Some children tend to hold their writing instruments too close to the tip, preventing them from writing. When writing, field of view is very important. To write well, write my essay for me the child needs to see the tip of the writing instrument and the point where it contacts the paper. It is also important to do visual control when writing, which helps the child remember the letters and, if necessary, correct the lines more easily. This bad habit can also lead to consequences such as incorrect back position and muscle fatigue.
Body posture disorders. Before starting the placement of the writing instrument, we must first position the child correctly about the paper on which he is writing. For example, if you place the paper flat in front of the child, the child's elbow will be perpendicular to their body, restricting the movement of writing from left to right. However, if we place the paper at a certain angle, complete freedom of movement will be achieved and thus the child will be able to perform movements such as flexion-extension of the wrist. A certain level of flexion-extension of the fingers enables them to write handwriting.
THE WRITING INSTRUMENT PLAYS A KEY ROLE IN HANDWRITING LEARNING.
Experts state that the diameter of the writing instruments should be large to ensure the ease of grip of the child; 8 - 11 mm is the most suitable size for small hands of children aged 4-8 years. The writing instrument should be comfortable to hold and allow freedom of movement. Some writing instruments in existence today impose a single grip for left- or right-handed use. These devices impose a certain grip on children, causing them to waste time correctly positioning their hands and fingers.
Factors Affecting Writing
Sitting: The first thing to consider in writing is the sitting style. When the child sits on the bench, their feet should touch the floor. The table to be written on must be by the order of sitting. If the table is high and the desk is low, Write my essay online the child will constantly stand up and try to write. Standing writing will negatively affect the way the arm spreads on the table, and thus the holding of the pen. If the row is high and the table is low, this time the child will bend more than necessary while writing and writing will be adversely affected.
Muscle development: Arm, wrist, and finger muscles are important in writing. Children who do not complete their muscle development have difficulties in motor production. In muscle development, a path from large muscles to small muscles should be followed. First the arm, then the wrist, then the finger muscles should be developed. Arm muscles can be developed by making large arm movements in the air, and wrist, finger, and arm muscles can be developed by working on sand tables. Muscle development exercises can also be done with play dough and puzzle-type toys. Especially children whose finger muscles are not sufficiently developed cannot hold the pencil comfortably. In such cases, plastic pencil holders can be used.
Directions: Movement from top to bottom and from left to right are the basic directions in Turkish writing. The teacher will draw attention to the directions at the stage of drawing lines. Arrows must be used to draw attention to directions. The starting and ending points of letters and other shapes should be emphasized. Children with an underdeveloped sense of direction confuse letters. For example, the letter "b" can be written as "d" and vice versa. Children can write the letter "o" starting from the bottom and following the direction of the clock movement.
Hand preference: The first thing to follow in writing is hand preference. There can be right, left, and mixed-handedness here. The majority of children prefer their right hand. Those who prefer the left hand should not be forced to choose the right hand. One of the effective ways to detect hand preference is the teacher's observations. The teacher should make his decision by observing the children in different situations (playing, writing, etc.).
The teacher should give special assistance to left-handed children. These children should be allowed to practice sufficiently at the board. The teacher should follow the student on the board and give the necessary help immediately. Left-handed students should have lower rows than right-handed students. This helps the left-handed student see what he or she is writing. Also, the light should come from the right side. This prevents the hand from shading the area to be written. The paper slant is opposite for those who prefer their left hand than those who prefer their right hand. Left-handed children's pencil, 4 cm from the writing point of the pencil. they should hold it from above (5). Left-handed children can often encounter problems. Since writing and reading in Turkish are from left to right, the child is initially at a disadvantage. Not paying attention to directions is a second problem. This problem can be experienced both perceptually and motorically. If the child's left eye is active in vision, then it will visually scan the material from right to left rather than from left to right. This situation causes the syllables to be written incorrectly, as well as negatively affecting the correct arrangement of the words in the sentence. These negativities naturally reduce reading success (6).
Right or left-hand preference does not cause problems in writing. But two-handedness leads to several problems. It is the event that the child uses some right and some left hands while doing a two-handed task. The teacher should not allow this. If the child uses both hands, then the teacher performs different exercises and determines the hand that is used effectively. For example, the child can write his name and different sentences by keeping time with both hands. Readability, cleanliness, Buy Essay Online quickness, etc. It reaches a decision about the hand that should be preferred by checking it from all angles (7).
Spacing: The spaces between sentences, words, letters, and page margins should be taken into account in writing. These are also important in terms of legibility and aesthetics. First of all, the spaces that should be left on the page margins should be highlighted. Then, the attention of the children should be drawn to the spaces between sentences, words, and letters, respectively. By using a pen and finger, the gaps between sentences and words can be tried to be grasped.
Shapes of letters: The main purpose of teaching handwriting is to enable students to write legibly and quickly. For this, letter shapes must be grasped correctly. The child should be able to remember the shapes of the letters quickly and accurately in his mind. This is an important factor in increasing the speed of motor production. If we make the child comprehend the letters with their directions and the number of movements, remembering will be easier and more regular. The teacher should first of all guide the writing of the letters. Exercises made by going over the letters should be included. They should use visual clues (direction with arrows) and work on printing letters from memory. The lines on the paper should be followed by showing the starting and ending points, lower and upper extensions of the letters. Students' efforts should be evaluated positively and feedback should be given.
The point to be considered here is that a letter or word should not be printed freely on the same page and within the same period. Instead, concise work under the supervision of a teacher or an adult is more beneficial. Another disadvantage in our country is the high number of students, especially in the first grade, and the continuation of writing studies under the control of a teacher. This situation should be prevented, either the number of students in the first grade should be reduced (20-25) or the teacher should enter the classroom with an assistant. Because mistakes in learning to write should be corrected immediately. Help from the external environment (family, friend group, etc.) is very limited in correcting spelling mistakes. He is the main resource and assistant teacher. If a wrong spelling is not corrected instantly, it becomes a habit.
Letters with difficulty in writing: Graham, Berninger, and Weintraub determined the most difficult letters in writing as "q,y, z, u, n, and k" at the end of their study on 300 students. Errors in these letters constituted 48% of all mistakes (drops, irregularities, etc.). Only in terms of bad writing, the letters "q, z, u, a, and j" have an important place (8).
Pen holding and notebook position: There are many ways to hold a pencil. However, the way of holding a pencil, which most of the researchers find appropriate; is in the form of placing the soft tips of the index finger and thumb on the pen holding point touching each other and supporting the middle finger with the part close to the tip (between the endpoint and the nail). In addition, the part of the arm between the elbow and the wrist, which is in the same direction as the palm, should be placed on the table in such a way that it forms a slightly more than a 45-degree angle. As a result of his research on children in the 7-14 age group, Ziviani identified four important issues in holding a pencil. a) The flexibility of the index finger in use, b) The spread of the part of the arm between the elbow and the wrist on the surface (on the table, on the desk) during writing, c) The number of fingers used to hold the pencil,
The pen should never be held too close to the writing point. To prevent children from doing this, plastic tapes can be wrapped around the pen in such a way that there is a distance of at least two centimeters between the writing point and the point to be held. For left-handed people, the distance between the writing point and the holding point is greater. Irregularities in pencil holding should be dealt with immediately. The heavy, very thin, and angular pen also affects writing negatively.
Since children holding the pen very close to the writing point cannot see what they are writing, even if the tables and desks they sit on are suitable, they close the desk surface and bend their hands from the wrist to form a crescent. This situation both impairs the vision and causes the child to get tired very quickly. Teachers should be very careful about this situation.
For children who have difficulty in holding a pencil, handles that will help to easily hold the pencil should be used and the size of the pen should be changed. For those who press the pen a lot, it may be appropriate to place a carbon paper under their paper and advise not to go down when they write on it. The reverse of this exercise can be done for those who have little pressure on the pen.
The way the notebook or writing papers are held is also important in writing. As children's writing skills develop, the writing pad can be moved to the right or left according to the hand used. Although there is no exact size or position, the notebook can be shifted 30-40 degrees to the right or left. Because the shape of the writing (forward or backward leaning) will be affected by the way the notebook is held. Especially when teaching with vertical basic letters, according to Graham and Miller, the left side of the notebook should be shifted to the right, slightly past the middle of the body, in right-handed students. When switching to italic writing, it should be rotated approximately 45 degrees in the opposite direction of the clockwise movement. Left-handed people should rotate the notebook approximately 45 degrees clockwise (10).
Write Speed: Typing speed is usually determined by the number of letters written in a given time frame. Measuring readability; It is more difficult than measuring speed, as it involves measuring multiple elements, such as creating body, top, and bottom extensions of letters, their size, placement on the page surface, and proper spacing (11). The most important factor in improving typing speed is regular writing exercises. The child can do this himself by racing against time. Also, writing exercises can be motivated by rewarding them inappropriate ways. Graham, Berninger, My premium essay Weintraub, and Shafer (12) 1-9. They tried to determine the writing speed in their study at the grade level. Researchers revealed that typing speed varied by gender (girls were faster than boys) and classified the results separately. Accordingly, writing speed averages are shown in the table below according to gender and grade level.
