Handwriting skills are an important developmental task and activity for kids. Through handwriting, children at Shri Agashtiyaa – A Structured Preschool, will be able to express themselves and communicate with the world around them. Improving their penmanship, legibility, pencil grasp, and working on problem areas are all important things that need to be addressed at the very early stages.
The first step in learning about handwriting skills is to understand the importance of fine motor development and how pencil grasp develops.
Fine motor skills can also be described as dexterity and involves the coordination of small muscles and movements of the hands, fingers, and eyes. Fine motor skills development starts with basic grasps like the palmar grasp and then the pincer grasp and eye-hand coordination. A very common issue that many parents notice with their children handwriting is an incorrect pencil grasp.
Pencil Grasp Development is another important skill that needs to be addressed for every child. There are two types of pencil grasps that are considered efficient for handwriting; the tripod and the quadruped grasp. Proper pencil grasp development for writing starts a lot earlier than you think in children. From the time your child starts grasping for objects with their hands, they are developing pencil grasp.
In order for mastery in handwriting you need gross motor skills, fine motor skills and visual motor skills to be integrated.