4Kiddos Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 So I have one child- my 1st grader- who cannot for the life of him remember to hold his pencil the right way. He writes well and his letter formation is solid. I have tried everything and now just remind him every time he goes to write something. So, do those rubber things you stick on the pencil really work? If so, which one should I choose as there are so many options? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HomeAgain Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 They never worked for me. I gave my kid a cotton ball and rubber band until his grip was solid. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 They never worked for me. I gave my kid a cotton ball and rubber band until his grip was solid. This is so brilliant. In the school I worked at for every 5 kids who used them I would say they worked fantastic for 1, somewhat for another and not at all for 3. This, of course, is not sound scientific data but my coworker and I talked about this quite a bit. The hardest to treat was those who wrote with pencil resting on ring finger instead of middle finger. I myself write this way and grips only made me cry as a kid. They have up on me much to my happiness. One of my sons writes the same way and I let him. His writing is beautiful and he doesn't get fatigue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dmmetler Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 A quadropod grip is fine, according to HWOT training :). They recommend using really tiny crayon pieces, chalk bits, etc to develop pencil grip. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vernal Posted March 15, 2018 Share Posted March 15, 2018 Streto grips worked for my DS. His PT recommended them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nixpix5 Posted March 16, 2018 Share Posted March 16, 2018 (edited) A quadropod grip is fine, according to HWOT training :). They recommend using really tiny crayon pieces, chalk bits, etc to develop pencil grip. The tiny chalk and pencils really can be effective because it forces kids into a tripod grip which usually leads naturally into proper position. I had forgotten about that with HWOT. Edited March 16, 2018 by nixpix5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SoCal_Bear Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 I just saw someone post about this method on another forum. It is the tissue paper trick. It was completely new to me. http://www.linesacross.com/2014/08/a-simple-trick-to-teach-proper-penci.html/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 What kind of grip does your child use? There are several effective variants supported by research; standard tripod isn't best for everyone. "Research has shown that an ideal pencil grip is not needed for fluent handwriting. In fact, trying to change a functional adapted grip often creates problems for the child. The message is: any grip that is comfortable and allows a child make small bending and straightening movements of the fingers along with very small wrist movements is acceptable. Attempting to change a functional adapted grip into an ideal tripod grip will often make handwriting difficult and tiring for the child. It creates a problem rather than solving one. " http://www.skillsforaction.com/handwriting/pencil-grip-overview 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 Here's another good resource: https://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/correct-pencil-grasp.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 I second what others are saying - there's more than one correct grip. And there's more than one type of grip correction thingy and method when a grip is genuinely incorrect - so if he actually has a bad grip, then one of the various options may work but not necessarily the one that you're thinking of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2scouts Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 Thank you so much for those links. I tried everything for dd, including various grips, and finally gave up. DD is hypermobile in all her joints and it never occurred to me that it would affect her pencil grip. She holds the pencil just like in the picture, but it moves closer to a regular tripod grip when she writes in cursive. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Classically Minded Posted March 21, 2018 Share Posted March 21, 2018 The "Claw" pencil grips definitely work for my 5yr old son, who could only do a fist backwards grip despite much teaching him the correct way. Once we got the Claw grips - no more issues and he is building up the correct muscles in his hands now to hold the pencil. You can even use them on crayons. We learned about them from an OT website. We got 6 on Amazon for under $5 but I just checked, they are now a bit pricier. I did a post just now on them on our homeschool blog because I couldn't get the pictures to upload on here: http://www.cambridgeshireacademy.com/2018/03/help-for-holding-pencil-correctly-claw.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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