PHOENIX - In a time when children are communicating more often on the computer using a keyboard or the keypad of a cell phone, some teachers in the Phoenix area are going back to basics.
They're getting their students to develop proper handwriting skills early using unique techniques to help them succeed later in school.
Techniques such as using Play-Doh to shape letters and learning to form a letter always starting from the top are part of the Handwriting Without Tears curriculum, designed for students in kindergarten through fifth grade.
Katie Walhstrom, a developmental preschool teacher at Terramar Elementary School in Peoria, has used the program for three years. Even in a world where communication is dominated by technology, she believes handwriting is a crucial skill.
"People still have to sign their name," Walhstrom said.
People are also reading…
She also wants to give her preschoolers a strong foundation of handwriting skills to prepare them for first and second grade.
Handwriting Without Tears is a step away from the tradition of repetitious rewriting of the same letter. The program incorporates songs and hands-on activities to help children learn how to form and identify letters and to remember the correct way to write them.
Suzanne Baruch, an occupational therapist with Handwriting Without Tears, said the benefits of neat and proper handwriting extend into elementary and high school.
"If a teacher is having difficulty reading a student's assignment because of his handwriting, his grades will suffer," Baruch said.
Kids without handwriting instruction may learn how to hold a pencil incorrectly, which also can lead to illegible handwriting.
"We want children to avoid writing with their pencil in a full-hand grip because a pencil is a tool in the hand," Baruch said.
The Handwriting Without Tears curriculum addresses how to properly grip a pencil by giving students small pencils to practice with.
The standard pencil grip uses three fingers for holding the pencil. The pencil rests on the side of the middle finger, index finger pointing to the tip of the pencil and thumb bent.
Proper handwriting is not only important at the grade-school level, but at the high-school level. The SAT, a test typically taken by college-bound high school students, requires test takers to hand-write an essay in 25 minutes.
Students can lose valuable test points if graders can't read the essay because of poor handwriting, Baruch said. Students may also have difficulty writing quickly.
