Seven Ways to Help with Handwriting

Kids aren't able to write well until they have developed good fine-motor skills. These skills improve easily with lots of practice, so it's important to encourage your child partake in activities that tax their fine-motor skill. The following activities can help your young child develop the precision, balance, and hand-eye coordination that are needed to perform the fine-motor skills used in handwriting, so they can subsequently have success in home school language arts: * Give your child clay or play-dough to play with to strengthen the major muscles used in handwriting * Encourage her to play with Legos, miniature cars, small blocks, action figures, and other small toys * Do puzzles with your child * Provide creative art projects that involve using crayons, marking pens, scissors, and finger paints, as well as tearing paper * Play games with your child that involve the handling of cards and small game pieces * Ask your child to sort collections of loose coins into stacks of pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters