Although children in schools now spend a lot of time learning how to use computers and electronic gadgets, after speech, handwriting is still the most accessible, versatile and creative way of getting and keeping in touch.

So it holds its place as a basic skill in the primary school curriculum, allowing children to express themselves and enriching all areas of learning. It becomes a life-long source of pleasure to all who master it, and gives delight to all who receive or read it.

How can you help?

Most importantly, you can show your child that you value and admire the skill.

Have a small selection of handwriting materials readily available at home - soft pencils (B Grade), fibre-tip pens and some sheets of A4 paper are enough for a start.

Let handwriting play a part in your family’s daily life, for example

• making lists and labels

• keeping a family diary

• leaving notes for each other in busy households

• keeping in touch with distant friends and relatives

• designing and making home-made notelets and greetings cards.

Display your child’s work – if you haven’t got a noticeboard, you could use the fridge door. After being on display, favourite pieces could be pasted into a scrap book to build up a unique record of progress and achievement.

Encourage your child to sit properly when he/she is writing. He will get the best results if

• he/she is in a good light

• he/she sits on an upright chair

• he/she sits at a comfortable height

• he/she keeps his back straight

• his/she head is high enough to see the pen or pencil point forming the letters.

Many children like to do their homework lying on the floor, but they can’t develop good handwriting that way and they can’t present their work in a way that does them justice.

Good posture is vital for any child, but it is particularly important if your child is left-handed, because people who are left-handed have a tendency to develop a cramped, curled hand position which makes writing very hard work. Sitting properly helps to prevent this [placing the paper at an angle will also help left handed writers]. So do your best to provide somewhere where your child can work, even if it’s the end of the kitchen table.

What materials are needed?

You can make a start with whatever pens, pencils and paper are to hand, but, as your child gets better, he/she will begin to have particular preferences.

Remember though that you can produce beautiful results with the simplest materials. A soft pencil and a sheet of inexpensive plain writing paper can produce a page of beautiful calligraphy as surely as the most expensive materials.

If you’re choosing pens, remember that young children get on best with those that have a bit of ‘bite’. Ball points tend to run too easily over the paper and this is a particular problem for left-handed children. Fibre-tips and felt-tips are easier to control.

Learning to write well can use up quite a lot of paper, so it is sensible to save the better quality sheets for final drafts and special assignments. You can use cheaper recycled or re-used paper for daily practice and it’s a wonderful way to make use of junk mail.

Guidelines can help your child to produce regular, well-sized writing. You can easily make a set of guidelines from an A4 sheet ruled in black fibre-tip with the lines 1cm apart. Draw a margin round the page and encourage your child to decorate each piece of work with a handwriting pattern. Border patterns are more than just decoration. They help to develop a feel for the rhythm of fluent writing, establish basic hand and arm movements and also encourage regularity in the size and shape of letters.

Good handwriting is still a vital accomplishment, and practice doesn’t have to be a chore. Make sure your child has somewhere to work, a small collection of varied writing implements and an interesting reason for getting started. That way you’re laying the foundations for a skill that will be valuable all his life.

Make it Fun to write.