Fine Motor Development
Back to Basics: Printing Skills – The Forgotten Foundation of Literacy
Overview
If a child can’t print, they are essentially illiterate. Children who can’t remember how to make their letters and numbers, or who have poor letter recognition, are delayed in spelling, math, sentence composition, socials, and science. Visual memory attained during letter production impacts on visual recognition necessary for reading. These often bright children are left behind with labels of ‘learning disabled’, when they really just need to learn to print. Poor foundation skills at school entry, teachers spending 14 minutes per day average printing instruction, and non-standardized teaching and evaluation methods, all limit achievement of this integral skill. If we’re still doing it, we’d better be teaching it!
Goal
Back to Basics raises awareness regarding increasing incidence of developmental delays, and the reasons why schools still need to teach printing. Back to Basics offers parents, schools, government and university suggestions and initiatives on how to ease the job of printing and reading for all children.
Learning Outcomes
- Relate current fine motor development and literacy research, to printing and reading problems
- Evaluate developmental skill level, and apply early interventions for attaining foundation skills
- Assess 13 specific areas of fine motor impairment, and apply developmentally relevant strategies
- Apply the Move’in Program concepts, tools and techniques to improve printing and reading skill
Handouts
Fine Motor Observations and Strategies form
Foundation Scale for Grades K-6
Printing Basics Guide
Who should attend?
Parents, teachers, administrators, special education staff, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, physical therapists, counsellors, physicians, psychologists, psychiatrists, social workers and child care providers. Foundation Series Workshops are designed to be introductory level for therapists, intermediate for teachers and advanced for parents, child care workers and teaching assistants.
Evidence based – Research referenced – Strategy focused