Kinetic Letters making handwriting easy for everyone

EYFS Physical Development ELG 04 - Moving and Handling •  Children show good control and coordination in large and small movements. •  They move confidently in a range of ways, safely negotiating space. •  They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.

Year 1 Pupils should be taught to: • sit correctly at a table, holding a pencil comfortably and correctly • begin to form lower-case letters in the correct direction, starting and finishing in the right place • form capital letters • form digits 0-9 • understand which letters belong to which handwriting ‘families’ • (ie letters that are formed in similar ways) and to practise these

The National Curriculum Programme of Study sets out the following guidance for handwriting;

Year 2 Pupils should be taught to: • form lower-case letters of the correct size relative to one another • start using some of the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters •  and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined • write capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to • one another and to lower-case letters • use spacing between words that reflects the size of the letters

Year 3 and 4 Pupils should be taught to: •  understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined •  increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting, ( for example, by ensuring that the downstrokes of letters are parallel and equidistant, and that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that the ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch]

Year 5 and 6 Pupils should be taught to: • write legibly, fluently and with increasing speed by: • choosing which shape of a letter to use when given choices and deciding whether or not to join specific letters • choosing the writing implement that is best suited for a task

By it’s very nature, handwriting is a complex skill, demanding a unique combination of cognitive and physical skill. We recognise that without the necessary physical skills and hand-eye coordination, it is difficult to learn to write easily. We have chosen to implement the Kinetic Letters Handwriting scheme as it addresses both the physical and cognitive demands of learning to write. The programme builds children’s strength, through specific activities and working positions, at the same time developing brains through multi- sensory experiences.

Handwriting – Skills and challenges

Automaticity By acquiring the skills required for handwriting in a multi-sensory way, the very act of handwriting can become automatic, thus freeing up the attention of the brain so that it can focus on content and creativity. Automaticity allows children’s writing to become fast, fluent and legible and supports progress across the whole curriculum. Hence children can enjoy and concentrate on creating the content of their writing rather than be dominated by the physical demands of writing.

Year 2 child’s writing before Kinetic Letters teaching 3 months

later!

Key Principles

•  Physical strength underpins handwriting, as poor handwriting may be the result of poor strength.

•  Children are not expected to do anything before they are developmentally

read for it.

•  Letters are learnt as movements not as visual shapes and movement remains

central to developing flow and fluency.

•  Handwriting is made easier using a pen and white board. •  Lying on the floor to write enables the hand to be held in the correct position

for writing.

Sensory feedback, ‘feeling’ the letter shape in a sand tray

Strong Bodies-Pelvic Girdle Strength Why is this important for handwriting? A strong Pelvic Girdle enables children to sit still and concentrate without wriggling! How is this can be achieved •  Lie on the floor to read and write-teach children that this makes bodies strong

(develop a strong core)

•  Physical activities to develop balance: climbing, jumping, hopping, skipping –outdoor play

•  Balancing games such as musical statues, ‘Simon Says’

•  Kneeling and crawling.

Sitting and Laying positions

Lying Lizard Tall Penguin Stone Lion

Strong Gorilla Meercat

Shoulder Girdle Strength Why is this important for handwriting? This enables the hand to hold the pencil correctly and write well.

Activities

•  Working positions for reading and writing- Strong Lion

•  Meercat kneeling position

•  The plank position- practised regularly as part of Kinetic letters sessions

•  Kneeling and crawling , throwing and catching in kneeling position

•  Pulling and pushing on monkey bars.

chair push ups the plank

Hand and Finger Strength Why is this important? The hand has muscles that need strengthening in order to enable dexterity and strength Both of these functions are required in order to write legibly and at speed without physical discomfort. Some activities to help achieve letter strength •  Crawling games-strengthen the muscles in the hand as the weight is transferred from one side of the palm to the other. •  Threading, using tweezers to pick up small objects •  Squeezing objects e.g. playdough •  Coin holding in palm with writing fingers free •  ‘Finger warm-ups’ - wriggling, finger rhymes, pegging items together

Move it, say it, write it,!

•  Movement of the whole body, arm or hand underpin all stages of the letter shapes.

•  Letters are learnt with the ‘Move it, Say it, Write it’ approach.

•  Letter writing is practised on a non permanent form (white boards and pens)

Characters- Brave Monkey and Scared Monkey

•  Letter shapes are learnt as movements without a writing tool

All letters start either on Brave Monkey or Scared Monkeys branch (with the exception of ‘e’) All letters “jump’ from a branch, they never come up backwards from the bump line.

Letter Trails Letter trails is the name for the imagined ‘marks’ left in the air when children mimic the Monkeys from the stories. They make the letter moves in the air and, just as an aeroplane leaves a vapour trail in the air following the movements, they leave an imaginary vapour trail behind. The Letter Trails teaching strategy is known as ‘Move it, Say it, Write it’. Step 1-Letter Trails are taught as whole body movements with the hand holding a Trail Maker Step 2 -Letter Trails are practised with the finger in shallow sand tray Step 3-Letter trails are practised with a pen on a white board.

Try making trails with scarves pom poms

magic wands squeezy bottles/ water

•  Learning the Letters •  Six physical movements are learnt for writing letters •  Large scale movements are integrated with small letters •  Letters are learnt in groups according to their movements •  Letters are taught in a progressive order •  The writing tools for handwriting sessions are always pens and whiteboards

Letter Heights – The Brave Monkey and the Scared Monkey Unless letters are the correct height, children cannot read their own work back nor have it read by others. Children are introduced to the two monkeys through the ‘Jumper Family’ story in which children learn the following letters: h, b, r, n, m. Throughout the programme the other Letter Family stories are introduced.

Holding the pencil

•  Point pencil at stomach. •  Use your thumb and forefinger (holding fingers) to “pinch” the pencil just above the lead •  Tip the pencil back and it across the hand •  Put the pillow finger (middle finger underneath. •  The remaining two finger (our ‘resting fingers’) rest on the •  writing surface Pencil checks

•  Are the holding fingers level with each other? •  Is there a little bit of colour between the holding fingers? •  Is the pillow finger underneath? •  Is the pencil laying across the hand?

Joining Key Principles

The expectation for children to begin joining letters is towards the end of Year 2.

However, children are taught to add a ‘flick’ to letters at the very beginning.

Children in Key Stage 2 work through systematically through a set of joining practise charts and learn which letters to leave unjoined.

Children need to ‘snuggle’ the letters in words closley together before they can begin to join.