Children’s handwriting is not perfect, but it is cute and good in some respects, but “clean handwriting” is important. Even for adults, if a person’s handwriting is difficult to read, it can be a bit of a loss. That is why I would like to introduce to you how to teach your child how to write beautifully, as I believe it can be an asset for a lifetime.
(1) Use a pencil type appropriate for the child’s writing pressure.
The first step is to use a pencil that is appropriate for your child’s writing pressure. If you feel that your child’s writing is too thin or thin, use a pencil of 2B or higher as a standard. On the other hand, if you feel that the writing is thick, we recommend choosing a HB pencil. For preschoolers, you may use a 6B since their writing pressure is weak.
(2) Be aware of the correct way to hold a pencil.
Next, check to see if your child is really holding the pencil the right way. Continuing to write with the wrong way of holding the pencil will hinder the progress of writing. It is important to make sure your child masters the correct way to hold the pencil before he or she gets into bad habits.
・Hold the pencil lightly with your thumb, index and middle fingers.
・Hold the pencil in line with the index finger.
・The pencil should be tilted 60 degrees toward you and 20 degrees outward from the paper.
・Make sure the pencil does not fall forward.
・Make sure the thumb and middle finger are not sticking out.
You can also try using a pencil-holding supporter for pencils.
(3) write with a correct posture
Writing with a good posture is an extremely important part of sports, and is equivalent to posture and form. Writing with a hunched back puts extra strain on the shoulders and neck, and it is easy to lose concentration.
It is a good idea to teach children the habit of sitting with a straight back and correct posture in their daily lives. It has been said since ancient times that “correct posture changes the character.
(4) Write in the correct stroke order
Writing characters according to the correct stroke order makes it easier to write well-balanced and well-formed characters. In addition, the stroke order is often tested in Japanese language tests at school, so there is no harm in writing and remembering the correct stroke order.
(5) Practice one letter at a time
Anyway, it is important to practice each letter slowly and carefully. The most important factor that leads to messy handwriting is to write properly, using only your senses. Even adults, when they have to take notes quickly, inevitably scribble and their handwriting becomes messy.
The shortcut to good handwriting is to have a good understanding of the characteristics of the shape of each letter. And the important thing is to praise them a lot when they write carefully. By continuing to write letters little by little over time, you will naturally learn to write beautiful letters.
How to teach children to hate writing and how to solve this problem.
Even if you want to teach your child to write, it will be meaningless if he or she becomes unmotivated or dislikes it. Here we will introduce you to some teaching methods that you should not try that may discourage your child from writing.
Make corrections with a red pen.
When there are letters that you still cannot write well, you correct the mistakes with a red pen and fix them…. Even after rewriting in detail with a red pen, the child is not so excited, saying, “I made such a mistake. I’ll be careful not to get it corrected this time,” they say. In the case of many children, there is a high likelihood that they will look at you with disgust and lose interest in doing anything else after that.
Solution
Among the letters that are written incorrectly, choose the one that is the most beautifully written and circle it. Do not touch the letters that are incorrect, but look carefully at the ones that are done well and praise them by saying, “You wrote well and neatly,” and by specifically expressing the quality of the handwriting in your own words.
make someone use an eraser
When you write dirty letters, some people try to make you erase them with an eraser. and try to erase it with an eraser. If you scrub and erase as your child tells you to, you will end up with smudges and broken paper.
Writing on top of the erased paper is not as fun as writing on a blank piece of paper, and it is not as pleasant to write on. And writing on the erased paper is not as fun and pleasant as writing on a blank piece of paper.
Also, by making them erase their writing with an eraser, they are saying, “Your writing is wrong.” It can also be perceived as a total denial of what you have written.
Solution
If you want them to rewrite, have them write on a new page or frame. This will give them a chance to compare their handwriting with what they wrote just before, and they will be satisfied with their progress and motivated to compare it with their own, saying, “I wrote better than before.
Trace over the dotted line
There is a drill that traces over the dotted line. The dotted line is not a light gray dotted line, but a clear solid dotted line. It is very difficult, even for adults, to write exactly like the model below.
Even if the traced letters are beautiful, they may not match the model below and look double, resulting in an awkward appearance. Since children are not yet dexterous with their hands, they will probably write outside of the model. The result may be dirty letters, and as a result, the child may lose motivation to complete the work.
Solution
It seems that this can be alleviated by having the students write on a piece of tracing paper over the handbook or by choosing light gray lines for the handbook.
I’ll let you write until you get tired of it.
It is tempting to have children do a large amount of writing, thinking that they will get better at it if they do it in large quantities.
Solution
Finish when you feel like writing some more. You will improve little by little by practicing every day, so it is best to practice without strain.
Require speed
It is not enough to write as many letters as possible as quickly as possible. If you try to write quickly, you may end up with dirty handwriting, so it is important to write carefully and slowly so that your students can learn to write neatly.
Solution
While some subjects, such as calculation practice, may require a time limit, for young children who are just beginning to write, “quality over quantity” is the key.
