Guidance for parents
Handwriting at home – Year 4
Handwriting is the basis of complex literacy skills; a child who can write letters and joins automatically can attend to all those other tricky aspects of writing – getting ideas, putting them in order, spelling, etc. Parental support can make a huge difference to a child’s handwriting development – a few minutes of daily practice can make all the difference. There are five very clear priorities for your child in relation to handwriting in Year 4:
• form lower-case and capital letters at the right size relative to one another
• fluent use of the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters
• know which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left unjoined
• use spacing between words that reflects the size of the letters
• use the names and alphabetical order of the letters in the alphabet to order items.
The aim of handwriting in Year 4 is to increase the fluency with which children are able to write down what they want to say. This, in turn, will support their composition and spelling. In this workbook we have included some longer pieces of writing to copy. This will require some additional paper, ideally lined. Copying text out onto separate paper is a difficult memory task and a challenge for Year 4 children.
The first section of this workbook focuses on revising the movements to join letters and gives your child practice of the five main types of joins:
1. Diagonal joins to letters without ascenders (for example: ae)
2. Diagonal joins to letters with ascenders (for example: ch)
3. Horizontal joins to letters without ascenders (for example: wa)
4. Horizontal joins to letters with ascenders (for example: wh)
5. Joins to round (anti-clockwise) letters (for example: ad). Your child will have encountered these joins previously, and in Year 4 it is important to continue to establish these joins between letters as automatic movements. KS2 writers also need to know not to join b, g, j, p, q, x, y, z and s because this allows them to write with maximum efficiency. This workbook offers practice of the joins, with a particular focus on tricky joins. It also gives your child practice of the relative sizing of letters, spacing of letters and spaces between words. The workbook includes practice of capital letters (which never join), number formation and alphabetical order. Encourage your child to make the sound of the letter whenever you can, as this will be useful in their spelling. The workbook uses the words they need to learn in their spelling practice (from the National Curriculum list), helping them to make the most of their practice time.
Writing tools
An ordinary “lead” pencil has a good combination of grip and slip. Make sure your child does not feel pressured to use a pen, simply because it is more adult – let them use whatever is most comfortable. It is important that they become fluent in the correct movements of joins and spacing because these are the basis of fluency. By Year 4, many children really like to use pens and, in this case, we recommend fibre-tipped handwriting pens because they offer the best combination of
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friction and slip. Fibre-tipped pens are very controllable, as are ballpoint pens which use thin ink, so they are good writing tools to practise with. However, ballpoint pens which use slippery, viscous ink are very hard to control and we would not recommend them for learners at this age.
Holding the pencil or pen
Traditionally, we expect children to hold the pencil between the thumb and index finger with the pencil supported on the middle finger. However, this is not the only successful pencil grip and the important thing is to find a comfortable grip that provides comfort, stability and control for your child. Aim for your child to have control of the writing tool but not to grip it too hard, as this will tire their hands, arms and even their shoulders. If you think your child is gripping the pen too hard you can ask them to cup a ball of loosely scrunched up paper (about the diameter of a 10 pence piece) in the palm of their writing hand while they hold the pen. This helps relax the hand. It is also important for children to regularly put down the pen and give their writing hands a wriggle.
Left-handed children
Although most children are right-handed, around 10 percent of any population is left-handed. Left-handed children may like to sit on slightly higher chairs and hold the writing tool slightly further from the point, to cope with the demands of letters designed for right-handers.
Letter formation and joins
This workbook uses letter formations which are easy for children to do correctly. It is very important that all children form letters correctly and automatically. If children learn these letter formations as a movement, they will be able to learn letter joins with little effort. In Year 4, your child should also be able to form all of the capital letters. Encourage your child to position the letters on the line with regular spaces between the letters. Guide your child to make capital letters taller than lower-case letters.
Practising handwriting with your child
With practice, your child will ‘feel’ the correct letter movement or join, and develop fluent and even handwriting. We recommend doing frequent short practice sessions of 5—15 minutes in Year 4. Though this does not sound like very much, a few minutes a day really can make a difference.
When your child uses this workbook for handwriting practice, they should slant the page to maintain a good writing position. Left-handers usually slant the top of the page to the right and right-handers slant the top of the page to the left. This is good practice. If your child can sit at a table to write, it will help them get used to doing this.
Self-evaluation
Talking with your child about their handwriting practice is very helpful. The “self-evaluation grids” in the four “progress checks” are designed for you to discuss your child’s progress at handwriting and draw attention to their achievements.
The “progress chart” on the last page allows your child to record how they feel about their handwriting after completing the workbook. It is always good to notice and praise efforts or improvements as it helps your child become confident in and proud of their handwriting.
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Warm up and revise
Write your full name, using capital letters where necessary.
Write your address, using capital letters where necessary.
Write over and continue the letter pattern.
Write over and continue the letter patterns. itt lil ald
Write over and copy the words. little
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Ilitti
tak der
Copy the poem. Jill met a boy on a hill near a mill. If you went there now, you’d see them still.
“Shall we roll right down the hill?
What a silly rolly thrill.”
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tilt
frill
hill kettle
Warm up and revise
Write over and continue the letter patterns.
Write over and copy the words. snow row orange your sore old rotten
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zpizpi narnar
oworowor olotolot vitiviti wiywiy
etletl
Add the correct words from the box below in the spaces and then copy the completed sentences.
lake bike yours
The king rode his to the castle.
There were many fish in the .
The sweets are ours not .
sometimes neat
My joins to curly letters are:
mostly neat
My horizontal joins are:
always neat
sometimes neat
mostly neat
always neat
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Warm up and revise
Write over and continue the letter patterns.
Write over and copy the words.
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b x y s j z g xyt swa kij zgo
buzz signs jumping jelly foxes guess yellow bread jogs