Incorrect Pencil Grip (2nd grader)

[tofindwisdom]

My 2nd grader has had an incorrect pencil grip from the beginning.  It's the dreaded "thumb wrap," and I cringe when I see her do it.  The writing aids that you put over the pencil to prevent the incorrect grip have not helped (2 years using them)!  And now she does not want to use them which is understandable because they are bulky and get in the way of writing which is difficult already.

 

I remind her over and over to "watch her thumb," but that's not helping either.

 

I think I'm giving up on it.  Has anyone seen a child drop a bad pencil grip as they have gotten older?  Or am I without hope?

 

Thanks!

[kiwik]

I sympathise - ds8 had a perfect grip at 4, 5 and 6 but sometime last year his thumb started slipping and wrapping and no-one at school noticed.

[kalusignan]

My 2nd grader also occasionally does this (probably because I catch myself doing it also) and I'm always reminding her to move her thumb down. The 'claw' grip is probably the best one for this problem if you feel like it's a big problem that needs to be fixed. But like you said, the grips can get cumbersome if they're doing a lot of writing, so I wouldn't use it all the time.

 

ETA: I don't know what handwriting program you have used, but HWOT has an exercise called 'pencil pickups' that might be fun and useful. There are free worksheets and even a video showing how to set the pencil and pick it up correctly with a song. It can easily be done as a game. You could also do 1 or 2 as a warm up before any writing exercise. Just a thought!!

[hollyh]

My dd had the thumb wrap and at 8 decided to work on changing it because when she would write for longer periods of time she noticed it would hurt her fingers.  :)  So there is hope... That being said, i haven't checked lately to see if the new grip "stuck".  I know she worked at it for a few months... 

 

I now have a 6yo who has a horrible grip and I'm not sure whether to work at changing it or wait till she's older either! 

[FO4UR]

Switch to a fountain pen and cursive.  (Peterson Directed is the simplest method that teaches fluid strokes.)

 

I also really like the steadtler triangular shaped maker pens.  

 

 

Part of the problem might be the amount of pressure needed to make a mark on the paper with a pencil or ball-point pen.  The fountain pens require a light, gliding motion...that thumb grip won't work with a fountain pen.

[Southern Ivy]

These pencils have helped a student of mine who has horrible grip. It makes it somewhat difficult to do the thumb overlap. 

[maize]

I talked with a school occupational therapist about this issue in regard to my own second grader a few weeks ago. His recommendation was to let it go if the child has reached this age without correcting it; he didn't seem to think the thumb wrap was really a significant problem and said that most people really develop their own unique grip. I have since started watching the adults around me and have noticed some using a thumb wrap grip seemingly without problems, so I am not going to battle the issue.

[Southern Ivy]

I talked with a school occupational therapist about this issue in regard to my own second grader a few weeks ago. His recommendation was to let it go if the child has reached this age without correcting it; he didn't seem to think the thumb wrap was really a significant problem and said that most people really develop their own unique grip. I have since started watching the adults around me and have noticed some using a thumb wrap grip seemingly without problems, so I am not going to battle the issue.

Umm, I never noticed, but I do the thumb wrap.  :huh: 

How did I never notice that - especially when I've been working on my daughter's grip! 

[FO4UR]

I talked with a school occupational therapist about this issue in regard to my own second grader a few weeks ago. His recommendation was to let it go if the child has reached this age without correcting it; he didn't seem to think the thumb wrap was really a significant problem and said that most people really develop their own unique grip. I have since started watching the adults around me and have noticed some using a thumb wrap grip seemingly without problems, so I am not going to battle the issue.

 

 

It won't be an issue if the child is going to be primarily typing into high school and college and beyond.  However, if they are going to be doing a lot of handwriting (taking notes by hand in class), then a faulty grip may cause hand pain.

 

2nd grade isn't too old to fix a grip.  In a PS, 2nd grade is too late to fix the grip due to the heavy course load, large classrooms, etc.  But at home, it's not too late.

[Hobbes]

I do a thumb wrap. I kind of wish I didn't, because my hand can ache when writing for long periods... but then, it aches worse when I use a proper grip, so that might just be my slightly arthritic hands. I had no problem with note taking in university, etc.

 

Both my 2nd grader and 1st grader tend to thumb wrap. I make them grip properly during any handwriting instruction, etc (and they can do it), but I don't constantly monitor at other times because I don't want to make writing a battle ground and it hasn't really affected me negatively.

[MrsWeasley]

I sent my oldest to public kindergarten, where I naively thought they'd teach a good pencil grip. After we pulled her, we spent first and second grade really working on it, and now in third, she has a beautiful grip. She didn't wrap her thumb: she used all her fingers and the side of her hand smudged her writing. Because it interfered with legibility, we spent a lot of time correcting it. If your kid has legible writing and good stamina, I would not spend the time correcting it.

[NoPlaceLikeHome]

My kid did this and hated writing. We initially used very short pencils, chalk, crayons to force correct grip since you can do an incorrect grip with a very short pencil as an OT told us. I also taught him cursive and it worked. It does take patience and lots of practice but cursive is easier than print. Lastly, we then used pencil grips and still do years later. I would insist gently and explain why these grips are helpful. We use these:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Pencil-Grip-Universal-Ergonomic-TPG-11106/dp/B001SN8HOY/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448003177&sr=8-1&keywords=pencil+grips&pebp=1448003181564&perid=1ZQWECTRX469A7K7QPTX

 

These grips have a place for each finger so you cannot go wrong.

 

If she needs more assist, then these grips are good too:

http://www.amazon.com/The-Pencil-Grip-Crossover-TPG-17706/dp/B001SN8HPI/ref=pd_sim_229_1?ie=UTF8&dpID=41inL13aA7L&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR160%2C160_&refRID=0EGZEFQ3SQWQCN6KNG3G

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I second the idea of using super short pencils (less than 3 inches).  The author of Handwriting Without Tears (an occupational therapist) recommends it to correct pencil grip.  

 

That being said, I probably wouldn't stress too much about it.  I use a "correct" grip sometimes, and a thumb wrap sometimes, and a very strange "pencil sticking up between my index and middle finger" grip sometimes.  I like being comfortable with different grips because it allows me to rest my hand, but keep writing.  I developed this skill in college when I got tendonitis in my wrist and a callous on my middle finger from writing "correctly" so much (wrist bent up and pencil rubbing on middle finger).  Both my wrist and my middle finger will still hurt if I write a long time with the "correct" grip.  The thumb-wrap lets me write with my wrist straight, and it allows my pencil to rest on my third finger.  When that grip starts hurting, I switch to my strange grip for awhile.

 

 

ETA: A super "death grip" is a major concern because it causes the hand to fatigue rapidly, and it prevents the flowing motion needed for prolonged writing.  If your dc is squeezing super tight, you need to correct it.

Edited November 21, 2015 by Suzanne in ABQ

[nd293]

I have recently been invigilating school-leaving exams and spent a lot of time looking a weird pencil grips. The thumb wrap seems very common in this school (I notice it when doing observations in my younger child's class too). In this case I think it's a reflection on a weakness in the educational philosophy of the school (too much weight placed on kids figuring things out for themselves, so 'wrong' approaches get entrenched) , and it does not appear to correct itself with time, but it also doesn't seem to impede the ability to write.