Description
Handwriting in the secondary school … not a secondary skill.
It is often when the pressures of exams and course work accelerate in the secondary school that it becomes apparent that some pupils do not have the necessary skills to cope effectively. This publication is written for teachers and others working with secondary age students and suggests strategies to assist.
ISBN: 1 872832 89 X
Reviews below:
“This helpful book from the Handwriting Interest Group brings our attention to the sometimes-neglected skills of handwriting. Children enter secondary school with a wide variation in their competence and ability to produce good clear writing at a reasonable speed. Secondary teachers often tend to assume this area will have been well covered in the primary years; unfortunately this is not always the case.
Those entering secondary school with poor handwriting skills are going to be at an immediate disadvantage, finding this affects their work across the curriculum. Poor handwriting slows progress, reduces the volume and content of work and can also make a piece of work unreadable and hinder spelling. Often teachers have been so busy with reading and spelling that handwriting gets missed both in the classroom and in the SpLD profile of a person. The book looks at the causes of this, how to identify those who need help, and how they can be supported. There is a good section on classroom tips followed by tips on keyboarding for those with more severe difficulties who need to use a laptop. Practical suggestions for posture, using writing slopes, pencils grips and other aids are also mentioned. This publication will be useful for anyone working with children, with SpLDs and parents. The underlying frustrations of handwriting difficulties for an individual should not be underestimated nor indeed the range of problems they can cause.” Sophie Irwin, SpLDs Tutor & Disability Awareness Trainer
“The book is clear and concise and guides the reader through the introduction to the complex facets of handwriting and the types and causes of problems, and gives ideas on how to identify problems and tips on how to help. It reminds the reader that handwriting skills take time to perfect and that rules need to be taught in a well structured way. In this way it reinforces the notion that difficulties with handwriting can be the result of either a within-child problem (such as poor motor control) or a problem within the education system and the experience that a child has had in relation to writing. Another useful distinction drawn is the different modes of writing used in school, the fast note-taking mode and the better quality more formal mode for the presentation of assignments, requiring different skills.” Vicky McQuillian, a Lecturer in OT at The University of Liverpool, in the British Association of Occupational Therapy Journal
