1. How to foster early writing skills and confidence
Narelle Lancaster
Occupational Therapist
LOTS for Children

2. We now expect a 4 year old child to do what was once expected at 6 years of age

3. Today we will discuss: Writing pre-cursors,
Effective fine motor activities,
Peggy Lego Program

4. Why play based?

5. Sensory Motor VS Visual Motor

6. There is more neurological activity when young children are engaged in multi-sensory activities compared to predominantly visual motor activities

7. Letter by letter
A child learns more effectively by tracing, copying and then writing their name – LETTER by LETTER

8. If children cannot do this …

9. Each new letter proposes a new motor sequence.
That is 52 new motor sequences to learn.

10. What if we can reduce that to combinations of 5 new motor actions?

11. Waking up children’s proprioceptive systems

12. What is the single primary goal of the activity?

13. If the child doesn’t experience success after practicing one method … change by simplifying or modifying the task.

14. Development of Writing Pre-Cursors
How do we get from this
to this?

15. By three years of age … Refined pincer grip
Good bilateral integration and orientation to their midline
Use a static quadrupod pencil grasp
Have good manipulation skills
Copy a horizontal and vertical line, and a circle and copy a cross.
Draw a person with a head and 1 or 2 other features
Can copy basic whole body and arm actions to songs.

16. By four years of age … Draws a person with head, face, legs and arms
Uses tripod grasp either static or dynamic
Copy a cross and imitate a zigzag line
Colour in targeting a boundary
Usually have a hand preference
Can imitate simple hand actions to songs

17. By five years of age …
Have good pencil control for writing and colouring
Can copy +, X, angular lines and squares
Uses a dynamic tripod grasp
Has clear hand dominance
Draws people in action with other basic depictions

18. By six or seven years of age …
Sophisticated tool use
Emerging in hand manipulation and pencil pressure allowing pencil flow and speed to emerge
Smaller symbol reproduction
Able to draw detailed, elaborate drawings depicting scenarios
Accurately forming letters and symbols
Cognitive conceptual and visual spatial elements of writing emerging
Good visual tracking, localising and switching

19. 1. Peggy Lego sensory motor program
2. Fingertip proprioception games
3. Hand strengthening/pincer grasp reinforcer games
4. Breaking down how a child holds a pencil into concrete steps
5. Deep pressure shoulder work
6. Eye hand co-ordination warm ups
7. Fine motor planning games
8. Lots of sensory based drawing and symbols
9. Commence paper based visual motor readiness
10. Name writing

21. Adapted Peggy Lego Directionalities and rhymes, and associated letter formations.
“Tall man, tall man, starts at the top, pulls down to the bottom and stops.”
(l i t j f)
   
“Sideways, sideways to the magic land”
(f t and visual scanning across the page)
“Starts with a click, up and around”
(c o a d g q e s)   
“Up and over”
(n m h r k p)
“Down and under”
(u v w b y)

22. Classroom expectations
3K Gross motor and sensory motor learning of the directionalities and rhymes
4K Gross motor and sensory motor learning of the directionalities and rhymes
Basic craft/ paper based practice
Utilise in prompting for drawing
Exposure to correct letter formations in a play based manner (commences motor mapping
for correct formations whilst nurturing early writing confidence and interest.)
Name writing. Remember trace, copy, write – letter by letter. Consider cut our name tracers
to trace and paste onto work rather than attempting to write name too early.
PP Paper based craft practice
Use a sensory motor reinforcer immediately before visual motor practice (tracing, then copying letters on paper.)

23. Peggy Lego 4K Classroom Session Samples
“Tall man and Sideways” Sample A
Water painting on fence/ wall
Wheelbarrow walks, pegging onto clothesline
Sensory motor letter stations - ltijf
-marble roller letters
-tactile letters
-car/ road letters
-rice tray letters   
“Tall man and Sideways” Sample B
Running fingers down each others backs/ bodies
Blindfolded playdough treasures
Sensory motor letter stations - ltijf
-shaving cream letters
-sandpaper letters
-torch letters
-Wikki Stix trace
For PP add in related craft task, and paper based letter formation practice after sensory reinforcer practice.

24. Moving on from Peggy Lego
Remember:
Formalising too soon may cause regression.