The relationship between handwriting, reading, fine motor and visual-motor skills in kindergarteners

Abstract

Little is known about handwriting development in kindergarten. A vast number of studies can be found on reading, but few include writing skills and even fewer include handwriting skills in kindergarteners. This study examined the relationship between 7handwriting and reading measures at the kindergarten midyear using the Alphabet Writing Test (Clark, 2010), Name Writing Test (Clark, 2010), and the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS; Good & Kaminiski, 2002). The 48 participating students ranged in ages from 68 to 82 months, with boys making up 53.8% of the study. Significant correlations were found between handwriting measures and DIBELS measures. Students who scored lower on DIBELS measures also scored lower on handwriting measures. The study also found a significant difference between the student's legibility in writing upper case letters compared to lower case letters; however, the speed of writing these letters was not significantly different. Variables that predicted alphabet writing included the student's age, ability to write first and last name, and the score on the DIBELS Initial Sound Fluency. Variables that predicted name writing were the student's age, writing the upper and lower case alphabet, the Beery TM Visual Motor Integration (Beery & Berry, 2006), and Motor Coordination test (Beery & Beery, 2006). The implications for kindergartener's handwriting skills and future research are discussed.

Development of white matter tracts between and within the dorsal and ventral streams

“…The apparent discrepancy with the single study finding a relationship between pArc and literacy in the age range of our sample suggests that future work will be necessary to better understand the relationship between the pArc and literacy development. Indeed, a breadth of behavioral work has indicated that visual-motor skill development positively predicts literacy development in this age range (93)(94)(95)(96)(97)(98)(99) , suggesting that the left pArc's relationship with visual-motor skill may be a precursor to its relationship with literacy.…”

“…A large amount of work suggests an association between microstructure of PVP tracts and reading in children 7 years and older (26)(27)(28)(29)(30)(31)(32) ; however, our sample was 5-8 years of age. We, therefore, included visual-motor and fine-motor skill measures in the regression because a large amount of work has demonstrated that these two skills positively predict future literacy attainment (93)(94)(95)(96)(97)(98)(99) . The dependent variable was the z-scored microstructural property (i.e., FA), averaged across tracts within the PVP, and the independent variables were the z-scored behavioral composite measures, as well as age in months and sex, excluding interaction terms.…”

Classroom Teacher Candidates’ Metaphoric Perceptions Regarding the Concepts of Reading and Writing: A Comparative Analysis

“…In a study conducted by Eroğlu (2013), the relationship between teacher candidates' reading habits and accurate writing skills was found positive, and students who read more frequently were successful in written expression. Similarly, in his study, Clark (2010) put forth that there is a relationship between handwriting and early literacy skills.…”

Visual motor integration delay in preschool children infected with HIV

“…The impact of poor VMI development on the education occupational performance area must therefore be considered and emphasised in children with HIV. A significant relationship exists between visual analysis, fine motor, visual motor integration with handwriting, reading and mathematical performance in the early school years 14,15 . Visual-motor skills, or VMI is required for the integration of visual images of letters or shapes with a motor output and is an important pre-writing skill.…”