Legibility and pencil pressure

Handwriting skills, legibility, fluidity and strategies (video)

This is video 4 in a 6-part series.

Handwriting skills

What you will learn

In this video, you will learn about:

• tips for helping with handwriting difficulties
• joined-up writing
• how to help if your child presses too hard or too lightly

Writing for clarity and ease

To write with ease and speed, it is important for your child to:

• practise
• have good posture
• be motivated to learn

If your child forms letters quickly or without paying attention, they may be hard to read. For example, a ‘d’ might look like a ‘c’, and an 'l' close together.

This can make joined-up writing difficult, because your child isn’t ready to join letters confidently

Tips for handwriting difficulties

There are strategies you can try to help with handwriting difficulties.

Letters not on the line

If you notice that your child has difficulty with setting their letters on the line, try using:

• visual cues on the page to mark borders and lines for letter placement
• paper with raised lines
• paper with thick lines

Paper such as a printed page template called 'ground-grass-sky' can also be useful. This can help your child to visualise where letters sit on the page. The coloured lines show the top, middle, and bottom spaces for tall, mid-sized, and low letters. You can get free versions of ground-grass-sky online that you can print at home.

Sizing

If you notice the sizing of their writing is not right, try using:

• paper with thicker borders
• paper that has grids (such as maths paper) to give more support on how big their writing could be
• ground-grass-sky (colour-coded paper)

Spacing letters

If you notice your child has difficulty with spacing their words or letters correctly, you could use:

• a lollipop stick as a visual spacer - put it on the page where your child should leave a gap between words or letters
• their finger or a finger spacer - have your child put a finger between words to guide the space they need to leave
• verbal prompts - gently remind your child to leave a space between words or letters

Writing letters backwards

If you notice your child is writing letters backwards, consider:

• spending more time practising pre-writing skills
• using a multi-sensory approach - this means letting your child feel and learn letters with different senses. For example writing letters in sand or shaving foam
• asking them to look at letters before writing them and using rhymes to remember the shapes

Ease of writing

If you notice your child does not write with ease or they write slowly, consider:

• writing on different textures - for example, it is faster to write on a whiteboard than on paper
• using patterns to form letters
• doing a course, such as the Speed Up programme to help improve joined-up writing

Joined-up writing (cursive)

Cursive is the type of joined-up writing children learn in school.

Your child needs to be able to form letters right to achieve correct joins. For example, if you finish an 'o' at the bottom, you will join it up from the bottom. That creates something that's closer to an 'a' than an 'o'.

If joined-up writing is a challenge

If joined-up writing is a challenge for your child but they are good at print writing, continue print writing.

Try digital handwriting software or apps on a tablet or whiteboard. They have activities that show letters and joins in different colours or animation.

They let a child trace and help them see how a letter is formed and how joins are made. These tools are helpful when you use them with real writing practice and support from you.

Other concerns

You may have other concerns, such as your child:

• is not keeping the paper steady
• has difficulty copying letters
• has difficulty with slanted or sloping writing

Stabilising the paper

If your child struggles to keep the paper steady, try using a visual cue. This could be a hand outline showing where to place their hand.

You can also use gentle verbal reminders to hold the paper while writing. Ask, rather than tell: 'what is the helping hand doing?'

Difficulty copying

If they have difficulty copying from the board in school, check:

• their position in the class - they should be directly in front of the board
• the colour of the writing on the board
• if there are shapes or cues down the side of the board to help them copy

Consider using a sheet on the desk to help them figure out where to copy if they're copying from a book or another sheet.

They may need to develop their ability to make sense of what they see.

You can help them with this by doing different games and activities like paint by numbers or 'Where's Wally?'

Sloping or leaning letters

If your child’s letters lean or look lop-sided, try a slightly slanted writing surface. This can improve posture, hand position, and control.

You can also use a visual cue at the end of the line to guide their writing direction.

Writing pressure

You may notice that your child applies too much or too little pressure when they write.

To explore with them how much pressure they could apply, your child could try to:

• use an angled writing surface to support posture and reduce writing pressure
• write over sandpaper to feel and control how hard they press
• write on carbon‑paper to visualise how different pressure results in lighter or darker letters
• listen to verbal reminders like “soft touch” or “lighter” to guide their writing pressure

Pencil pressure strategies

A mechanical pencil can be useful to help with pencil pressure.

If you apply too much pressure while using one, it will snap. This creates instant feedback for your child about how much pressure to apply.

Signs of too much pressure

Signs that your child is applying too much pressure include:

• holes or rips in the paper
• the tip of the pencil breaks a lot
• a very deep indent in the paper
• complaints of pain or tiredness in their wrist, hands or fingers
• their fingers are overstretched
• whiteness of the tips of their fingers

Activities to help reduce pressure

To help ease the pressure your child applies while writing:

• play games where pressure is placed through the upper limbs - crawling games, wheelbarrow races, press-ups, animal walks
• use a lighter pen as it gives a visual cue when they're applying enough pressure
• try a soft‑lead pencil (B or 2B) - softer leads make marks more easily, so children who press hard may reduce the pressure with better feedback from the pen
• use carbon paper to highlight how hard your child is pressing
• use an upside down mouse mat - a hole will form in the paper much quicker if your child presses too hard

If the pressure is too light

If you notice that your child is writing with a very light pressure try:

• using weighted wristbands - they'll provide extra sensory feedback to the wrist area
• completing proprioceptive activities to give them that feedback
• using softer leaded pencils, such as a 2B, so that the writing appears darker