Free Handwriting Resources, Supplements and Guidance

If you are in the market for handwriting instruction, it's all here on the web. Whether you have a child working their way to perfect penmanship or a child who is still developing fine motor skills there is a bounty of free resources for you to snap up.

The Handwriting Page Maker enables you to create your own handwriting worksheets online and then print them out. The handwriting is the jardotty font. You could make a traceable page for any word list you and your child are studying.

Handwriting Worksheets features letters and pages in all sizes. She also features blank lined paper you can print out. This is so convenient if you run out of handwriting paper and need some in a jiffy! She has manuscript, modern manuscript, italic, cursive and italic cursive. The worksheets have words, numbers, months, etc. and the individual letters.

Handwriting for Kids gives you an alphabet and numbers tracing guide so you can point your little writer in the right direction. There are also worksheets on indiviual letters, flash cards and some great advice on successfully teaching handwriting.

The Learning Page offers free worksheets in basic manuscript and cursive. You really have an entire workbook of practice sheets here, at the cost of your printer paper and ink.

If you have a child who struggles with handwriting, a great program is Handwriting Without Tears. It isn't a free program, but it is reasonably priced and can be highly effective. The program is different and designed by an occupational therapist. The books do not have endless repetition and somehow get the child to write better by the end of the page instead the whipped through mess that can occur when a child rushes through writing the letter over and over again.. .

Upon visiting an occupational therapist she gave me a few tips to help increase fine motor control.

Get your child's hands working

-Playdough

-Musical instrument--piano, guitar, etc.

-Typing/keyboard/computer

-Video games (ouch)

-Crafts requiring fine motor skills (sewing, making those little loom potholders, etc.)

-Writing in shaving cream

Use paper with raised lines so your child can feel the line as they "bump" into it with the pencil. This helps to keep the letters within the limits of the line.

Sometimes teaching cursive first can help a child to connect all the letters of the word in one place (as opposed to being all over the page)

Whatever you do, just keep on trying and practicing and try not to be negative! You've probably got a budding prescription-writing doctor on your hands!

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