pencil grip

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  • June 1, 2010 at 5:01 pm
    Richele Baburina
    Participant

    Hello all.  I am not sure whether to put this under “habits” or “handwriting.”  My left-handed five-year-old holds his pencil resting on his ring finger and not his middle finger.  I’ve tried to research this on my own but am having a hard time understanding if this grip is actually a problem and whether or not it needs to be corrected.  He loves to draw and has never complained about his hand hurting.  

    Any help from OTs or those moms with more experience than myself will be much appreciated.

    Thanks a lot.

    Richele

    June 1, 2010 at 7:06 pm
    CindyS
    Participant

    I have a couple of children that do that. I did try to train them otherwise but it never took. I was concerned about their ability to write neatly until I sat next to a lady in church who had beautiful handwriting and held her pen the very same way. One of mine is now 18 and her handwriting is fine; so is the 8yo. On the other hand (no pun intended), with a 5yo, if you are really wanting to give a go at changing it you could go with some pencil grips. We just have a hard time keeping track of those little things.

    Blessings,

    Cindy

    June 2, 2010 at 1:58 pm
    Angie
    Participant

    Hi Richele —

    I posted on this topic a few weeks ago as I also had a lefty who had problems gripping his pencil correctly.  It wasn’t too much of a problem until we started formal writing lessons and that’s when he started complaining that his hand hurt.  Anyway, this is what I posted:

    I was having problems with my 6 year-old last year and the way he was holding his pencil also (he’s a leftie and I just couldn’t get him to hold his pencil properly).  Anyway, a friend of mine is an occupational therapist and she showed me a trick — she pulled a pony-tail holder on my son’s wrist, handed my son the pencil, twisted the pony-tail holder above the wrist, and put the pencil thru the hoop that the pony-tail holder created.  The pencil popped into his hand at just the right position.  Hope I explained it okay.  After about two weeks I did not have to use the pony-tail holder anymore as it conditioned his hand to hold the pencil properly.  Just make sure the pony-tail holder is a large one so that it is not too tight on his wrist.

    I hope the explanation is clear…kind of hard to explain and much easier to watch. 

    June 2, 2010 at 8:56 pm
    lgeurink
    Member

    I read Angie’s post about the pony tail holder and tried it with my 7 year old dd who had a terrible grip which resulted in sloppy writing and a loss grip (not the typical 7 yo writing, just plain sloppy!).  She used the pony holder for a week or two and yesterday I forgot to put it on her.  She was halfway through her sheet before I realized she was using the correct grip!  I was so happy and her writing has gotten smaller and more accurate.  I could not believe after struggling this whole year to get her to use a proper grip this little trick worked in two weeks.  Thank you so much and I would give this a try Richele.

    June 2, 2010 at 9:43 pm
    Richele Baburina
    Participant

    Thanks so much for your help and encouragement.  Angie, it was your previous post that I was looking for but somehow missed it when searching.  lgeurink, it’s great to hear how quickly it worked for your child as well as Angie’s.  Cindy, I was happy to hear about your experiences and to know that all will be well.

    Now to get a pony tail holder…

    Thanks again!

    Richele

    June 3, 2010 at 1:24 am
    the9clarks
    Participant

    I write that way. Never hurts me. 😀

    January 26, 2011 at 2:07 pm
    TheAttachedMama
    Participant

    I hold my pencil that way, and I actually have extremely nice handwritting if I do say so myself. Wink   I have people comment that my handwritting looks like a computer font it is so neat.  LOL  In kindergarten I had MANY, MANY, MANY teachers try to correct my grip.  Although my handwritting was very neat even back then, they were worried that I wasn’t holding the pencil like most people do.  Eventually even the school’s “specialist” gave up on me, and just allowed me to continue writting that way since I didn’t seem to be having a problem forming letters properly.  I have never had any problems (even as an adult) with my hand cramping–even on VERY long essay tests.  However, I have always thought that I hold the pencil ‘wrong’ based on what I was told as a child. (I should note that I am right handed.) 

    Recently, we purchased the handwritting without tears program which was developed by an occupatinal therapist.  I was surprised to read in their teacher’s manual that BOTH grips are actually acceptable and that BOTH types of grips are extremely efficient and accurate.  (Even though the ring finger grip is rare.)   It actually has a note that children who hold their pencils that way should not be corrected. 

    January 26, 2011 at 2:24 pm
    thepinkballerina
    Participant

    My dd is 8, left-handed, and writes that way. I’m right handed and hold my pencil that same way, and I’ve always been complemented on my handwriting. I think I read it is acceptable pencil grip to have one or two fingers on top of the pencil with thumb below.

    Tara

    January 26, 2011 at 3:03 pm
    thehauserfamily
    Member

    Thanks for the info ladies. My almost 8yo does this and I noticed that my almost 5yo lefty seems to.  My younger hasn’t done a lot of writing but I purchased him a left handed pencil and he seems to like it now.

    My older has horrible handwriting, but I think he just needs to go back to cursive.  The handwriting program we used a few years ago said that it was not propper to hold the pencil this way. I can’t seem to change it so ohh well.

    The main thing I have been told for a lefty is not to let them hook their hand, turn their paper more and let them hold their pencil higher.

    January 26, 2011 at 3:17 pm
    TailorMade
    Participant

    Although I’m right handed, my pencil rests on my ring finger.  My hand hurts if I try to write the “right” way.  ;0)  I can relate though.  Those of my children who began to write like me went through a time where I tried to make them write the other way because I’d always felt a bit guilty for not doing it the way my teachers and parents taught.  One thing that helped one of my children was to use the triangular Triconderoga pencils.  Besides being helpful in allowing for this kind of traditional pencil grip, they are really well made pencils.  They are more expensive, but they seem to last longer for our family.  BTW, they don’t make me write with a traditional pencil grip.  ;0)

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