Learning how to handwrite will involve your child's critical thinking and motor skills. He may begin to practice writing as early as the age of 3, reports the KidsHealth website. Your child will first need to learn to write individual letters before being able to form words. The more you read to him, the easier learning to handwrite will become, since he will have visual familiarity with letters and words.
Step 1
Encourage your child from an early age to use crayons and colored pencils to draw shapes and scribbles, as this will make them feel familiar with the task when it is time to learn how to write the alphabet.
Step 2
Ask your child to practice geometric shapes on her drawing pad, such as circles, triangles, squares and crosses. These are the shapes that make up the letters of the alphabet.
Step 3
Improve your child's motor coordination skills by having her do exercises, such as skipping and hopping, to strengthen her eye's ability to work in cooperation with her body.
Step 4
Play with toy letters to get your child familiarized with the visual image of the letter he will want to replicate.
Step 5
Use lined paper to have your child practice writing the same letter over and over again. You should do the first line to give her a guideline to follow. Do this with all the letters in the alphabet, and then you can begin to do it with common combinations of letters, such as "re," "con" and "pr."
Step 6
Check for irregularities, such as reversed letters. The Child Development Institute recommends giving your child the opportunity to identify left and right in different parts of his body by playing games, such as Blind Man's Bluff, where you blindfold him and then lead him across a room telling him what turns to make and then letting him lead you.
Step 7
Communicate with your child's teacher to monitor your child's progress. Support and help him at home if he is experiencing any type of difficulty in his handwriting skills.
Tips and Warnings
- Make sure your child has a proper sitting posture when he is writing. At first, he may write with his back hunched over. This can generate back problems, if it is not addressed quickly.
- Consult your pediatrician if your child exhibits writing difficulties where he distorts letters, as this may be a sign of a neurological disorder called dysgraphia.
Things You'll Need
- Drawing pad
- Colored pencils and crayons
- Lined paper
- Pens and pencils
- Chalkboard
