How Handwriting Works

You've been writing since you were a little kid. It started with scribbles and crayons and now it's pens, pencils, and cursive with all those swooping, swirling letters. Some kids love handwriting and others hate when it's time to put pencil to paper. Why?

Maybe a parent or teacher has complained about your handwriting: "Be neater!" "Too messy!" "I can't read this!" Oh dear, that's no fun. You're trying to get it right, but you can't get your thoughts down neatly.

The good news is that just about everyone can improve their handwriting. But first, let's take a moment to think about just how complicated writing really is. It's not like sneezing or breathing, which your body does for you without you even thinking about it.

How Handwriting Works

With handwriting, your body and mind need to do many different things all together and in the right order. Your shoulder needs to stay steady while your wrist and elbow move in just the right way. Did we mention your eyes have to follow what your hand is doing? And that's not all. You need the brainpower to know how words and letters are supposed to look and make decisions about what you want to write — Is the answer to Question 4 "flipper" or "flapper"?

So with all that going on, you can imagine that different kids have different problems when it comes to handwriting. Sometimes a medical problem is a reason that kids struggle with writing. For example, kids who have attention deficit disorder (ADD or ADHD) find it hard to sit still and focus on what they need to do. They might write too fast or start answering a question and forget to finish it. Kids who have trouble with their muscles, like those with Down syndrome or cerebral palsy, also could have difficulty writing.

But lots of other kids have writing woes, too. Are you one of them? Or maybe you would just like to make your already-OK handwriting a little bit better.