Pop, Hop & Rock™: Ilyse, children need to start somewhere when they begin working on writing skills. What does that look like?
Ilyse: Before a child can start to write comfortably, he/she must have the foundation of good core strength, proximal stability and the ability to coordinate the use of both hands together. He must be able to spontaneously cross mid-line, hold a pencil correctly and have a good sense of directionality. For some children these skills develop naturally, but other children need a little more attention in some of these areas.
PHR: So movement is key to building that foundation! Must be why you and I get along so well! What are some of your favorite ways to get kids moving to build these strengths and skills?
IC: Windmills are a great exercise to practice and strengthen many writing skills: In this exercise children start with arms up over head and legs apart. They must then touch their right hand to their opposite foot and come back up. We then switch and touch our left hand to our right foot. This simple exercise is difficult for a lot of children today. To make it easier, I like to provide a visual cue to help orient the children like a sticker on a hand or foot. I tell children to “raise your hand with the sticker and touch your foot with the sticker”. Even with these cues, it is still difficult for some children to touch their opposite foot. These exercises are great for working on core strength, but they also address crossing mid-line. It is the crossing mid-line piece that is difficult for some kids a this age. Try it with your child at home and see how he/she does.
PHR: Awesome! Do you have another?
IC: How about just crawling and a little bit of bird dog/spinal balance? It is interesting to note that for some children crawling, even on a rug, is uncomfortable. Once on hands and knees try having children raise one hand, put it down and then raise one leg. Then try one hand and the opposite leg at the same time. Remind kids to keep their backs flat like a table. This is a great exercise for working on core strength and proximal stability at the shoulders and hips. That shoulder strength is imperative when learning to write. If I see a child with poor fine motor skills, the first thing I look at is proximal strength and core strength. At home you can make a game out of crawling. Have the kids clean up the playroom on hands and knees, put away legos on hands and knees or have races.
PHR: I bet building this strength will make crawling less uncomfortable and more fun. You know I love these ideas…Gross motor work and big physical play is my jam! But when it comes to writing you have to know your letters. Should preschool aged children know their letters?
IC: Preschoolers sometimes need help recognizing letters and that is completely normal. I love using sticks, toothpicks, pretzels, etc. to form letters. You can make a letter then see if your child can imitate it. Next see if he/she can do it without the visual cue. If your child is still struggling with recognizing letters, try to work on this throughout the day. Point to letters on cereal boxes and signs, do matching games with letters, do letter puzzles and write letters in the dirt or sand outside.
PHR: Any last tips?
IC: I love to use yoga when working with children and a lot of our pre-activity stretches are typical yoga stretches. If you haven’t already tried yoga with your children, look into it. There are lots of dvd’s at the library and youtube videos that demonstrate yoga for kids.
PHR: If you have not yet met Ilyse you are missing out on a deep well of knowledge and a knack for working with children! We are super excited that she is going to join us again to share more on helping kids master writing skills and she has promised to include fine motor skill activities in the next conversation. Check back with us in future emails. Thanks Ilyse for shining some fun light on the strengths and skills needed for writing success.
Ilyse Canfield, The Write OT, has been an occupational therapist for two decades and has worked with people of all ages, but her favorite population to work with is children. Ilyse started her company, The Write OT, so she could focus specifically on helping children work on fine motor, pre-writing and handwriting skills. Ilyse lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband and two children.
