The Road to Writing and Moving in Early and Middle Childhood

Original Editor - Jess Bell based on the course by Tracy Prowse
Top Contributors - Jess Bell, Naomi O'Reilly, Kim Jackson, Tarina van der Stockt, Wanda van Niekerk and Cindy John-Chu

This article or area is currently under construction and may only be partially complete. Please come back soon to see the finished work! (5/08/2021)

Introduction

Postural control begins in the brain and ends in the hand or foot. Typically, by the age of 7 years, postural control should be consolidated and automatic and children will be “writing ready” and “sport ready”. However, some children may not develop this postural control for a number of reasons:

• They may be too floppy or bendy - i.e. they have low connective tissue tone with underlying weaknesses, even if they are sporty. This may be caused by conditions such as:
  • Benign joint hypermobility syndrome
  • Marfan syndrome
  • Ehlers–Danlos Syndrome (EDS)
  • The Beighton Scale is used to measure hypermobility
• Lack of practice, which leads to muscle weakness
• An inability to concentrate on one specific activity
• A child’s temperament
  • Too shy
  • Too nervous
  • Gives up easily
• Children who have different brain development, which affects their ability to learn from everyday experiences - i.e. children who do not learn by “doing”

Learning Through Play

Figure 1. Learning through play.

As is shown in Figure 1, children typically experience by “doing” things. The more “doing”, the more learning. The more “doing”, the stronger their muscles get. Strong muscles and exercise are good for writing, reading, concentrating and exercising. Exercise is also good for happiness, health, friendships.

The Building Blocks of Learning

Children develop motor competence in their early years (i.e. up until 5 years old). These fundamental motor skills enable children to go onto develop specialised movement and sport skills - these skills have been associated with physical activity both in children and adults.

Bsed on the research by Ayres and Stock Kranowitz, early learning can be broken down into four levels (see Table 1):

Table 1. Four levels of early learning

Level one	Primary sensory systems	Infant 0 to 3 months, but starts in the womb	Taking in sound, taste, vision, touch and smell
Level two	Sensory motor skills	Baby to toddler 3 to 24 months	Developing independent movement Gaining body awareness and motor planning
Level three	Perceptual motor skills	2 to 4 years	Speech and language Auditory and visual discrimination Eye-hand coordination Purposeful activity
Level four	Academic and sport readiness	5 to 7 years	Specialisation and automation Organised behaviour, postural control Self-esteem and self-control

When Children are not Learning and Sport Ready

Some children may not be ready for sports or academic learning as early as others. These children may have the following characteristics:

• Poor concentration
• Fidgeting
• Inactivity / withdrawing from playground activity / sport
• Poor pencil grip
• Low academic confidence
• Physical and muscular coping strategies:
  • The strong child
  • The floppy child
• Pain

Ensuring that children engage in the cycle of doing, learning and practising can, however, help them to achieve writing and sport readiness:

• Encourage playful learning
• Be prepared for more teaching and more practice to help a child master a skill
• Instill “grit” through understanding

Other factors to Consider

• Sitting should be comfortable
  • Foot support (i.e. footstool, height adjustable chair)
  • If on the floor, consider how the child is sitting - alignment, midline orientation / focus of attention, static propping or weight collapsing?

• Allow lots of movement
  • Do not have children sitting still for more than 20 minutes (in Grade / Year 1)
  • Have movement breaks:
    • Send the child out on errands
    • Try programmes such as Straighten Up UK (see video below)

• • 

    Figure 2. Sit right then write.
    Movement plays an important part in sitting:  “a school in which movement is supported and encouraged has a positive effect on the learning ability and attentiveness of the children” (Dr Dieter Breitheckerxi)
• Practice sitting
  • Build up to 20 minutes
  • Sit right then write (see Figure 2)

Sitting in the Classroom and at Home

If a child is not coping, it can be useful to consider how this child sits and breathes while writing. If a child is hunched over a desk, head in arms, it can lead to:

• Comments such as
  • “I don’t want to do my homework”
  • “It’s boring”
  • “I am tired”
• Fidgeting
• Slumping
• Twisting
• Poor attention to a task

Possible solutions to these issues include:

• Adjusting the height of the chair
  • It is possible to use common household items to do this such as hot water bottles, cushions, yellow pages, or with a height adjustable chair
• Raising the work surface or using an inclined sloping surface
  • Feet should be placed flat on floor
  • Avoid hooking feet around chairs

• Consider furniture size (e.g. desk and chair height)
  • When selecting furniture in schools, the age and height of the child are often not considered, so the furniture is often too big or too small, which can lead to discomfort, restlessness and, thus, affect learning
  • It is possible to use wedge cushions or footstools to address these issues
• Writing slopes
  • Enable children to keep their hand under the line of writing
• Position and height of the desk need to work for the child. Consider in particular the set up for:
  • Left handed children (paper should be positioned to the left of the child's midline)
  • Tall children
  • Short children
  • It can be beneficial to invest in a “homework chair” - examples include the: Sit Right, Enzi, Stokke and Ergochair

Pre-Schoolers Sitting

For preschoolers, it is important to avoid W-sitting. Instead, aim for alignment with wedges and cushions and encourage positions such as:

• Kneeling
• All fours
• Playing in high kneeling

Children should also be encouraged to eat with good alignment - i.e. feet supported and a stable base.

Practical Solutions

See Table 2 for practical solutions to help children become reading and writing ready, to develop good writing skills and to help with "doing".

Table 2. Ideas to help children with writing and reading and "doing"

Good Writing Skills	Reading and Writing Ready	Encourage "Doing"
Cross the midline	Sand / mud play	Find activities that a child can “excel” at and not be the odd one out (children should be grouped according to ability, not age)
Painting	Spaghetti / string play	Facilitate independence in activities of daily living (doing up buttons, dressing, getting changed for PE, getting school bag ready)
Chalk	Playdough	Break down activities into steps and have a 3 step plan for each activity
Use an upright surface	Shaving foam	Give a child extra time (i.e. wake up early)
Stick page down	Blackboards	Provide choice (e.g. choose school bag)
Use thicker crayons	Cut out cardboard letters	Encourage children to exercise
	Draw lying on your back	Make time for attention (both the parent's and the child's)

Physical Activity

Guidelines for physical activity are discussed in more detail here, but it is recommended that:

• School aged children have 60 minutes of physical activity per day
• Preschoolers should have 120 minutes

Recommended screen time guidelines:

• No screen time access for children under the age of 2 years
• 1 to 2 hours of educational screen time for children aged 2 to 5 years
• Maximum of 2 hours screen time for children aged over 6 years

The Importance of Promoting Movement

While questions remain about how physical activity can best be incorporated in schools (e.g. activity breaks vs active lessons), it is important to promote movement in children for the following reasons:

• To increase muscle strength, which leads to less fidgeting
• To relieve tight muscles, which results in fewer aches and pains
• Enhances motor skills and muscle fitness
• Fitness may improve reading and maths scores
• Movement and standing in the classroom promote concentration / focus and enhance health outcomes
• To enhance executive control processes and other cognitive tasks / performance

NB: Increased PE time (and the associated decrease in academic time) does not cause a decline in academic performance

Practical activities to encourage movement are listed in Table 3.

Table 3. Activities to encourage movement in children

Leg balance	Running	Stretches, active mobilisation, yoga	Teach the child to ride a bike
Jumping	Hiking	Sensory activities	Teach the child to do handstands / cartwheels
Hopping	Walking	Ball exercises (skills and core work)	Talk about posture
Hopscotch	Leg strengthening	Teach the child to skip	Introduce healthy eating habits

The “I Can” Attitude

A child needs a sense of self efficacy and agency to engage in challenging tasks. Agency is defined as: “Being able to make choices and decisions to influence events and have impact on one’s world.”

It can be beneficial to set SMART goals for the child to enhance a child’s intrinsic motivation. The following strategies can be useful for parents to further encourage intrinsic motivation:

• Choose praise, reward effort and be specific with praise
• Acknowledge / validate and explain discomfort
  • “I can see you find sitting still very hard”
  • “The burning feeling in your legs is a sign that your muscles are getting stronger”
  • “Being out of breathe means that your heart is working very hard and you are getting fitter”
  • “I can see that this is tricky for you”
• Support children to manage themselves independently