Cursive Handwriting

These are the different cursive joins to be used within the app, it also states that these letters are best practiced and learnt in categories, which will help with the formation and layout of the app. 

Contextual Research - Handwriting

Resources

• Changing handwriting takes a lot of time and effort.
• Encouragement is essential
• Short, regular, frequent periods of practice are much more effective than long sessions.
• Make sure that teaching at home does not set up conflicts for the child between home and school. 
• Callirobics
• Lively, fun and useful warm-up exercise to prepare hands and arms for handwriting. (Hands up for handwriting
• Handwriting Pocket book
• Pegs to Paper
• Write Dance
• Start Write, Stay Right
• Speed Up!
• Write from the Start
• Handwriting patterns playbook - practicing letter shapes cursive style in a more fun and interactive way, rather than just writing out words and letters. 
• A functional tool, which helps put ideas to paper.
• Handwriting is a means of expressing language 
• The formations of the symbols within each writing system have idea movement patterns and the spatial relationships between symbols and the directional conventions on the page. 
• Involves linguistic, cognitive, perceptual and motor components which all have to be coordinated. 
• Skill of handwriting remains important in education, employment and everyday life.
• Time devoted to the teaching and learning of letters formation in the early years will pay off.

Why Handwriting is Important

 -  Legible writing that can be produced comfortably, at speed and with little conscious effort allows a child to attend to the higher-level aspects of writing composition and content. This is important when assessments are based on written work, particularly in time-limited written examinations, which remain as a major form of assessment for many formal qualifications. Without fast and legible handwriting, students may miss out on learning opportunities and under-achieve academically

- Many personal computers have handwriting recognition capability so the handwriting as a means of interacting with computers is becoming more persuasive. 

• timed sessions
• different 10 minutes to unlock each day
• in the different sections of letters
• maybe just a beginners app
• for both parents and children
• can choose which colour/style to make it more fun
• rewarded - maybe stickers?

Handwriting difficulties

Questions parents to ask themselves if they are concerned wit handwriting…

How to help at school

• May cause stress and anxiety with the student, parent or teachers who struggle to watch the child put their ideas down on paper. 

1. Has your child received any direct teaching of handwriting?

2. What is the policy for handwriting in the school?

3. Are the concerns about the handwriting shared by the teacher, the parents and the child?

4. What are the main areas of concern?

1. Legibility? (All or most of the words written can't be read out of context.)

2. Neatness? (The handwriting is messy or poorly controlled.)

3. Comfort? (The child is experiencing pain, strain or discomfort when writing.)

4. Pressure? (S/he is pressing too hard or not hard enough, or pressure within one piece of writing is variable.)

5. Speed? (S/he writes very slowly, producing too little writing, or too fast, becoming inaccurate.)

6. Motivation/enjoyment? (S/he is reluctant to write or gives up too easily.)

• survey style of questions when the parent first opens the app to gage how they need to best help their child.

How to help at home

1. Watch how he writes as well as what he produces.

2. Look at his general coordination and his fine-motor coordination with other implements, e.g. knife and fork. This will give an indication if immature or impaired motor coordination might be contributing to the difficulty.

3. Make sure he is in the correct environment for writing when at home, i.e. he is sitting at a table on a chair of the right height, and not lying on the floor, in front of the TV or in bed.

4. Make sure his writing tools are suited to his age and capabilities (pencils not too thick or thin, pens not scratchy, etc.)

5. Talk to him about how he feels about his handwriting? Does it worry him? Does he find it difficult? Does he care about it?

How to help at school, ask teacher

1. Is s/he also concerned about the handwriting?

2. How, and how often, is handwriting taught in class?

3. Is there a particular approach or style which is being used with the children?

4. How can you, at home, support what they are doing at school?

Frequently asked Questions

Do children grow out of the handwriting difficulty?

Evidence suggests that mild difficulties will be helped with good teaching and the maturation of the child. However, more severe problems persist into adolescence and beyond if appropriate intervention is not given.

Can all handwriting difficulties be cured?

Targeted intervention, either from an occupational therapist, a physiotherapist or a specialist teacher will make a noticeable difference for most children. There are a few, however, who may never manage to write well enough and fast enough to do themselves justice on paper. For them, keyboarding is an essential alternative.

Are difficulties always the result of poor teaching?

Good basic teaching, particularly at in the lower primary school, is important. However, there are some children who still find handwriting hard, despite having had lessons in school.

Does keyboarding solve all the problems?

It certainly helps a great number of children and young people to express their ideas at the level of their intellect and it should be encouraged. But handwriting should not be ignored completely for several reasons:

1. There are times when handwriting is needed, e.g. for certain school subjects (such as maths, science) and in other everyday circumstances.

2. There is some evidence that the physical act of handwriting helps the flow of ideas for written composition in ways which keyboarding doesn't.

3. Handwriting is very personal. It is an expression of a person's identity, like how they dress or wear their hair. In adolescence it is common to find young people adopting a particular style of handwriting to suit their personal image. This should not be discouraged as long as the handwriting remains functional.

Is being left-handed the cause of the problem?

Being left-handed is not of itself a disability. The majority of left-handers write as well as their right-handed peers. Some evidence suggests that they develop fluency a little later than right-handers because they are 'pushing' the pen across the page rather than 'pulling' it, but this should not be a problem in the long-term.

Are handwriting problems more common in boys?

Girls seem to master good handwriting earlier than boys but boys catch up by the time they reach secondary school if there are no underlying difficulties. Handwriting difficulties are reported more frequently among boys than girls but most improve, given the right help.

How important is pen grip?

Many children with difficulties hold their pen or pencil in unconventional ways. However, so do many competent writers and there is no evidence to date to link poor pen or pencil grasp with poor handwriting. The dynamic tripod grasp (with the pen pinched between the ball of the thumb and the fore-finger, supported by the middle finger with the other fingers tucked into the hand) is recommended once the child is old enough to hold a writing implement. This minimizes the risk of strain and offers the greatest control. However, for those with handwriting difficulties, changing the grasp will, of itself, not solve the problems. It may be that the poor grasp and the poor handwriting are both visible symptoms of the same underlying factors.

My child's handwriting is slow and untidy. Does this mean he is dyslexic or dyspraxic?

Many of the children who are diagnosed with a developmental disorder experience difficulties with handwriting. These include those with problems with reading and spelling, those with attention issues, those who are poorly coordinated and those with disorders on the autistic spectrum, but a handwriting difficulty on its own is not sufficient to indicate the presence of one of these disorders. A full assessment by an educational or clinical psychologist or paediatric neurologist is needed for an accurate diagnosis.

What is dysgraphia?

Dysgraphia means "disturbance of or difficulty with orthographic-motor integration" (i.e. handwriting). The term describes purely the handwriting difficulty as it is possible for this to be an isolated problem and not associated with a more general disorder. Some researchers have described sub-categories of dysgraphia in order to study it better, such as 'surface dysgraphia' or 'deep dysgraphia'. These recognize that weaknesses in different types of processing may be responsible for the problem, such as motor control, visual perception and spelling difficulties. The term may be used differently by different professionals so it is important to check what is meant by the term in any one context.

Bilateral coordination assessment

Hand and finger muscle assessment

Posture assessment

sensory participation assessment

Games to improve handwriting

Have a section to links to help parents. 

Handwriting within the national curriculum

Foundation Stage - Using phonic knowledge to write words to match their spoken sounds.

Use a pencil and hold it effectively to form recognisable letters, which are formed correctly. 

Handwriting Policy

Problems within Handwriting

• letter and word spacing issues
• Poor body posture and pencil grip
• Reluctance or poor writing speed
• problems with letter formation
• Eye tracking and handwriting
• Spatial awareness and handwriting
• Visual memory
• Motor memory

Developmental Stages

• Starts with mark making and simple drawing
• Grip on the writing tool between the fingers and thumb. Grip Development.
• children can’t be forced hold a writing tool using the correct grip before they are developmentally ready.
• Young children tend to prefer thicker drawing tools. 
• Vertical surfaces and painting surfaces. 
• Plain paper rather than lined paper. 
• Learn sitting position and paper position .
• A tripod grip
• pre handwriting letter patterns 
• size and neatness comes later
• Proprtions and positioning, sky, grass, earth
• Formation of letters using pictoral or colour clues. 
• Teach letter formation in groups and families rather than alphabetical order.
• Children are ready to join letters when;
• They have learnt to form letters correctly
• Letters are of a consistent and suitable size
• Letters are positioned appropriately on the writing line as well as in relation and proportion to one another. 
• Goal - They can produce and maintain a good speed, have fluid hand movement, letters are consistent and handwriting is legible.

The different sections split into colours - three colours used throughout the app. 

Activities and Games to Help

Keep handwriting separate from homework, make writing fun and positive and give praise. 

Colouring and dot to dot puzzles, painting ,mark making all help. 

Try some activities at home such as...  climbing  crawling  throwing  kneading dough  grating cheese  painting  large drawing using chopsticks  using tweezers  play dough  cooking

We provide experiences for children to...  develop upper arm strength through physical activity  develop hand and finger control through hands-on practical activities such as playdough and using tweezers  develop spacial awareness learn about good presentation through modelling handwriting and looking at different texts learn about the formation of letters  develop a joined handwriting style

Encourage sky writing with both hands. • Make the letter shape using finger paints. • Let your child practise their letter formation in the air or on your back. • Go outside and use chalk or wet paint brushes to practice letter formation on the ground. 

Precursive handwriting

Each individual letter is formed with an exit stroke

About Cursive Handwriting

1. Size - This refers to the letters in relation to each other and to the lines or spaces on the paper.

• Tall letters should touch the headline, or top line position, of the paper.

• Short letters should touch the mid line, or center line position, of the paper.

• Some letters actually go below the baseline, or bottom line position.

• Depending on their position, similar letters should be uniform in height.

2. Shape - There are four basic shapes, or motions, to guide your cursive handwriting:

• undercurve (this stroke swings up).

• downcurve (this stroke dives down).

• overcurve (this stroke bounces up).

• slant (this stroke slides at an angle).

3. Slant - All letters in cursive handwriting slant. Here are some important things to remember:

• Slants should be uniform.

• To check for uniformity, draw an imaginary straight line through the center of each letter, from the top to the bottom. If the slant is uniform, all of the lines should be parallel.

• Proper hand position can improve the degree of slant.

4. Spacing - For increased legibility, there should be consistency in the spacing between letters, words and sentences throughout the writing. In other words, the spacing between letters should all be the same. The spacing between words should be consistent, and slightly larger than the spacing between the letters. The spacing between sentences should be uniform, and slightly larger than the spacing between words.

Parent/Child Learning

Research into how parent and child learning can be culminated together. 

Better ways to engage parents in children’s learning.

Make work collaborative- Getting them involved, having parent’s or carers’ participation, parents enjoy the chance to get involved. 

Good News/Praise - Positivity communication, regularly feedback good news as well as worries or concerns. 

Get parents involved, educate parents, a positive collective experience. 

Using social platforms - Parents are busy and might not have time to attend workshops during the day, social media can help keep parents in the loop.

Ways for parents to receive updates from teachers on ‘Classdojo’.

Breaking down barriers to communication so parents and teachers are able to work together, which means a better learning experience for children. 

Tacking language barriers, literacy courses, children should be encourages to translate for their parents and this helps the language skills of all involved.

Perseverance is key because getting parents involved means they will have more conversations bout learning at home. 

Reviewing Existing Apps

ABC Kids - App for phonics, alphabet and writing letters.

The home screen is actually quite confusing there is no description or encouragement of what or where to press. None of the interactive objects seem to be insinuating to be pressed or touched, therefore children may be confused. The introduction doesn't really explain or tell you what the app is about therefore children may get bored easily and click off, this also applies to adults. 

The explanation of what to to at each stage is better here as it tells the children to select a letter, however the letters are not interactive or jumping out therefore young children may not realise where can be pressed or selected. The back button arrow is obvious which is good therefore they know how to get back to the home page. 

The interactive element here is successful, the pointing finger demonstrates and instructs the children where to write and draw on the letter and which way the line needs to go. However for older children this may be quite patronising or when they learn to write the letters they may no longer needs this level of help and assistance. Which suggests that different levels of difficulty and age groups needs to be considered, especially if it's going to be used both at home and in an educational setting with children of all different ages and levels. 

The app congratulates and praises the user when they do something right each time, with confetti and stars, this shows previous research in context that children want to be praised and rewarded otherwise they will not see the point and get bored easily. On this specific apps the characters are a major part of the app they direct you, instruct you and praise the user throughout. 

Similarly there is a reward of sticker to collect, which gives an aim and incentive to the user, for similar reasons to the above comment. It gives the user and the app a sense of purpose and a sense of achievement for playing and learning within the game. 

Again here shows elements of praise when the user has been successful, with an inclusion of both text and images to show context to the letters. 

On the games it gives the user a hint of what to do each time they do something for the first time, which makes it less confusing but also less patronising as it doesn't continue to give this level of help. It only delivers help and hints if the user makes a mistake or gets it wrong. 

Looking at the icons used, the arrow is lit up and ready to be selected therefore the user knows where to click, however in reviewing the app, it may be easier for the next level to come up automatically, as some younger children will be staring at the screen just waiting for something to happen, unless the icon starts moving to grasp their attention. Also looking at the screenshot below and above, the exit icon is faded out, maybe so they don't accidentally press on and they know not to press there unless it's necessary. Also the slide across movement across the screen maybe so the don't accidentally press on it and exit the game. If they want to exit the game it can be done so intentionally. 

This app also has a section for adults and parents, which requires a numbered password to be placed in. However what is to say that a child of this age can't read that and logs in anyway. The parent can have access to the settings, and the different modes, so the child can't change these themselves. It also gives the option of viewing more different apps which can be purchased, therefore the child can't purchase these by accident. It also gives the option to review, the adult section uses more words, text and less icons.

Success of this app would consist of the colours and characters used within the app, making it more engaging. Most of the icons such as arrows, cross and letters are successful in communicating to the user. The praise which the app gives to the user is also well thought out as it gives the user a sense of achievement and the collection of stickers gives them an incentive to do well and carry on. 

Disadvantages and things that don't work well within this app, are the child lock and parent's section, it's too easy to enter. The lack of explanation at the beginning of the app may cause user's to become bored as they don't know what the app is for or where to click. None of the interactive objects seem to be insinuating to be pressed or touched, therefore children may be confused. The speed at which the app moves along is a very slow pace, and the user may lose interest. The lack of different levels of difficulty makes the app seem quite patronising to the user as well. 

Cursive Writing Wizard - App for children to practice cursive handwriting, within letters and words.

This app similar to the opening page of the other app seems to have too many choices, there really only needs to one font, as younger children will find it hard to understand and which would be best to pick. There are also all different styles, the app that will be designed will only have the standard handwriting font used in schools installed. The screen also doesn't look that engaging or exciting, especially so as this is the first thing that will be seen by the user it looks very serious and mundane. The 'X' icon in the corner makes it very obvious that that is how to close the screen, again shows a use of icons rather than text. 

When entering the main home screen of the app, it begins to look s abut more engaging with much more vibrant colours. The icons don't make it very easily understood that they are interactive, a movement or drop shadow would help this. Although the icons are bigger which in the hierarchy of the page means that children may go to here first which is correct. Again there isn't really any explanation of what each of the sections do or what you can learn from the app, for the benefit of both parents and children. Children and parents both want to know what they are going to get out of the app before they continue.

The settings such as the sounds and modes are made smaller within the screen and hierarchy, therefore to make sure that they aren't accidentally pressed on and put out of the way but still visible these settings would probably be more appropriate for adults and parents. Looking at the different letter icons, it's not very obvious where and how to choose or click on them, there is no description or actions that they are doing to move in order for children to know that they are interactive. The locks on the other letters are to produce the idea of levels and difficulty, therefore it is an achievement and a success when they unlock these.

The red dots and arrows encourage the user to write the letters in the correct way and direction. For older children this may be to patronising therefore the different levels may be that they get less and less help throughout the app. The icons in the corner are simple to understand and there is no text at all on the screen only arrows, icons and the letterforms. 

When writing the letter, the pen turn rainbow which is vibrant and engaging, although there is too much going on the screen it seems to be too busy, similarly down below. Although the app is trying to praise the children, there is too much on the page and it makes the app seem cheap and gaudy. It seems to reduce the educational aspect of it. 

The design of the settings are definitely aimed more towards adults and parents, however the icons do make it somewhat understandable to children as well. You can change the size of type, difficulty and the style of pen. Again apart from the levels there seems to be too much choice.

Very similar to the previous app there is a child lock of a multiplication sum, to enter the parents section which access help, email and resource for learning and schools. This kind of lock is very underestimating of children as some could probably answer this, therefore a username and password would probably be better or a lock code, as this is better for efficiency than remembering a password and username. This safety mechanism is to stop children from getting contact information, keeping the safeguarding issue at bay. There is also a lot more text and less icons as parents will find this easier and quicker to read and understand. The same colours have been used throughout though to keep the app cohesive. 

Successes of this app are the simplicity and ease of use specifically when tracing the letterforms. The praise as well, of achievement will give the user incentive to continue and a sense of pride. The icons within the app are very simplistic and easy to understand, on a global level.

Disadvantages of the app are again with the parent lock, children may actually be able to get through tot this which isn't safe. The colours and display used makes the app seem cheap and tacky, not very educational, especially within the tracing and congratulatory  aspect. Also the opening screen is not only vague but it's also too mature and serious for the audience it doesn't seem relatable or friendly. 

Endless Wordplay - App to help children with letters and spelling.

The opening screen animation goes on for much too long a time, users will lose interest fast, especially so when opening it every time and watching the same animation multiple times. It also doesn't explain what the app is or does, or what you can learn from or achieve from the app. However the different characters are engaging and add an element of fun and friendliness to the app. 

The second game screen isn't very self explanatory, it isn't obvious where to click or which part to go to next, or even the objective of the game. They do have the aspect of levels and achievement to get through the game or world there is a fulfilment and purpose to the app, the app just doesn't make it known what this actually is. The element of the characters and the scene that the game is set in makes it more interactive and imaginative as if the user is in a different world. The level to click on seems to be pulsating and is a different colour, however it still wasn't obvious where to press to continue the game. 

Again there are no instructions or even arrows showing the user what to do, where to drag or the aim of the game. The question mark icon brings up help but it isn't obviously there to be clicked on, it's hidden away, it is not very visible. The icon in the top right hand corner takes the user back to the home screen, however children may not understand this icon, a house or exit icon might be more understandable. 

Again the praise element after the user doesn't something correctly, the machine lights up and smiles, which encourages the user and let's them know they are doing well.

After each level the arrow icon lights up which makes it easier to be known to be clicked on, however it may be easier if the design of the app made the next screen come up automatically and people who are aware and want to move on quicker can click on the arrow as well. The redo icon and the speaker is obvious as it is kind of a universal language and sign that most users will recognise. 

This app has the same parent lock as the first app, again it underestimates the child's ability to read numbers therefore it it's safe or protected from children. The parent lock enables access t but other apps, as this is a big problem when children are playing on apps, that they accidentally or intently purchase others and buy things which parents may very well not be happy to do.

Success of this app are the characters, colours and scenery, overall design and illustrations in the app, looks high end, well thought out and engaging for the user. The learning element and praise for achievement works well, especially the different levels, makes sure there is a goal and fulfilment to the game. Making sure the audience will continue to use the app. 

The disadvantages are that the app lacks instruction and descriptions. The parent lock aspect may fail if children are able to enter the code as well. Improvements could be made in the icons t the beginning, on the opening screen explaining the app and entering the app at different levels. An option for saving levels needs to exist as well, so the user can revisit the app and not redo the levels as this will become boring. 

User Research - Important Points

- Kids like feedback, whenever they press anything or do anything right or wrong.
- The love auditory and visual feedback.
- Adults only like feedback when something goes wrong.
- Menu and icons need to be simplified for children. 
- Children's pages need to be colourful, vibrant with lots of interactions sounds and animations.
- Icons need to be obviously be able to be clicked on. 
- App needs to be consistent for both adults and children. 
- The app needs to be communicated what it is and what it does quickly. 
- Small unexpected interactions enhance experience for both children and parents. 
- Navigation and menus should always convey as literal as possible, whereas adults are able to understand more abstract icons. 
- Children like little text therefore icons and image are best. 
- Provide feedback and display hints showing users how to succeed.
- Think about context where children will be using the app, at home or at school.
- Adults can be a seperate type of user all together, logging in to a seperate section.