Handwriting and Learning Styles

In the old days, if a child’s handwriting was messy or hard to decipher, the problem was seen as the child's sloppiness or lack of attention to detail. Today, we know that the cause could be one or more of the following:
· undeveloped fine or super-fine motor skills
· vision problems
· behavioural issues
· dysgraphia (inappropriately sized and spaced letters, illegible writing when copying text or when creating their own text, mixture of upper/lower case letters)
· dyspraxia
· non-visual non-tactile learning style.

(Follow this link to find out more about learning styles.)

While most schools teach handwriting in the first few years of primary education, it is often not considered a priority, particularly in today’s world of computers, mobile phones, palm tops, etc. However, there are some who beg to differ. Says a teacher: “Sloppy handwriting is just another symptom of a pervasive disregard in our educational system for matters of form.” Says another: “A doctor’s sloppy handwriting can kill a patient.”

What is your view? Is handwriting important? Please take a few moments of your time to write a comment on this post.

For tips on how to improve your child’s handwriting, have a look here:
· Basic handwriting for kids

For tips how to set up the optimal environment in which to teach your child handwriting or other skills, analyse their learning style here:
· Analyse your child’s learning style