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Early Childhood Handwriting Resource Guide-2

overview
 early childhood handwriting resource guide

The Early Childhood Handwriting Resource Guide is a collaborative work between general and special education early childhood teachers, occupational therapists, the Office of Early Childhood Programs, and the Office of Early Intervention Services. This guide is intended as a resource, not a program, and is to be used at a team’s discretion to determine the best way to instruct handwriting that meets the needs of students.

Purpose

The purpose of the resource guide is to:

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  • provide a resource for research-based differentiated handwriting instruction that takes into account the developmental continuum for prekindergarten- and kindergarten-aged students;
  • link handwriting instruction to Maryland Early Learning Progressions and Maryland’s College and Career-Ready English Language Arts Standards for Prekindergarten and Kindergarten;
  • provide basic screening tools to assess handwriting readiness;
  • provide developmentally appropriate activities for a variety of settings in order to develop fine motor skills and promote handwriting readiness and success;
  • provide a guide for proper letter formation using manuscript letters; and,
  • inform teachers and other stakeholders of the proper motor skills necessary for writing (i.e. grip/ posture).

Prerequisite Skills

Foundational skills needed for handwriting instruction include:

  • cognitive skills at approximately four to five year old level;
  • visual perceptual motor skills at approximately four to five year old level;
  • adequate fine motor skills;
  • adequate hand strength;
  • good posture; and,
  • functional grasp

(Kindergarten Curriculum Objectives

Maryland’s College and Career-Ready Standards, English Language Arts

  • W.K.1, W.K.2, W.K.3: use a combination of drawing, dictating, or developmentally appropriate writing to:
    • compose opinion pieces;
    • compose informative/explanatory text; or,
    • narrate a single event.
  • L.K.1.a: print many upper and lower case letters.
  • L.K.2.e: produce handwriting that is legible to the audience.

cc_by_nc_sa This course content is offered under a  CC Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike Links to an external site. license. Content in this course can be considered under this license unless otherwise noted.