Maria Montessori
This great interest in writing came from the ideas that children wanted to express. If they had had no ideas, they would not have written. This explosion into writing came suddenly. We could even give the exact time when each child started to write. We could say, ‘This little child began to write yesterday at three o’clock.’
The 1946 London Lectures
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A pronated grasp is one thing that we, as teachers, often see in the preschool classroom. This means that the wrist is rotated and the palm of the hand is pointed down toward the floor. You will also see that the elbow is typically elevated when a child uses this grasp. This is because the child is still using the elbow to control hand movements. When the dynamic tripod grasp is finally achieved, movement will come from the wrist rather than the elbow, and the palm will no longer be pointed down.
You may also have noticed that this child is using her right hand in one photo and using her left hand in the other photo. During the time a child is 3 to 6 years of age, the grasp changes dramatically. Some children will switch back and forth from hand to hand or grasp to grasp over time until they figure out what works best for them. As Maria Montessori stated in her 1946 London Lectures, “Writing does not come naturally, whereas spoken language does, and children have a need to develop their language.” This is particularly difficult for children who have fine motor delays, so sometimes it takes lots of practice to train the muscles to do what they are supposed to be doing.
One of the ways to do this is to have the child use tweezers to pick up small objects. Due to the small sized of tweezers cannot be “pinched” with a palmar grasp, so the child has to use the fingers to squeeze enough to pick whatever tiny object is in front of them. In this case, the objects were small plastic spiders (for a fun October activity), and to make it more interesting, the child was asked to drop the spiders into a cauldron. Variation: Have the child choose a number from a stack of number cards and count out the correct quantity of spiders.
To address the alternating of hands, the tweezers should be placed directly in front of the child in a north-south direction. This way, the child must pick up the tweezers without actively thinking about which hand to use. If the tweezers are placed closer to one hand or the other, children typically will use the hand that is closest. If the hand they are using is not the dominant hand, the child is more likely to stop often to rest. In the classroom or at home, you may notice that it takes them longer to complete activities due to the frequent breaks that they need to take.
According to Montessori, the sensitive period for language is from ages 0-6. According to Montessorians today, the children is in the sensitive period for writing, in particular, from ages 3.5-4.5. All children develop differently, however, and children with delays in other areas often have delays in fine motor, as well. No matter at what age it occurs, Montessori explained that “Driven by this inner sensibility children absorb language from their environment and miraculously develop it. This sensibility is so great during this period that if they were to be given another means of expressing language, such as writing, this other form of language will interest the child intensely. These children [love] to write because they [are] in the sensitive period for language.” Montessori activities work well to address fine motor delays, just as she designed them. Practical life activities are so easily adaptable with today’s available products, too, so children never lose interest!
I would be happy to help design specific activities to help your child at home. Simply click on “Custom-Made Material” under “Our Services” on the homepage if you are interested, and I will contact you for details.