How to hold a pencil?

We have been trying to encourage our five year old to hold his pencil properly with the correct triangular grip but he prefers to hold it with his middle finger and thumb rather than his index finger.

So what have we tried?

In the Reception class they were told to use "tweeting" fingers to hold their pencil - so "tweet" like a bird with the index and thumb and then pick up the pencil - the novelty wore off! He recently came home with a paper aeroplane and worked out that it was the same fingers he needed to hold the pencil with so that might be another good exercise for children needing to encourage their index finger and thumb to work together.

We have tried triangular pencils but because his grip is only slightly off this doesn't help, ditto the triangular grip. The grippy pencil grip looked promising to start with - it did make him hold the pencil correctly but he found it awkward to position by himself each time he needed to pick up the pencil. Lastly, we tried the tri-go grip this has three clear spaces for the fingers and he could position is fingers independently and most importantly it did improve his grip.

What works best now? Telling him if I see him holding his pen incorrectly I will tell Miss B he needs to have more handwriting practice!

How have you encouraged your children to correct their grip?

Starting School

Good luck to all children (and parents - we know how hard it is for you too!) who are starting school this week. Don't forget that Littlesheep Learning has lots of resources to help your child - here are our top five recommended products for the rising-5s (as tested by our nearly-5 year old!)

1. First Experiences: Going to School - this mini Usborne book is a lovely gift for a child starting school to explain what happens in school.
2. Key Word Fridge Magnets - a great tool for learning key words (we stock the large size as we think they are more easily manipulated by small fingers) .
3. Number Beanie Bags - fun for all sorts of games to learn about numbers (and reading the written number word).
4. Triangular Pencil (Slim) - a help for children to ensure they form the correct triangular pencil grip when learning to write (we also stock the Jumbo size pencil for children needing a bigger pencil).
5. Picture Word Lotto - a brilliant game for reading skills, matching skills, turn-taking and best of all fun!

Happy Customers

Like all businesses, at Littlesheep Learning we love hearing from satisfied customers; here is an excerpt of an email we received this week:

"Just a quick email to thank you for sending my order so quickly - I noticed the message about you moving premises and thought it might delay new orders (especially if you had a backlog to clear) but my books and pencil grips have arrived already! My son has been a little reluctant to put pen(cil) to paper but after I had a go with one, he was very keen to try his new 'toy' and has written quite a few words today. Here's hoping he's still as happy tomorrow.... Thank you for selling these singly and not making me buy a 'class tub' too!!"

If you have a reluctant write - check out the full range of triangular pens, pencils and pencil grips available at Littlesheep Learning - all available individually!

Triangular Pencils

Littlesheep Learning has just taken delivery of some new slim triangular pencils alongside our popular jumbo triangular pencils. We started stocking the jumbo triangular pencils as a replacement for the Berol Handhugger Pencils which unfortunately have been discontinued by the manufacturer and are pleased that they have been as popular among our customers.

Several customers with older children who still require a triangular pencil commented on the thickness of the jumbo triangular pencils which led us to look at other options and we are now pleased to stock the slim triangular pencils. These slim triangular pencils are preferred by the Handwriting Interest Group and are ideal for writing and drawing activities - they have a standard thickness break-resistant HB lead.

Write a Review Competition

Don't forget to enter the 'Write a Review' Competition at Littlesheep Learning.

Simply choose a product, add your review and you could be in with a chance of winning a copy of The Usborne Book of Everyday Words - Each page in this first words book has a scene or category with labelled objects to discuss, an excellent resource to encourage the direct association of words with objects and reinforce known words.

You get one entry for each review you write - so get writing!

Here are some of the reviews we've received so far:

Dotty Dinosaurs

by Joanne Rivett

Date Added: Monday 18th February, 2008
An excellent game for little ones to learn there shapes and colours without even realising it, 2 different games in one so a great price!

Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]

Going to the Hospital
by Stephanie Moore
Date Added: Thursday 14th February 2008
I have bought a few of these books because I do find they help my son before a new situation. He had to go into hospital for a little operation and this book helped him know what was going to happen and what to expect.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]

Cock-a-doodle moo!

by Stephanie Roberts
Date Added: Thursday 14 February, 2008
I have been playing this fantastic game with my 3.5yr old son. He loves it and will play it over and over again!! I bought it because I thought it would help him learn to listen a bit more and it worked!
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]

Miss Face Cube

by Anne Ritchie
Date Added: Tuesday 12 February, 2008
Excellent item - really big cube in gorgeous bright colours all kept clean in a poppered see through bag. Great for using with small groups as a game or individually as a discussion point around emotions. Fantastic!
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]

Jack and the Beanstalk Game

by Karen Frost
Date Added: Tuesday 12 February, 2008
My kids (age 2 and 4) love this game. Simple pictures and simple instructions, perfect for young children. It really has helped my younger one especially to differentiate between shapes.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]

Triangular Writing Grip
by Arianna Helm
Date Added: Tuesday 12 February, 2008
I purchased 2 of these items several months ago. As a bookkeeper I need to do a lot of writing and my fingers were starting to get very sore. The pencil grips made things a lot easier and I found that I was able to do more work at a time as my fingers were not getting sore. I will definitely be buying more.
Rating: [5 of 5 Stars!]

Writing Difficulties

Many children with writing difficulties have dyslexia and / or dyspraxia (developmental coordination difficulties) − these conditions often occur together and affect all aspects of a child's life, both in school and outside. It is vital therefore, that schools and early years settings are able to identify difficulties in this important area and put in place appropriate interventions where necessary.

Some things to look out for are children who difficulties with:

• throwing and catching
• dance/music and movement
• manipulating small objects (building bricks, jigsaws)
• getting dressed/undressed
• using cutlery / scissors
• handwriting
• organising themselves and their work
• sequencing
• laterality (knowing left from right)
• following multiple instructions

Children with motor coordination difficulties may also have poor posture and limited body awareness, moving awkwardly and seeming clumsy; this can be especially noticeable after a growth spurt. They may also tire more easily than other children.
For children who find writing difficult the following things should be thought about:

• the sitting position: ideally both feet on the floor with the table and chair at an appropriate height
• the possibility of using a sloping writing surface
• anchoring the paper / book to the table to avoid slipping
• providing a 'cushion' to write on can be a help, for example, an old magazine, used paper stapled together
• the writing implement − try triangular pencils or different pencil grips, for example standard triangular pencil grips, Tri-go grips or Grippy grips
• avoid the use of a hard-tipped pencil or pen
• providing opportunities for practising handwriting patterns and letter formation in alternative mediums for example sand, cornflour gloop or playdough
• providing lines to keep writing straight
• limiting the amount of writing required − think of other ways information can be recorded including making use of computers

The formation of letters is a very specific area of skill development and providing opportunities for practising, without making it a chore is important. Precision teaching is a good example of distributed practice and may include exercises such as a one-minute daily exercise to see how many b and d words the child can successfully write. This type of exercise provides the child with instant feedback and always focuses on success. Progress can be easily monitored by keeping a daily count or by using a weekly probe sheet.
Practising holoalphabet sentences, for example 'the quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dog' or 'the five boxing wizards jumped quickly' are useful, as these contain the 26 letters of the alphabet and make it easy to monitor progress on letter formations.

Other ways of encorporating writing are drawing / painting patterns (a wet paintbrush on dry concrete slabs) and encouraging incidental writing for example writing names in birthday cards, writing shopping lists, keeping a diary, writing out recipes. It is important that these activities are fun, and always praising the child for effort.

Handwriting Aids

This is the second part of a series of posts looking at the question of how to help children with hand writing. The first post looked at letter formation and this one will highlight some of the equipment than can assist the development of the correct triangular hold of the writing implement.

One of the simplest aids are triangular pens and pencils, for example, the Handhugger Pencil. These triangular HB pencils are popular in schools and nurseries and have a strong lead for younger writers. They are ideal for all early writing and drawing activities because the chunky triangular shape enables children to hold the pencil easily. Handhugger pencil's are also great for those with fine motor difficulties and helping children to use the correct grip.

The Handhugger range includes pencils, pens (black) and (blue), colouring pencils and colouring pens so are ideal for all preschool and primary children to develop their writing and drawing skills.

The next group of writing aids are pencil grips. At Littlesheep Learning we sell three types of pencil grip; the Triangular pencil grip, the Tri-Go pencil grip and the Grippy pencil grip. These grips fit on to standard pencils or ballpoint pens and makes them easier to hold in the correct triangular grip. Ideal for children with fine motor or handwriting difficulties.

Different people find different aids best for them. Some people prefer a triangular pencil and other prefer on of the pencil grips, to help you select the type of grip most suited to you or your child at Littlesheep Learning we sell a special value Triangular Writing Set. The Triangular Writing Set includes: 1 Triangular Pencil Grip, 1 Grippy Pencil Grip, 1 Tri-Go Pencil Grip and 1 Handhugger Pencil.