Learning to write is learning to move

Learning to write – like learning to walk or ride a bike – should be regarded as movement learning. Only when the hand moves smoothly and automatically it can produce fluid writing. This leaves more time to concentrate on other things, such as the content of what is being written.

schreibbild2 630 For children starting school, writing is at first a very complicated process that requires a lot of concentration and practice. Just like your first time on a bike. Starting with a difficult curvy course seems rather unsuitable. When learning, you have to physically discover which movements are needed. When riding a bike it’s a sense of balance, acceleration, braking and changing direction. Only then can you ride a bike – with more practice you can also tackle more challenging, longer routes. And each child learns at his or her own pace.

The same goes for learning to write. Just like riding a bike, it is crucial that the writing hand experiences individual movements. Speed, acceleration, scaling to size and pressure eventually become letters – and with more practice can also become longer and more challenging texts.

The best way for children to practice movements is: introducing variations while writing letters and words, including writing far too large or too small, with more or less pressure or at different speeds, for example with a race course in letter form (e.g. “M”) on paper. And their pens can race off. This allows the children to develop the letter shape by trying it so many times and while at the same time gaining playful experience of movement.

Learning to write is learning to move

Further reading