Is a pencil grip really that important?
Does it matter if a child doesn’t hold their pencil correctly?
The answer is ‘yes’
Handwriting is still a very important skill that impacts your child’s success at school. It takes time to develop a good pencil grip. Let’s hear what our Occupational Therapists in our Bondi Junction clinic have to say about handwriting and pencil grip.
When children learn to hold their pencil properly while they’re young, their handwriting will be efficient, effortless and they can write for a longer period of time. If children have the wrong pencil grip when they start school, and it isn’t corrected quickly, then it is much harder to correct as they get older.
Students in our clinic come for Occupational Therapy because of the following handwriting issues:
- Pain in the hands when writing
- Difficulty keeping up in class because their handwriting is slow
- Difficulty completing homework and assignments because of fatigue in their hands
- Slow handwriting during exams, that leads to poorer marks, because the exam was not finished
The best pencil grip is the dynamic tripod grip. When children have learned to use this grip their handwriting will become effortless. The dynamic tripod grip develops over time as young children begin to colour and draw. Young children need postural strength, shoulder stability, wrist and finger strength before they can use a dynamic tripod grip.
What should you do if handwriting is poor?
If your child is struggling with handwriting, or needs more help developing their pencil grip, speak to the Occupational Therapists in our Bondi Junction clinic. If they recommend an Occupational Therapy assessment, they will be able to tell you why handwriting is challenging for your child. Our Occupational Therapists can work with your child so that they can write clearly and easily. OneOnOne Children’s Therapy can be contacted on (02) 80657837, or email us.
