We love using our vertical surfaces including white boards, chalkboards and paper taped to the wall or refrigerator. When drawing and / or writing this way, the wrist is placed in extension which promotes a mature tripod grasp. We can also teach that letters really do start at the top and go down to the bottom.

The dry-erase washable crayon is especially fun when used alongside a spray bottle and cloth for an easy and kid friendly clean-up of the white board.

Even though those long new pencil look pretty, we prefer the short ones. These also promote a more mature pencil grasp and help teach the ability to hold the pencil nearer to the tip.

With the increase in screen time, we have seen a drop in the use of pencils and erasers. Bright and colorful erasers promote correction of writing errors and less of the tendency to write over mistakes.

Learning to write on ruled paper and to make letters the correct size can be a big challenge. Use of a highlighter can direct the eyes and hand to correctly space and size letters. We also use them to highlight the top and base lines as a visual reminder for letter placement on the lines.

Great article from Scholastic - click here!

Worksheet generator for correct spacing here

Design your own penmanship paper by clicking here

Download a penmanship font here