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Proper Posture for Handwriting
Proper Posture for Handwriting
Maintaining good posture ensures your body is in good alignment and that stress on your muscles, joints and ligaments are distributed evenly across your body. Poor posture can cause increased strain on your body, leading to fatigue, tight or achy muscles in your neck, back, arms and legs, joint stiffness and pain.
Sitting with good posture during handwriting tasks, is therefore very important and while most issues with handwriting are often associated with poor fine motor skills or difficulties with pencil grip, the impact of good sitting posture and core strength are often overlooked.
Click Home Seating Guidelines to see tips on proper posture when writing.
Signs of poor posture or poor core strength:
Slouching back in chair
Leaning forward close to the paper
Constant movement or shifting positions
Resting head in non-dominant hand or on the table
Dangling non-dominant arm/hand beside body instead of stabilizing the paper
Poor balance in chair
Fatigue or complaints of tiredness
What does correct sitting posture for handwriting look like?
Feet flat on the floor
Thighs parallel to floor and knees at a 90 degree angle
Back up straight, inclined towards the desk and pivoted from the hips
Forearms resting on desk with elbows level with the desktop at 90 degrees
Paper stabilized with non-dominant hand
Neck and shoulders relaxed
Body faces desk squarely so non-dominant arm can support body weight
Paper tilted to the up to the right (if right handed) or up to the (if left handed)
What to do at home if your child has poor posture....
What to do at home if your child has poor posture....
If your child is demonstrating poor posture, work on improving core strength at home by trying some of these Motor Activities at home:
Follow along Pediatric Therapy Essentials: Core Exercises for Kids and Teens | Movement Break
Check out more core strengthening activities by clicking here or by visiting Darebee for home exercise programs to strengthen those muscles!
References for Proper Posture
References for Proper Posture
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