Show #75- Dr Steve Graham- The Development of Writing

When over two-thirds of children can’t write well enough to keep up with the demands in the classroom, you have to wonder what is going on with writing instruction in the Nation’s classrooms. Handwriting, and the minimal instruction given in schools is only one part of the picture- getting an idea, transforming it into words, and then transcribing those words for others to see- are all involved. Add issues with grammar and syntax, and you begin to understand writing is to reading as calculus is to math- it requires you to bring all parts of the literacy puzzle into play, all at once, like an orchestra.

If you want to understand why a child may struggle in writing, and how to figure out which part of the puzzle may be causing them problems, this two-part interview is for you.

Dr. Steve Graham is a professor and the Currey Ingram chair in special education at Vanderbilt University. He’s done extensive research into the development of writing in children and writing instruction. His interests goes beyond just handwriting and into the cognitive processes that go into transforming ideas into words and then into written text. He is the editor of Exceptional Children, and has cowritten many books, including the Handbook of Writing Research, Handbook of Learning Disabilities, Writing Better, and Making the Writing Process Work. He received a career research award from the Council for exceptional Children and Special Education Research Interest Group in the American Educational Research Association.

His wife, Dr, Karen Harris, is just as impressive, serving as editor of the Journal of Educational Psychology, and President of the Division of Research for the Council for Exceptional Children.

Dr. Graham was recently quoted in an article in Newsweek, discussing the importance of handwriting in the learning process, and he was kind enough to spend an hour with me, discussing all aspects of the writing process, as kids develop during the school years. Anyone who has a child who has struggled with any aspect of writing shouldn’t miss this two-part interview, covering the three major stages of the writing process, how to give appropriate feedback to kids learning how to write, and how handwriting has both reader and writer affects, impacting how a child is perceived and how his work is judged and graded by others.

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Show #59- Jan Olsen, OTR- Handwriting Without Tears

Handwriting skills, or penmanship, is no longer taught in schools the same way it was when I was in elementary school in the 70’s. Yet, we are putting more and more emphasis on writing skills in school. While it’s natural to say “Well, it’s all about computers- they need to learn how to type, not write by hand!” and typing skills are important, the ability to be able to express yourself in writing of any sort begins with the process of learning how to manipulate pencils and have letters, words and sentences flow between your brain and the physical act required to record those thoughts on paper (or this computer screen!)

Both of my children have struggled with their handwriting, and the lack of legibility and the lack of fluidity in their handwriting” has had a serious impact on their composition skills. When handwriting is a difficult, frustrating and unrewarding chore, kids start to do as little of it as possile, and become “minimalists” in terms of their composition- doing as little as possible to skate by. Yet the demands on them to write across the curriculum in school- even in math class, continues to increase every year in school. This is not something we can afford to ignore.

Jan Olsen is an occupational therapist who has taught children handwriting for many years. Jan’s own son had problems with his handwriting, which led in part to her development of the Handwriting Without Tears Program. Most teachers don’t learn about teaching handwriting, mechanics or even the proper posture required during their education, so it’s hard to expect them to teach children the appropriate way to form their leters and numbers. Jan’s program his being used by over 2 million students and has been adopted in over 16 states as the standard handwriting curriculum. It has an emphasis on fun and success, and it has helped my kids, although we will be spending the summer breaking some bad habits and adopting some better ones, in just 5 minutes, twice a day.
In our two part conversation, Jan and I talk about why handwriting is important, and why it isn’t part of the normal curriculum. As you listen to the show, you’ll see how important things like positive reinforcement are for kids- “You’re fine, but your letters are in trouble” and how even parents can help their children succeed.

Part 2 discusses details of the Handwriting Without Tears Program in some more detail, and how the multisensory aspects of the program really help kids understand how the letters are formed and why, eventually building up to making writing an effortless, automatic task.

Handwriting without tears workbooks can be purchased from their website by clicking here.

As always, we’d love to hear your feedback! Our voicemail number is (206) 666-2343; our email is ldpodcast@gmail.com.

I’ll be attending Podcasters Across Borders the weekend of June 22-24, and I’ll be speaking at BlogPhiladelphia, July 12 & 13th. I am also one of thelead organizers of PodCamp Philadelphia. If you are interested in knowing more about any of these events, drop me a line, and I’ll send you everything you need to know!

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