How important is holding a pencil correctly?

[10Newtons]

My patience is at an all time low...probably because I am due any day and beyond crabby.

 

My SN kid is also my most difficult personality wise. She just IS.

 

She is almost 10 and we have been working with holding our pencil correctly for a LONG time...she just can't seem to remember. So I bought some pencil grips...and she threw a FIT. Just one more way for me to signal her out from her siblings and be mean to her.:glare:

 

I'm done! Can I just let it go? How important is holding her pencil right???

[Skadi]

The teachers at my public school let me get away with it, and I still don't pens or pencils correctly. The major disadvantage is that it is difficult for me to write for long periods of time without my hand cramping up, and I think I also tend to bear down on the paper more than is necessary. Since 90% of my writing is done on the computer (I'm about to publish my first novel), this isn't too much of a problem for me.

 

So yes, you can let it go. Do I wish that someone had forced me to change my grip while there was still time for me to learn to do it differently? Absolutely. But do I feel held back because no one did? Nope.

[kokotg]

My almost eight year old has a very funky grip, and nothing I do seems to change it. This is back when he was 4, but it's pretty much the same now:

 

 

I eventually stopped worrying (much) about it, largely because my SIL (my husband's sister) saw the picture and told me that his grip looks very similar to hers. She told me that teachers tried for years to change it, but she always went back to holding pencils the same way, and has never understood why anyone cared. So, you know, maybe it's genetic! It was tough for me to judge whether it was affecting his writing adversely, because my older DS was Mr. Fine Motor Skills and could write as fast and as neatly as I can by the time he was 5. DS7 still writes fairly slowly (but he's getting faster)....but he writes very legibly, doesn't complain about the amount of writing required in WWE 2...and anyway he does pretty much everything slowly ;). I probably will have him learn to type sooner than I otherwise would, but other than that I don't fret much about it.

Edited March 22, 2011 by kokotg

[10Newtons]

I guess I should say too that her handwriting is fine...both print and cursive, so the grip doesn't seem to be affecting that.

 

Maybe this is one battle I should just choose not to fight....

[momma aimee]

if her handwritting is fine nd she can write as long as she needs -- i'd leave.

 

or you can get all teh kids grips in differnt colors and then you are not singleing her out.

[justamouse]

ugh, that's hard.

 

I really do understand, I have one that had a pretty strange grip. It took a *long* time to correct it, which I put the effort into because she would end up cramping and not being able to write a page without discomfort.

 

How about modifying it?

 

It's hard because we don't really realize that how they hold a crayon when they are babies will hinder how they hold a pencil later on. Once that grip is comfortable, it's a very hard thing to undo.

[Dobela]

I was just talking to my dd's OT about this today. She said that for older kids she just lets grip go now. As long as the writing is legible and the child is not complaining of fatigue or other problems, she doesn't address it. Especially since many of the schools in our area are introducing keyboarding at around 5th grade for all kids, grip is not as important as it once was.

[Critterfixer]

If it isn't broken, don't fix it.:001_smile:

[teachmejoy]

I held my pencil wrong until my 20's and then I changed it. I went through a course that showed the research on the correct pencil grip. We have more nerve endings in the ends of the first 2 fingers and when we hold the pencil correctly it basically allows our brain to work more efficiently while we're writing. There was more research findings (try checking it with the National Institute of Learning Disabilities) but I can't remember them all off hand. I changed my pencil grip when I started making the kids in my classroom hold theirs correctly. It really did make a difference on their handwriting.

[merry gardens]

I held my pencil wrong until my 20's and then I changed it. I went through a course that showed the research on the correct pencil grip. We have more nerve endings in the ends of the first 2 fingers and when we hold the pencil correctly it basically allows our brain to work more efficiently while we're writing. There was more research findings (try checking it with the National Institute of Learning Disabilities) but I can't remember them all off hand. I changed my pencil grip when I started making the kids in my classroom hold theirs correctly. It really did make a difference on their handwriting.

I'm glad you wrote that. I read the proper grip was important from the standpoint of fine motor control and muscles, but I don't recall any mention the brain and nerve endings in the fingers. Interesting. I wonder if there's any research that shows which comes first--nerve endings or proper grip? I have several children and my children that had the hardest time with the proper grip also seem most prone to dyslexia.

 

About the only thing I accomplished during my now 9 yo ds kindergarten year was that I (mostly) corrected his pencil grip. Every single day, multiple times a day, I showed him how to hold a pencil. The next year, I bought pencil grips. I still had to remind him, but he could do it. I'm going through this again with my five year old, (who also shows some of the early signs of dyslexia.) If she picks up a writing instrument that doesn't have a grip or some triangle-ish shape, she'll hold it with an odd grip. She started with a fist-grip similar to in the picture posted above. Now her grip looks at closer to normal-just one extra finger, and she quickly corrects it when asked.

 

This year handwriting has been a major focus that I've worked on with my children. While my 9yo ds's grip is fine now, I've had to continue working with him in other areas to improve his writing. A perfect grip doesn't guarantee beautiful writing, but just about everything that I have read about handwriting mentions the need for a proper grip. My son's writing may not be beautiful, but it is legible. I suspect that without the proper grip and the unusally large amount of work we have put into this, he'd have dysgraphia.

Edited March 23, 2011 by merry gardens

[momma aimee]

i have asked our OT about either of these for our son:

 

http://store.schoolspecialtyonline.net/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=85599&minisite=10206

 

or

 

http://store.schoolspecialtyonline.net/OA_HTML/ibeCCtpItmDspRte.jsp?item=239038&minisite=10206

 

I'd say most kids'd be ok if you got that first one for them

[SweetMissMagnolia]

for the longest time,my son held his pencil in like a death grip--I've tried holding his hand in the correct position and then letting him try doing it and he always goes back to what's comfortable to him--he's just now recently ON HIS OWN started to try holding the pencil like I've showed him....

[UmMusa]

My almost eight year old has a very funky grip, and nothing I do seems to change it. This is back when he was 4, but it's pretty much the same now:

 

 

I eventually stopped worrying (much) about it, largely because my SIL (my husband's sister) saw the picture and told me that his grip looks very similar to hers. She told me that teachers tried for years to change it, but she always went back to holding pencils the same way, and has never understood why anyone cared. So, you know, maybe it's genetic! It was tough for me to judge whether it was affecting his writing adversely, because my older DS was Mr. Fine Motor Skills and could write as fast and as neatly as I can by the time he was 5. DS7 still writes fairly slowly (but he's getting faster)....but he writes very legibly, doesn't complain about the amount of writing required in WWE 2...and anyway he does pretty much everything slowly ;). I probably will have him learn to type sooner than I otherwise would, but other than that I don't fret much about it.

My DD8's grip looks almost identical to this!!! I keep trying to change it but she just won't. Her handwriting is fine. I also don't know if it's worth fighting about or just letting go. Glad to know she's not the only one.

[Shellers]

My 15 year old daughter has always held her pencil, fork, and spoon funny. Her 1st grade teacher made a HUGE deal about it. I told the teacher to let my daughter hold her pencil the way she's comfortable holding it. The teacher acted like an improper pencil grip would haunt my daughter her whole life.

 

9 years later, my daughter hasn't had any problems because of her pencil grip. Her printing and cursive are beautiful.

[LinRTX]

My 25yo still doesn't hold a pencil correctly and he is not SN. He actually does little writing; he types everything. My daughter who started out with the same pencil grip I did correct. The end result for both is the worst handwriting I have ever seen.

 

So both had a terrible pencil grip. I corrected one and not the other. Both have horrible handwriting. Actually the one with the corrected grip is the worst. My solution: typing lessons.

 

Linda

[wapiti]

FWIW, I don't hold a pencil correctly - I hold it with two fingertips on the pencil and it rests on the third finger. DD is learning cursive, and I thought I'd at least try to hold it correctly while I write little notes on her schoolwork in cursive. Lo and behold, the handwriting I get when I hold the pencil correctly is 10x more legible than my usual handwriting. I know, getting a child to have a correct grip is another matter altogether (my soon to be 5 y.o. is a prime example - not sure what to do about it; and dd10 still uses the incorrect grip except when she's working in her cursive book), but I just thought I'd throw that out there. It can make a difference, and maybe it's possible to teach an old dog new tricks later on, when there's more motivation, when it matters most (e.g., possibly in preparation for the writing portion of the SAT?).

[Abbeygirlsouth]

My 15 year old has dyslexia and has always held her pencil a little funky (all fingers touching the pencil but the pinky). Her dyslexia therapist usually offers a gentle reminder as part of remediation, but said that if dd isn't self correcting at this point not to make it an issue.

[teachmejoy]

I'm glad you wrote that. I read the proper grip was important from the standpoint of fine motor control and muscles, but I don't recall any mention the brain and nerve endings in the fingers. Interesting. I wonder if there's any research that shows which comes first--nerve endings or proper grip? I have several children and my children that had the hardest time with the proper grip also seem most prone to dyslexia.

 

That's interesting... I worked with several dyslexic students when I was doing educational therapy. I had to work with every one on their pencil grip! I have to add that their handwriting improved tremendously when they held it correctly.

[Finnella]

I agree with the posts that say it's ok to leave the grip alone if the handwriting is legible and there isn't a problem with fatigue and/or cramping.

 

If there are problems, we've had success with mechanical pencils. I found some (by Papermate?) that are a mix of clear and colored plastic. The barrel is a bit larger than most pencils. He loves them and grips them appropriately. Also, the lead in mechanical pencils breaks under heavy pressure, which is great for kids who bear down too hard.

 

Now that his grip is fine, I just need him to write legibly. :confused: