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Free Printable Paper - 102 Hand-Picked Templates To Print

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With our free printable paper you save time and money. Don’t have to make a trip to the store, all you need is our PDF paper templates and a printer.

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I am giving away Microsoft Word 4 Line (Color) Book Type Stationery Template. This is basically suitable for nursery children. It is suitable for practicing alphabets and to improve handwriting. Please click on Facebook Like button if you download.

Download Microsoft Word 4 Line Book Stationary Template
About the author // Lokesh M

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I am giving away Microsoft Word 4 Line (Color) Book Type Stationery Template. This is basically suitable for nursery children. It is suitable for practicing alphabets and to improve handwriting. Please click on Facebook Like button if you download.

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We have produced a writing information sheet that can be used as a mat on the child's desk or table to remind them of the basics for easy left handed writing - paper angle, hand position and grip and letter formations.

You can order this as an A3 size laminated plastic mat for delivery by post (420mm x 295mm (17.5 in x 11.75 in) at £4.95 plus delivery charge or as a download file for £2.95 that you can print for yourself in either A4 or A3 size depending on your printer.

The mat has the same information for a right-handed child on the back in case you need it for another family member - The printed laminated mat for £4.95 is double-sided and the download version included TWO files - both the left-handed and right-handed versions.
Click here to see full details and order the laminated plastic version for delivery by post
Order the download version to print yourself

The download version of the writing guide mat is provided as an A4 size PDF file (210x x297mm, 8.25 x 11.5 inches, similar to US Letter size). if you have an A3 printer or suitable photocopier you can enlarge it to A3 size and the guideline will then fit A4 paper

This is the download version of the two writing guide mats that
you print yourself - NOT a physical product to be posted

PDF Format / Adobe reader

The guide is provided in Adobe PDF format, one of the most widely used formats for downloadable documents on the web that works on most types of computer. You will need to have the Adobe Reader installed on your computer to view, save and print the document. If you do not already have Adobe Reader you can get a copy free from the Adobe website
Click here to download the free Adobe Reader
(opens in a new browser window so you will not lose this page, the link is included again on the guide download page)

Click the button below to get your own copy of the Left-Write Mat Download for only £2.95 and print out the pages from the PDF file as often as you like. As soon as your payment is made you will be returned to the page on our site where you can download your guide immediately - you could be enjoying it with your child in less than 5 minutes!
NOTE that this price includes BOTH the left-handed AND right-handed version files.

You can use your PayPal account to make the payment or to use a credit or debit card click on "Click here to purchase" then on the button for "If you do not currently have a PayPal account Click Here". You can then enter details to pay securely using most credit and debit cards.

Important - After you complete your payment for this guide you will see an image in the final Paypal screen like this

You must click that image to return to this site and download your guide.

This is the right-handed version that you get included with your purchase

Don't forget our other downloadable guides and books

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Left handed writing mat with letter formations

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We have produced a writing information sheet that can be used as a mat on the child's desk or table to remind them of the basics for easy left handed writing - paper angle, hand position and grip and letter formations.

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Berninger, V., & Graham, S. (1998). Language by hand: A synthesis of a decade of research on handwriting. Handwriting Review, 12, 11-25.

Connelly, V., Dockrell, J., & Barnett, J. (2005). The slow handwriting of undergraduate students constrains overall performance in exam essays. Educational Psychology, 25, 99-107.

Edwards, L. (2003). Writing instruction in kindergarten: Examining an emerging area of research for children with writing and reading difficulties. Journal of Learning Disabilities, 36, 136.

Graham, S., Harris, K. R., & Fink, B. (2000). Is handwriting causally related to learning to write? Treatment of handwriting problems in beginning writers. Journal of Educational Psychology, 92, 620-633.

Graham, S., Struck, M., Richardson, J.,& Berninger, V. (2006). Dimensions of good and poor handwriting legibility in first and second graders. Developmental Neuropsychology, 29, 43-60.

Graham, S., Weinstein, N., & Berninger, V. (2001). Which manuscript letters do primary grade children write legibly? Journal of Educational Psychology, 93, 488-497.

Other helpful sources

Berninger, V. (2004). Understanding the graphia in dysgraphia. In D. Dewey & D. Tupper (Eds.), Developmental motor disorders: A neuropsychological perspective (pp. 328-350). New York: Guilford.

Berninger, V. W., & Amtmann, D. (2003). Preventing written expression disabilities through early and continuing assessment and intervention for handwriting and/or spelling problems: Research into practice. In H. L. Swanson, K. R. Harris, & S. Graham (Eds.), Handbook of Learning Disabilities (pp. 345-363). New York: Guilford.

Troia, G.A. (2006). Writing instruction for students with learning disabilities. In C.A. MacArthur, S. Graham, & J. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Handbook of writing research. New York: Guilford.

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Berninger, V., & Graham, S. (1998). Language by hand: A synthesis of a decade of research on handwriting. Handwriting Review, 12, 11-25. Connelly, V., Dockrell, J., & Barnett, J. (2005). The slow handwriting of undergraduate students constrains overall performance in exam essays. Educational Psychology, 25, 99-107. Edwards, L. (2003).

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eq_5-qaT4xA

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How to introduce the four types of joins in cursive handwriting

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Handwriting:

Form letters using the correct grip, correct formation and direction of letters and consistent size and positioning on lines

Write using lower, and then uppercase letters

Use spacing between words that reflects the size of the letters

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Handwriting:

Form lower-case letters of the correct size relative to one another

Write capital letters and digits of the correct size, orientation and relationship to one another and to lower-case letters

Use spacing between words that reflects the size of the letters

Begin to develop a fluent handwriting style that is legible and neatly formed

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Handwriting:

Increase the legibility, consistency and quality of their handwriting, [for example, by ensuring that the downstrokes of letters are parallel and equidistant, and that lines of writing are spaced sufficiently so that the ascenders and descenders of letters do not touch]

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Handwriting:

Develop a handwriting style that is legible, fluent and automatic

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Handwriting:

Develop a handwriting style that is legible, fluent and automatic

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Many of us would answer: "Very important!" While Montessorians have deliberated for years whether children should learn to write first in cursive or print, we've all thought cursive was an essential skill. Now there is a lively debate occurring in the field of education about whether, in this age of technology, cursive handwriting is necessary at all.

Cursive is not required by the national educational Common Core Standards. Many states across the country are removing or reducing cursive instruction from the curriculum while only a few states have deliberated and decided to keep it.

What's the best way to respond when parents ask why handwriting is a key component of the Montessori environment? Montessori discovered the importance of learning through movement and the senses. Research corroborates the vital hand/brain connection, proving that new pathways in the brain develop as children use their hands to explore and interact with the world. Of course it doesn't need to be an either/or decision: children can be computer literate and learn cursive.

Research Shows the Value of Learning Cursive

Fascinating new research points out the benefits of cursive writing for cognitive development. One study concluded that elementary students need at least "15 minutes of handwriting daily for cognitive, writing and motor skills and reading comprehension improvement." A recent article in Psychology Today cited research which shows that:

Students "wrote more words, faster, and expressed more ideas when writing essays by hand versus with a keyboard." This study included second, fourth, and sixth graders.

"Cursive writing helps train the brain to integrate visual (and) tactile information, and fine motor dexterity."

The regions of the brain that are activated during reading were "activated during hand writing, but not during typing."

Learning to Write: Cursive or Print?

"Written language can be acquired more easily by children of four years than by those of six. While children of six usually need at least two years to learn how to write, children of four years learn this second language within a few months."
-Maria Montessori

Observers of Montessori schools are often astonished by the beautiful cursive hand of four-and five-year-old children. Montessori noted that the straight and oblique lines of printing were more difficult for children to form than cursive. The uninterrupted movements of the hand may make cursive letters easier for children to form, and for this reason, some Montessori primary classrooms introduce children to cursive sandpaper letters first. Other Montessori schools wait to teach cursive to lower elementary students.

Some non-Montessori reading experts have begun teaching cursive before printing, because they find that cursive instruction improves literacy outcomes for many students and that "the connections between letters required in cursive writing may reduce letter reversals."

Whether we begin by teaching print or cursive, it's clear that it is a very different process to touch a key and see a letter appear on a screen, than it is to develop the skills and brain/hand connections necessary to be able to write that letter yourself.

"We directly prepare the child, not only for writing, but also for penmanship, paying attention to the beauty of form (having the children touch the letters in script form)..."
-Maria Montessori, The Montessori Method

In the Montessori primary classroom, children trace the Sandpaper Letters with their fingers and often draw letters in a sand tray or on an easel or chalkboard. As they progress, children can copy onto paper the words and sentences they build with the Movable Alphabet.

In the 1950s, my aunt in Nebraska had never heard of Montessori. Searching for a way to help her struggling students form letters, she poured sandy cat litter into a box and encouraged the children to draw letters with their fingers in this material. They loved it!

Handwriting across the curriculum is encouraged in the Montessori classroom. Older children write their own poems, stories, and research reports. One of the best ways for children to learn geography, history, science, and even math, is to work with the materials and write about it (with a pencil!)

Older children are also fascinated with learning to write with a quill pen or Chinese calligraphy brush. Teaching elementary-age children different scripts, such as italics, and showing them illuminated manuscripts with decorated capital letters can inspire students to view handwriting as an art form. Teachers have reported that their students' own cursive writing improved after working with calligraphy pens and different scripts.

"We Are Writers!"

I once had the pleasure of teaching at a Montessori school in an extremely diverse community where over 30 languages were spoken. One day during recess, two eight-year-old boys from my class - one whose mother tongue was Tagalog and the other whose first language was Mandarin - were perched at the top of the jungle gym waving sticks in the air and tapping them on the highest bar with great enthusiasm.

They shouted to me: "Guess who we are? Guess who we are? "

Expecting that they were pretending to be gun-wielding superheroes, I walked over to get a better look. Before I could speak, they called out: "We are ! And we are writing the next Goosebumps book." (At that time Goosebumps books were as popular as Harry Potter.)

Again the boys flourished their sticks and now I could clearly see their proud faces, fingers holding their sticks in the proper pencil grip, the cursive writing flowing across the top of the monkey bars.

-by Irene Baker, MEd, Montessori Educational Consultant at Montessori Services. She holds both primary (ages 3-6) and elementary (ages 6-12) Montessori certifications and has taught at all three levels. For over 15 years, she has served as a Montessori teacher-trainer for both primary and elementary levels and has presented workshops for teachers at schools and AMS national conferences. Her work with both students and teachers is infused with the knowledge she has gained from her passions: history, social justice, non-violent (compassionate) communication, nature, meditation, music, and poetry.

-Originally Published 2013

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Many of us would answer: "Very important!" While Montessorians have deliberated for years whether children should learn to write first in cursive or print, we've all thought cursive was an essential skill. Now there is a lively debate occurring in the field of education about whether, in this age of technology, cursive handwriting is necessary at all.

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I write as a teacher with more than forty years of experience in primary classrooms, subject leadership and management. Many of those years have been with the youngest children in school, including Nursery. I have been involved in literacy education at local, national and international levels and have a particular passion for the teaching of handwriting. This includes providing training for schools on behalf of the NHA and as an independent consultant. I also support some individual children with handwriting problems within a London primary school. The impetus for this article is my concerns with the practice adopted in some schools of introducing the teaching of "fully cursive" handwriting with "lead in" or "entry" strokes from the beginning of the Reception year (ages 4-5 years).

In England, the curriculum begins with the Early Years Foundation Stage (EYFS) 0-5 years, followed by the National Curriculum which is divided into Key Stages 1-4. The National Curriculum for English (2014) places high importance on teaching handwriting and confirms the importance of achieving automaticity, so that the child's higher processes of thinking can be released to work on compositional skills, rather than be consumed by the motor, sensory and perception demands of transcription.

Good early practice in handwriting teaching seeks to establish secure foundations from the beginning then to practise, refine and extend skills. Continuity and consistency are essential factors in helping children retain movement patterns. Those advocating the early teaching of fully cursive with "lead in" or "entry" strokes (see Fig. 1 below), wish to establish this practice from school entry (Reception) so that children do not have to alter movement patterns at a later stage. Whilst this model sounds plausible and is successful with some children, my concern is that it is unsupported pedagogically, is unnecessary and creates failure in some of the youngest and most vulnerable children. I will proceed to outline my reasons:

Early writers

Some children will be already reading and writing letters when they start Reception, including those attending Nursery classes in the same school. The letters they use, and those in the wider print environment, are not likely to have entry strokes. What are the implications for continuity and consistency?

Statutory requirements:

There are no requirements to teach fully cursive writing either in the EYFS or in the National Curriculum. Indeed, the National Curriculum for English places emphasis on the acquisition of letter shape, space and size before joins are taught and delivers clear messages that some letters are best left un-joined.

For Year 2 pupils (6-7 years), the requirements include the following:

Year 2 Statutory guidance
In writing, pupils should be able to form individual letters correctly, so establishing good handwriting habits from the beginning.

Pupils should be taught to:
* form lower-case letters of the correct size relative to one another
* start using some of the diagonal and horizontal strokes needed to join letters and understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left un-joined.

Year 2 Notes and guidance: non-statutory
Pupils should revise and practise correct letter formation frequently.
They should be taught to write with a joined style as soon as they can securely form letters with the correct orientation.

And for Years 3-4 (ages 7-9)

Lower Key Stage 2 Programme of Study (Statutory requirements)
Pupils should be taught to:
* use the diagonal and horizontal strokes that are needed to join letters and
* understand which letters, when adjacent to one another, are best left un-joined.

The National Curriculum reflects the position that there is no evidence supporting the notion that schemes which use "lead in" strokes and fully cursive writing are in any way superior to those in which letters start at the top and join with an exit stroke. Although "lead in strokes" are taught widely in other European countries, there is an important age difference for when formal writing is introduced, i.e. at around 7 years of age, as opposed to 4-5 years in England.

Fig. 1. Example of cursive letterforms with entry and exit strokes

Developmental factors

Handwriting is a complex perceptual-motor skill that is dependent upon the maturation and integration of a number of cognitive, perceptual and motor skills (see Fig. 2 below). Achievement demands the orchestration of multiple skills involving the eyes, arms, hands, memory, posture and body control as well as managing pencil, paper and following instructions.

Fig. 2. Areas of development underpinning handwriting (Michelle van Rooyen)

This is no easy task for the very young, especially those "summer born" children who are still only 4 years of age for most of their Reception year. At the end of that year, the Early Learning Goals set demanding benchmarks of attainment. Assessment of handwriting is to be found in Goals 4 and 10, which include these requirements:

Early Learning Goal 4 Writing:
Expected descriptors
* They also write some irregular common words.
* They write sentences which can be read by themselves and others. Some words are spelt correctly and others are phonetically plausible.
Exceeding descriptors
* They use key features of narrative in their own writing.

Early Learning Goal 10 Physical: Moving and handling
Expected descriptors
Children show good control and co-ordination in large and small movements.
They handle equipment and tools effectively, including pencils for writing.
Exceeding descriptors
* They hold paper in position and use their preferred hand for writing, using a correct pencil grip.
* They are beginning to be able to write on lines and control letter size

Fig. 3. Extracts from Early Learning Goals 4 and 10

There is, quite simply, enough to do without adding extra requirements. The importance of the Foundation stage is in the name! Foundation skills in handwriting should be focused on all of the areas outlined in Fig. 2. Practitioners need to be fully aware that the premature rush to get children "joining their writing" when prerequisite skills are immature, may leave a legacy of handwriting problems that will be difficult to reverse at a later stage. The development of the right oblique stroke necessary for entry strokes is emerging between the ages of 4 and 5. Children with delayed development are likely to struggle to achieve this movement and experience frustration.

Fig. 4. From VMI Administration, Scoring and Teaching Manual. 6th Edition (Beery, 2010) (summarised by Michelle van Rooyen)

For many children in our schools and their teachers, the writing demands of EYFS pose a huge challenge. The letterforms used need to be as simple and fail-proof as possible, with letters taught in "formation families" which reflect the motor patterns required to write them. Moreover, these letters are similar to those found in texts, unlike those with entry strokes which can look quite different. Joining, whenever it is seen to be desirable, can be taught quite simply using the exit strokes of these letter forms.

Fig. 5. Letter formation families (from Penpals for Handwriting, Cambridge, 2010)

Children with Special Educational Needs

The requirement to join at 4 to 5 years places a heavy burden on children who may already be struggling to establish basic handwriting skills, especially some of the "summer born" and those with developmental coordination difficulties. Such children may want to be doing the same as their peers and will create their own joined script. Below is one example of writing by a child with such problems at the end of Year 1. He has received considerable support and encouragement in both years, but the demands of joining before he was developmentally ready has left a legacy of confusion.

Fig 6. Example of writing by a child at the end of Year 1 showing confusions with joining

In Conclusion

Handwriting teaching in many English schools is a subject of concern. There is a widespread lack of professional development in this field. Newly qualified teachers often start with little or no knowledge of the subject and there is inadequate understanding of the skills that underpin sustained development. There are frustrating contradictions between the expectations in the EYFS and the National Curriculum documents coupled with pressure on schools to achieve ambitious early outcomes. Recent government advice on how to teach handwriting has been scarce. There was excellent advice in Developing Early Writing, Section 3 (DfES, 2001) but in most schools this publication has been buried in the tsunami of other initiatives. Also widely unknown is the helpful circular, Developing handwriting (2009). The EYFS publication Mark Making Matters (2008), contained helpful advice, but omitted specific guidance about teaching letterforms.

In this climate, it is all too easy for practitioners to "fast forward" to what appears to be accelerated progress and ignore signs of un-readiness. The focus of the Reception year should be to foster and strengthen the areas of development which provide the basis for long-term success in handwriting and to identify those children who need extra provision to strengthen their skills. There is a pressing need for teachers to "hurry slowly" when growing
young writers!

Pam Hulme
EYFS
http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/eyfs-statutory-framework/

Early Years Profile
https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/301256/2014_EYFS_handbook.pdf

Beery, K. E., & Beery, N. A. (2010). The Beery-Buktenica Developmental Test of Visual-Motor Integration: Administration, Scoring, and Teaching Manual (6th Ed.). Minneapolis, MN: NCS Pearson.

Developing Early Writing
http://www.sassoonfont.co.uk/fonts/sas/pri_lit_dev_wrtng_005501.pdf

Developing Handwriting
http://www.foundationyears.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Gateway-to-WritingDeveloping-handwriting.pdf

Mark Making Matters
https://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20110505142405/https://www.education.gov.uk/publications/eOrderingDownload/Mark_Making_Matters.pdf

Penpals for Handwriting
http://www.cambridge.org/penpals

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Teaching Fully Cursive Writing in Reception

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I write as a teacher with more than forty years of experience in primary classrooms, subject leadership and management. Many of those years have been with the youngest children in school, including Nursery. I have been involved in literacy education at local, national and international levels and have a particular passion for the teaching of handwriting.

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by Lorinda K. F. Newton A friend sent birthday cards to each of my children (ages 22 and 17) with handwritten notes. My son turned to me and said, "I can't read this cursive." Picking up the card, I read the message. To be honest, my friend's handwriting was difficult to read.