How can you help to improve your 6 year olds writing?

Answer 1

A 6-year-old has not usually had a lot of practice using writing tools, and practice is the main way to improve. Drawing will also help. Writing uses very fine hand-eye coordination and this will take time and practice to develop.

Look for easy drawing tasks for your child to start with, such as tracing simple large shapes. Move on to smaller and more complex shapes once these are easily drawn. Make the exercises enjoyable by choosing objects that are interesting to your child: simple drawings of cars, people and animals can be used to tell their own stories.

Make sure your child is holding the pen or pencil in a way that allows fine control. This allows them to use the fingers rather than the arm. Check they are not tensely gripping the pen or pencil and that the pencil or pen is a comfortable shape and size for them to hold.

Once they have good control, encourage them to practice making their shapes, lines and letters in an even size. You could turn this into a story as well, for example how long a centipede can they draw with even joined circles for the body and even parallel lines for legs.

Other things that will help are giving them time and no distractions while writing and drawing so that they can concentrate.

A flat smooth surface to work on while practising is helpful. It is hard to be neat when your arm is at an awkward angle, because the table is too high, for example. Some cushions on a chair may help if this is a problem.