supinated
– The child’s forearm and/or wrist moves the pencil
Pencil Grip progression
■ Mature pencil grip (functional postures)
– The pencil is stabilized by the distal phalanges of the thumb and index, middle, and
possibly ring fingers
– The wrist is slightly extended yet dynamic
– The supinated forearm rests on the table
– Dynamic tripod, lateral tripod, dynamic quadripod, and the lateral quadripod
Pencil Grip progression

■ 功能性與非功能性的握筆姿勢於書寫速度、可讀性有差別
■ 功能性的握筆姿勢之間，書寫速度、可讀性沒有差別
Handwriting Evaluation
Occupational File

■ Occupational therapy history, experiences, patterns of daily living, interests, values, and needs
■ Interviews
– What is important and meaningful to the child
– Teachers share information about the student’s abilities, and achievements and how the
student responds to instruction
– Parents provide information about the child’s home activities, resources, and supports,
and the child’s participation in contexts outside school
Analysis of Occupational Performance
■ Work samples
– Spelling lessons, mathematical problems, or stories
– Alignment, size, letter formation, legibility, and slant
– The use of non-letters may indicate a lack of motor skills or letter knowledge
■ File Review
– Past academic performance
■ Direct Observation
– Student’s organizational abilities, interactions with the teacher and peers, transitions
between activities, and overall performance of other school tasks
– School contextual features
– Teacher’s instruction
中文書寫測驗

■ 書寫表達診斷測驗
– 適用對象 : 國小一年級下學期至四年級上學期學生
– 測驗內容 : 　 1. 聽寫：藉由學生能否根據老師的唸讀寫出正確的國字，
來評量學生之詞彙認知與國字書寫能力。
　 2. 看字造詞：藉由學生能否運用正確的國字組成正確詞
彙，來評量學生詞彙理解能力。
　 3. 句子結合與造句：藉由學生依照題目規範之連結詞進
行語法合理的語句結合，來評量學生組織和形成思想的能
力；藉由學生能否應用適當文句和標點符號呈現想法，來
評量學生字彙運用與句子形成的能力。
　 4. 遠距抄寫：藉由遠距離的抄寫題目海報上的字，來評
量學生寫字能力及視覺記憶能力。
　 5. 近距抄寫：藉由近距離抄寫題本上的句子，來評量學
生寫字能力及視覺記憶能力。
中文書寫測驗

■ 基本讀寫字綜合測驗
– 適用對象 : 一年級至三年級或三年級以上有讀寫字困難的學生
– 測驗內容 :
1. 看詞選字：依詞彙裡的注音符號找出正確的字型。
　 2. 聽詞選字：由聽的提示中選出詞彙中的字。
　 3. 看注音寫國字：見注音和字義寫出字形的能力。
　 4. 聽寫測驗：評量學生由詞彙聽音寫出字形的能力。
　 5. 看字讀音測驗：評量學生在字形 - 字音連結的能力。
　 6. 看字造詞測驗：評量學生在字形 - 字義連結的能力。
　 7. 遠端抄寫：評量學生在不同抄寫情境中的能力表現。
※補充測驗
　包括近端抄寫與抄短文測驗，評量學生在不同抄寫情境中的能力表現。
中文書寫測驗

遠端抄寫
■ 抄寫測驗

近端抄寫 抄短文測驗
中文書寫易讀性評估

■ 易讀性評估
– 字跡的尺寸
– 偏轉角度
– 偏移距離
– 模板差異度 ( 整體結構的工整度 )
Measuring Handwriting Performance
Domains of Handwriting
■ Writing the alphabet in both uppercase and lowercase letters along with numbers
■ Copying
– The capacity to reproduce numerals, letters, and words from a similar script
model
– Near-point copying ( 近端抄寫 )
■ Producing letters or words from a nearby model
■ 看課本抄寫
– Far-point copying ( 遠端抄寫 )
■ Copying from a distant vertical display model
■ 看黑板抄寫聯絡簿
– 較近端抄寫多視覺空間轉換要求 (vertical to horizontal)
Domains of Handwriting

■ Manuscript-to-cursive transition
■ Writing dictated words, names, addresses, and telephone numbers
– 撰寫口述文字
– Auditory directions and a motoric response
■ Composition
– 造句、作文
Legibility ( 可讀性、易讀性 )
■ Letter formation, alignment, spacing, size, and slant
■ Letter formation may be the most critical element to determine legibility
– Improper letterforms
– Poor leading in and leading out of letters
– Inadequate rounding of letters
– Incomplete closures of letters
– Incorrect letter ascenders and descenders

https://doms.csu.edu.au/csu/file/832c364a-855c-4e39-aac5-1dc9a96fa8cf/1/Writing
%20Analysis%20Tool.zip/Writing%20Analysis%20Tool/index.html
Legibility ( 可讀性、易讀性 )

■ Legibility is determined
– Count the number of readable written letters or words and
dividing it by the total number of written letters or words in a
writing sample
– 75%-78% satisfactory handwriting legibility
■ Legibility score is consistent across grades one through four,
improving between fourth and sixth grade, maintain in middle
school
Writing Speed

■ Students with slow handwriting speed

– Take longer to complete written assignment
– Have difficulty taking notes in class
– Lose their train of ideas for writing
– Become frustrated
■ Handwriting speed increase gradually
Ergonomic factors

■ Typical sitting posture

■ Stability and mobility
– Ability to keep the shoulder girdle, elbow, and wrist stable
■ Pencil grip
■ Write with whole arm-movements
Predicting handwriting legibility in Taiwanese
elementary school children

■ Predictors of handwriting legibility

– visual–motor integration (VMI), visual perception (VP), eye–hand
coordination (EHC), and biomechanical characteristics of handwriting
■ Results
– Predictive factors of handwriting legibility varied in different age groups
■ VMI predicted handwriting legibility for first-grade students
■ EHC and Stroke force predicted handwriting legibility for second-
grade students
■ Kinematic factors such as stroke velocity were the only predictor for
children in fifth and sixth grades
Handwriting Intervention
Handwriting intervention

■ Remedial intervention approach

– Acquisitional and motor learning approach
– Sensorimotor intervention
– Cognitive intervention
■ Compensatory intervention approach
– Biomechanical approach
– Psychosocial approach
Instructional Approaches of Handwriting

■ Modeling
■ Tracing
■ Stimulus fading
■ Copying
■ Composing
■ Self-monitoring
Instructional Approaches of Handwriting

■ Acquiring new letterform

– Need visual and auditory cues
– Proceeds to copying letters and words from a model
– Writing letters and words from memory as they are dictated
– Generating words and sentences for practice
■ Children should be expected to assume responsibility for correcting his or her own work (self-
monitoring)
■ Older children might refer to a written checklist addressing spacing, size, alignment, letterforms, and
slant
■ Younger children may need to verbally evaluate letter formation and overall appearance aloud to the
service provider
Acquisitional and motor learning
approach
■ A complex motor skill
– Improved through practice, repetition, feedback, and
reinforcement
■ Teach children in a positive, interesting, and dynamic learning
environment
Acquisitional and motor learning
approach
■ Three phases of learning
– Cognitive
■ Attempting to understand the demands of the handwriting task
■ Develop a cognitive strategy for performing the necessary motor
movement
■ Visual control is important
■ Develop strategies for writing some of the easier manuscript
letters (o,l,t)
Acquisitional and motor learning
approach
■ Three phases of learning
– Associative
■ The child has learned the fundamentals of performing handwriting and continues to
adjust and refine the skill
■ Proprioceptive and kinesthetic feedback become important
– Autonomous phase
■ Perform handwriting automatically with minimal conscious attention
■ Children’s attention can be expended on other higher-order elements of writing or it
can be saved to alleviate fatigue
■ Repetition and practice
Acquisitional and motor learning
approach
■ Structured progression of introduction and teaching letter and numeral
forms
– Letters with common formational features are introduced as a family
( 口、日、目，木、森 )
– Introduce new letters and use them with mastered letters
– Write in a meaningful context
– Immediate reinforcement of writing words is more powerful and
purposeful for the child than writing strings of letters repeatedly
■ Self-monitoring
Sensorimotor intervention

■ Providing multisensory input through selected activities to reinforce learning

– Proprioceptive, tactile, visual, and auditory
– Writing tools
■ Felt-tip pens, crayons, paintbrushes, grease pencils or china markers
– Writing surfaces
■ Colored lines on the paper or paper with raised lines
– Positions
■ Upright orientation of the writing surface
– Lessen directional confusion of letter formation
Biomechanical approaches

■ Sitting Posture
– Feet planted firmly on the floor, providing support for postural shifts
and adjustments
– The table surface should be 2 inches above the flexed elbows
■ Experience both symmetry and stability
– Adjusting heights of desks and chairs, providing footrests for children,
adding seat cushions and inserts, or repositioning a child’s desk to face
the chalkboard in the classroom
Biomechanical approaches
■ Paper Position/Writing Surface
– Paper should be slanted on the desktop, parallel to the forearm of the
writing hand
■ Avoid smearing his or her writing
– Right-handed students
■ Slant the top of their paper approximately 25 to 30 degrees to the left with the paper
just right of the body’s midline
– Left-handed students
■ Slant of 30 to 35 degrees to the right and paper placement to the left of midline
■ Hooked pencil grasp lacking lateral wrist movements, slanting the paper to the left
is appropriate
Biomechanical approaches

■ Writing Surface
– Writing on slanted surface can improve the child’s pencil grasp
– The slant automatically positions the hand in wrist extension and tends to
angle the hand into some supination
■ Facilitates finger flexion and grasp
– The hand on a slanted surface is positioned closer to the eyes
■ Facilitate the eyes’ tracking of the hand’s movement
– Vertical or semi-vertical surface
■ Promote more upright posture
 Biomechanical approaches
■ Pencil Grip
– Ideal grip
■ Dynamic tripod with an open web space
– Make the longest flexion, extension, and rotary excursions with a pencil during handwriting
– Common grasp patterns
■ Lateral quadripod, dynamic quadripod, lateral tripod
– Modification of the pencil grip when
■ Experiences muscular tension and fatigue (writer’s cramp)
■ Demonstrates poor letter formation or writing speed
■ A tightly closed web space that limits controlled precision finger and thumb movements
■ Holds the pencil with too much pressure or exerts too much pencil point pressure on the paper
Biomechanical approaches

■ Pencil Grip
– Prosthetic devices
■ Stetro grips, triangular pencils, moldable grips, and the pencil grip may
facilitate tripod grasps
■ Wide-barreled pencil
– Hold a small eraser against the palm with the ulnar digits
– Holding the pencil shaft between the web space of the index and
middle fingers with thumb opposition
– The use of external supports
■ Microfoam surgical tape, ring splints, and neoprene splints
握筆輔具

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pdclass_id=C0003&pdclass2_id=&keyword=&page=17
Biomechanical approaches

■ Writing tools
– The diameter of a pencil does not have an effect on legibility of a
child’s handwriting when compared with the size of his or her hand
– The use of a wide primary pencil for beginning writers
■ The pervasive use of the primary pencil is probably not warranted for all
kindergarten children
Cognitive Interventions
■ Self-instruction and verbal mediation, strategies of imitation, practice, self-evaluation, and feedback
■ CO-OP (Cognitive Orientation to Occupational Performance)
– The child generate own solutions to resolve problematic aspects of task performance using a
combination of strategies
■ Goal-Plan-Do-Check
■ Students with cognitive limitation that affect attention
– Placing a black mat that is larger than the worksheet underneath it to increase high contrast
– Drawing lines to group materials
– Recognizing worksheets
■ Visual stimuli can be reduced
■ Practice of visual searching techniques
– Development search strategies and visual attention
Cognitive Interventions

■ Cueing the child to important visual information

– using a finger to point, a marker to underline
– Verbalization
■ Control distractibility, impulsivity, or tendency to lose track or to overfocus
– Attending to the whole before attending to parts
– Taking timeouts from a task
– Monitoring the tendency to become distracted
– Searching the whole scene before responding
■ Visual learner vs auditory learner
Psychosocial Approaches

■ Improving the students' self-control and coping skills

■ Create social contexts
■ Helps children value the act of handwriting and increases motivation to
produce good writing
■ Offering children choices, success, responsibility, and encouragement
within the natural setting
■ Peer evaluation
– 互相評分，把好看的字圈出來
書寫介入方案之發展與可行性研究：
以中文字特徵為基礎
■ 此研究分兩階段。
– 第一階段為方案發展，方案課程設計主要聚焦於視動整合技巧，及中文字內部件
空間關係之訓練。
■ 每個單元課程包含基本技巧訓練：視知覺、動作協調、視動整合以及寫字練習。
■ 依中文字型分為四大課程單元：左右、上下、二面包圍、三面及四面包圍型。除了幾
何圖樣亦結合「字」的元素：整字、部件、筆畫等作為練習元素。
– 第二階段為可行性研究，共招募 8 位就讀國小低年級一般班級孩童（一年級 3 位、
二年級 5 位）。
■ 結果
– 孩童皆認為此課程方案是有趣的，並有極高的動機與接受度。孩童及家長亦給予
正向的回饋。根據易讀性評估結果，此課程可增進孩童的書寫易讀性
Service Delivery

■ Children with disabilities have less instructional time with literacy

■ Children with limited potential improvement handwriting skills
– Compensatory strategies that allow the child with poor handwriting the greatest
opportunity for functional written communication
– Keyboarding, word prediction, adapting and reducing the amount of written
assignments, dictating assignments, and having study buddies to assist with written
expression
■ Consultation and training others to implement intervention
– Monitors, provides feedback, and adjusts techniques as needed
Service Delivery

■ User-friendly program
– Specific written and oral directions of the program
– A container, such as a basket, full of materials for the handwriting intervention program
– Data management sheets
– A system to provide reinforcement and rewards
■ Meaningful writing activities
– Write shopping lists in the kitchen center, create class books, survey peers about their
favorite ice cream and graph the results, write letters to peers and family