How to Teach Handwriting in 7 Steps

If you are homeschooling your preschooler or kindergarten, you might be wondering how to teach handwriting. This can be intimidating, especially if you are new to homeschool. Let’s break the process down into 7 easy steps!

Step 1
Strengthen the Hand Muscles 

Before ever touching a pencil, your child will need to have developed enough hand strength to sustain proper grip. Some activities that will develop these muscles include:

Playing with Play Dough

Tear Paper

Crinkle Paper into a Ball

Play with Theraputty 

Step 2
Develop the Pincer Grasp

The pincer grasp is the grasp that uses the index finger and the thumb to pick up items. This is an important fine motor skill which is foundational in handwriting.

Play with Fine Motor Toys

Peel and Stick Stickers

Cut Card Stock with Scissors

Use Dot Markers 

Step 3
Learn the Letter Shapes

In order to write with confidence, the child needs to be familiar with the letter shapes. Acorn to Oak’s Letter Builders help teach the letter shapes by breaking them down into simple lines and curves. This Letter Building System is also part of Alphabet Forest, Acorn to Oak’s complete Early Learning Curriculum.

Step 4
Write in Sand

Writing in sand helps develop confidence in the strokes of the letters, without the added frustration of holding a pencil. Tactile, sensory experiences also help the process of learning handwriting. This mouse illustration can be found in Acorn to Oak’s Barn Owl Study.

Step 5
Trace Lines

Starting with a thick, short pencil, or with Crayon Rocks, introduce tracing lines. You can find this Prewriting Pages here.

Step 6
Trace Letters

Finally, after all of these valuable baby steps, we are ready to trace letters! Acorn to Oak has plenty of resources that will help you along this journey. 

Step 7
Start Writing!

Start writing letters independently. Begin in a large space. As the child becomes more comfortable, make the surface smaller. Eventually, introduce drawing on lines.