How to Teach a Child to Hold a Pencil
I recently attended a kindergarten orientation meeting where, to my relief, the principal said that there are only two things that parents need to do to get their child ready for school:
1) Keep reading to your child.
2) Make sure they hold the pencil well.
# 2 surprised people – the pen of a pencil is not what many adults think of. But misunderstandings can go a long way. This means that the child does not use the arm muscles effectively and therefore may tire quickly, complain of pain in the arm or hand, or perform indiscriminate work. And problems can persist into adulthood. The sooner you can fix any problems, the better.
From the start, children should develop fine motor skills – digging their fingers in the sand, sculpting plasticine sculptures, ripping pieces of paper and zipping them up – so that they have the muscles they need to successfully use a pencil. (In case you’re wondering, ” dynamic tripod grip ” is ideal hold – the pencil is held between the tips of the thumb and index finger as it rests on the middle finger.)
If your child finds it difficult to hold a pencil correctly, parents, teachers, and occupational therapists have recommended several techniques that may be helpful:
1) Sock method
Cut two holes in the toe of the sock. Have your child put their writing hand in their sock with their index finger in one hole and their thumb in the other. Here is Sarah McClure’svideo from Happy Brown House blog.
2) Pinch and flip method
Have your child grasp the pointed end of the pencil and rotate it until it is in the correct writing position.
3) Crumpled cloth method
Place the crumpled napkin between the child’s palm and the last two fingers and have them hold it there. This helps keep extra fingers out of the way when they write.