We often think of posture as sitting straight in a chair and, yes, theat is part of the stroy. But, basically, posture refers to the whole of the body. It includes how it rests and how it moves.
How Does This Impact on Handwriting?
If a child’s posture is unstable for any reason, then the body does not provide a good base for the child develop and use their fine motor skills. Imagine trying to thread a needle if you couldn’t control your back, shoulder and elbow. That would be impossible! It isn’t just about how the fingers move.
So we need to look at gross motor skills too.
Sport is a great way to build gross motor skills. However, some children just aren’t that into sport. Some children like just playing around hitting a ball against a wall, playing in the pool, digging, climbing etc. These are all great ways to build up gross motor skills to help to help your child’s stability in handwriting. One way you can encourage them is to join in yourself!
If you are confident your child is getting plenty of gross motor play, then we can talk about a posture for handwriting.
Stability Is Key
Make sure your child is well supported when they are putting pencil or pen to paper. It will be very difficult for a child to have good control of the pen or pencil if they are perched on a high stool with no back support and no foot support. Even worse if their little hands are reaching up to a surface around shoulder height. It will require a lot of energy just to stay on the chair and work on that high surface.
To seat your child in a position where they have the best chance of having control of their pen or pencil, sit them on a chair of appropriate size for them. Make sure they can have their feet flat on the floor or on a stable footrest. Make sure the depth of the chair, that is the distance from the front of the seat cushion to the back is not longer than the back of the child’s knee to their back. If the seat of the chair is longer than the child’s dimensions, the child will have to sit with their knees partially straitened to use the back of the chair or will have to sit forward in the chair and not use the back for back support.
A stable posture will mean that the child’s back can rest against the back of the chair. The angles of the ankles and knees should be around 90°. A slight incline allowing the hips to relax to around 110° is fine. Shoulders should be relaxed with the table height allowing the child’s elbows to rest at slightly more than 90°
Adult style office chairs are usually not suitable, especially for small children and sensory seeking children. Although these chairs often come with many adjustments, they usually don’t adjust to proportions suitable for a smaller child. If your child is sensory seeking, I am sure you can predict what will happen in a swivel chair! The child will spin and spin and possibly have a go at the adjustments as well!
Ready for Calm, Stable Work
An important component of posture is the child’s readiness for the stable posture. If a child has been in a classroom all day, they may not be ready to sit still for handwriting when they get home. Allow them to run around, stretch, jump and do what ever they need to make their body feel ok for the next challenge. It may not involve movement, it might be just half an hour of lying down in a quiet place. You know your child and you know what they need to readjust their body and brain. Give them an opportunity to do that before you start the handwriting practice. If you are not sure, then try a few things with them, jump on the trampoline, run around the back yard, dance in the lounge room or lie in the dark listen to calming music. See what they crave and let them do it for a while before you start on the handwriting. You may find they are much better at concentrating and maintaining an upright posture when they have done these things.
So yes, posture is important in handwriting. Hope this helps!
Robyne