MOTOR SKILLS ARE CRUCIAL: NEW APPROACHES TO IMPROVING Writing lessons

For most children, writing their first word is a source of pride. So how does this first word actually look? It doesn’t really matter. However, teachers attach much more importance to style and legibility. As a result, primary school pupils spend a long time practising to write letter after letter of neat writing in the right size and on a straight line. The fact that primary school pupils’ motor skills develop at a very different rate is often neglected. This is where we come in.

Fun whilst writing, fun whilst learning

“In German primary schools, learning to write cannot be described as a success story”, says writing motor skills expert, Dr Christian Marquardt. The Grundschulverband estimates that some 33 percent of boys and 10 percent of girls have considerable difficulties writing legibly by the time they leave primary school. According to a study by the Fraunhofer Institute in 2011, this means that children not only lose interest in writing but these problems also have a negative impact on their learning as a whole. So why is this? Why do so many pupils and adults have difficulty producing relaxed handwriting? And, above all, why have changes, such as the introduction of the Vereinfachte Ausgangsschrift (VA – a standard lettering that has been established in several German federal states in order to simplify learning to write), not improved anything? 

Problems with writing mainly stem from poor motor skills

Again and again, discussions focus primarily on writing style. However, surprisingly little attention is paid to graphomotor skills. And yet these are tremendously important. “Problems with writing are mainly due to poor motor skills,” says Dr Christian Marquardt. “In part, pupils write ineffectively and are too tense. They take longer, have a cramped writing style and often tire quickly.” Above all, those who are just learning to write experience initial problems: many children do not hold the pen correctly and exercise excessive pressure or experience cramping when writing because they are holding the pen too tightly. 

Our objective – flowing, efficient and legible handwriting, without tiring

The Schreibmotorik Institut has embarked upon a scientific investigation of flowing and efficient handwriting. With the help of a computer-aided writing analysis system, we are looking in detail at the movements involved in writing. 

We reveal the actual causes of writing problems and then take these as a basis for developing new and simple ways of improving writing lessons that involve much more than simply achieving neat standard lettering. We make our findings available to participating teachers and schools so that pupils can develop flowing, legible handwriting without becoming tired.