StartDOT Handwriting BlogYes, handwriting is still important!http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/feed.php2015-02-20T11:16:41-05:00Help with Scissors and Cutting: Meet Mr. Munch!<p><em><span style="font-size: 16px;">Have you ever seen a child try to cut with scissors like this?</span></em></p>
<p><img class="shbrdr" style="display: block; float: right;margin-left: 15px;" src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/help-with-scissors1_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" /></p>
<p>Instead of using what is often referred to as the “thumbs up” position, children rotate their forearms & thumbs downward making cutting more difficult. As adults we try to help them get into the correct position by physically turning their hands so they are “thumbs up”…but many times children need that physical help over and over to before they get the hang of it. Solution?</p>
<h4>Meet Mr. Munch!</h4>
<p>Children know Mr. Munch needs to be on top of the paper to see where he’s going, which encourages the “thumbs up” position. If he’s not on top, the child self corrects (which is best!) or needs a simple verbal cue such as “where’s Mr. Munch?”, prompting him/her to reposition the scissors correctly. The added bonus …Mr. Munch also helps children stay on the path when cutting.</p>
<p><img class="shbrdr" src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/help-with-scissors2_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" /> <img class="shbrdr" src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/help-with-scissors3_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" /></p>
<p>Watch Mr. Munch in Action:</p>
<div style="margin: 0 auto; text-align: center; width: 90%;margin-bottom: 20px;"><video style="margin-left:-1%;" width="100%" poster="/images/poster.jpg" controls >
<source src="http://startdothandwriting.com/images/cuttingvideo.mp4" type='video/mp4; codecs="avc1.42E01E, mp4a.40.2"'>
<source src="http://startdothandwriting.com/images/cuttingvideo.ogv" type='video/ogg; codecs="theora, vorbis"'>
<source src="http://startdothandwriting.com/images/cuttingvideo.webm" type='video/webm; codecs="vp8, vorbis"'>
</video></div>
<h4>How to do it</h4>
<p><em><strong>Materials:</strong></em></p>
<p><img class="shbrdr" style="float: left; display: block; margin-right: 15px;" src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/help-with-scissors4_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" />Scissors- Amount depends on how many pairs of Mr. Munch scissors you want to create. <br />One glue gun <br />One pom pom ball<br />2 Googly eyes</p>
<p> </p>
<p><em><strong>Construction:</strong></em></p>
<p>Step 1: Glue googly eyes to pom-pom ball.</p>
<p><img class="shbrdr" src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/help-with-scissors5_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" /></p>
<p>Step 2: Glue pom-pom to the top scissor blade.</p>
<p><img class="shbrdr" src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/help-with-scissors6_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" /> <img class="shbrdr" src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/help-with-scissors7_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" /></p>
<p>Step3: Let dry (which happens quickly using hot glue) and Happy Cutting!!!</p>
<p><img class="shbrdr" src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/help-with-scissors8_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" /></p>
<h4>Wrapping up</h4>
<p>Cutting is not only an important skill to develop but also builds strength & coordination needed for good pencil control. Check out these great resources for more information on cutting skills:</p>
<p><a href="http://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/scissor-cutting.html" target="_blank">http://www.ot-mom-learning-activities.com/scissor-cutting.html</a></p>
<p><a href="http://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/140_Scissor%20skills.pdf" target="_blank">http://www.superduperinc.com/handouts/pdf/140_Scissor%20skills.pdf</a></p>
<p><a href="http://missmancy.com/cutting-skills/" target="_blank">http://missmancy.com/cutting-skills">http://missmancy.com/cutting-skills/">http://missmancy.com/cutting-skills</a></p>
<p><a href="http://creativeconnectionsforkids.com/2011/01/cutting-up-fine-motor-activities-to-help-develop-scissor-skills/" target="_blank">http://creativeconnectionsforkids.com/2011/01/cutting-up-fine-motor-activities-to-help-develop-scissor-skills</a></p>http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=112015-02-20T11:16:41-05:00You know you're an OT when...<p><img class="shbrdr" style="display: block; float: right; margin-left: 25px;" src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/occupational-therapy-tools1_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" />You know you’re a school based occupational therapist when you look in your purse, albeit a large one, to find the following:</p>
<ol>
<li>An assortment of pencil grips</li>
<li>Bag full of O rings and ¾” metal nuts to create a weighted pencil on a moment’s notice</li>
<li>Glue gun… to create or fix that one thing you always forget about until the next time you’re at that school</li>
<li>A few Wilbarger brushes, in a bag of course</li>
<li>Weights for a weighted vest</li>
<li>DVD of Sensory Diet Activities you need to share with staff</li>
<li>Non-latex theraband</li>
<li>Tennis Ball loaded with pennies a.k.a “Mr. Mouth” (Tennis ball adorned with googly eyes, pom-pom nose and slit cut to form a mouth. Pennies, beads and/or beans i.e., his lunch, placed in his mouth one at a time to facilitate palm to finger translation skills.)</li>
<li>Tape. Variety depends on what was handy as you were walking out the door</li>
<li>Vibrator. I know, I know. It never gets easy to say, even as a legit therapeutic tool</li>
</ol>
<p>The best part of all of this is enjoying the looks I get when I have to get some of these things out of my purse at the grocery so I can get to my wallet. Then your children have to get in there to find something, because naturally you have plenty of room for their stuff too. My daughter’s response, "Mom! Why do you have all this stuff?!" I can only say, "Honey, it’s my fondest hope that your purse will look like that someday too… as an occupational therapist!"</p>
<p><em>So what’s in your purse?</em></p>http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=132015-02-15T21:54:12-05:00Let them color on the walls!<p><em>Color on the wall to improve pencil control. What?!</em></p>
<p>Ok, we don’t mean that literally. This solution is all about location, location, location.</p>
<p>Instead of coloring, painting, drawing etc. while seated at a table, tape the papers to a wall, fridge, or sliding glass door to create a vertical work surface. This way the child’s arms aren’t resting on the table but “working” to strengthen important muscles in the arm and wrist needed for pencil control.</p>
<p><img src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/coloronthewalls_0_o.jpg" alt="Coloring on the walls" /></p>http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=82015-01-30T19:03:28-05:00Playing in the Sky, Grass, and Dirt!<p><em>Sloppy. Messy. Illegible.</em></p>
<p>Have you ever thought these words about your student’s or child’s handwriting? There are a ton of possibilities that contribute to messy handwriting but a common problem is letter placement on the lines.</p>
<p><em>Above the dash, top line, bottom line</em>… all of these "helpful" directions can be very confusing to a child who is struggling with handwriting.</p>
<p>Here's our suggestion: try using <strong><em>Sky, Grass, Dirt</em></strong> paper to make letter placement more understandable for the child. The easily-remembered colors simplify the spatial concepts of top, middle, and bottom to easily identify where the letters should go on those crazy lines.</p>
<p><img src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/skygrassdirt_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" /></p>
<p>Children quickly see when they’ve made a mistake. For example: "lowercase c does not go in the dirt…" and when they’re on the right track: "yes, lowercase p goes in the grass & dirt."</p>
<p>You’ll never get tired of hearing, "Oh I see how to do it!"</p>http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=92015-01-28T19:25:58-05:00Help with reversed numbers and letters<p>Meet Alice.</p>
<p>Her mom noticed she was having a hard time writing her numbers. They were all readable, just backwards. Sound familiar?</p>
<p>Alice was getting frustrated as Alice’s mom tried different ways to help her learn to write them correctly. Nothing seemed to work… until she tried StartDOT Handwriting. She heard about the app from Alice’s Kindergarten teacher and other moms, so she decided to give it a try.</p>
<p>What a difference! Alice’s numbers started to turn around, and the best part: it didn’t seem like work at all. Alice still loves using the StartDOT Handwriting app and now writes her numbers with confidence!</p>
<p><strong>Some notes on number and letter reversal:</strong></p>
<p><em>Reversing letters is entirely normal for kindergartners</em> and is typically nothing to worry about. Children at this age have not fully developed what is called "visual form constancy." That is, they don't understand that if you change a letter's direction, it can become a different letter or not a letter at all.</p>
<p>After all, a chair is still a chair if you flip it over and a book is still a book if you turn it upside down. And, in your child's eyes, a d should still be a d, whether it faces forward, backward, or is upside down.</p>
<p><img src="http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/content/public/upload/letterreversal_0_o.jpg" alt="undefined" /></p>
<p>Of course, if you're concerned that your child is behind, it never hurts to talk to their teacher or a class OT. Remember that your child may continue to reverse letters for a while but a good rule of thumb is that they should have this sorted out by the time they enter the third grade.</p>
<p>This aspect of handwriting skill can be mastered with practice. And our goal at StartDOT is to make number and letter practice fun!</p>http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=102015-01-18T20:13:07-05:00Tricia McKenzie Meets with Rep. Tim Walberg <p>I met with Rep. Walberg for forty-five minutes last week, and I was gratified that he and his staff would allocate so much time to one person during final week of his campaign. The meeting was very nice, enjoyable and relaxed.</p>
<p>We put together a short video from some of the photos we took during the meeting. Enjoy!</p>
<div style="width: 80%;margin: 0 auto;border: 4px solid #ccc;box-shadow: 2px 2px 6px rgba(100,100,100,.7);"><div class="videoWrapper"><iframe id="vp13n1Cu" title="Video Player" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/embed.animoto.com/play.html?w=swf/production/vp1&e=1416683899&f=zb27fxv1jNJ13yFewKsUmw&d=0&m=p&r=360p&i=m&asset_domain=s3-p.animoto.com&animoto_domain=animoto.com&options=" width="100%" height="200" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe></div></div>
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<p>I explained the StartDOT Handwriting app, what it does, and why we have been working to develop it. He was very eager to try it out and there were some funny moments when he realized he forms letters incorrectly and the app "corrected his mistakes". He joked his wife always told him she thought he formed some letters weird and this confirmed it. His aide, Dustin Krasny also joked about letter "A" not following certain rules he remembers being taught. Dustin also joked that we might not want to publicize Walberg doesn't write some of letters correctly.</p>
<p>I discussed the importance/positive impact of automatic letter writing on learning and positive correlation between handwriting competence and academic success later down the road. He easily saw connection and even commented that this app is something that would benefit his eight year-old grandson who was born prematurely and is having to work hard to develop his coordination skills We had a 4 year old boy , Simeon Strong, (we have pictures of Simeon and his mother using the app) come in and demonstrate the app. He had just started using 2 days previous and doing very well with it! Every parent loves to hear the words “I can do it!” or “I did it!”, and Congressman Walberg praised our dedication and innovation in working to make handwriting a skill that every child can successfully develop.</p>http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=32014-11-14T12:14:27-05:00Welcome to the StartDOT Handwriting Blog!<p>We are very happy to announce the launch of the StartDOT Handwriting Blog!</p>
<p>Please check back on these pages as we discuss handwriting training, latest developments in Occupational Therapy methods, handwriting teaching tips, and the latest news from StartDOT.</p>
<p> </p>http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=22014-11-14T11:29:55-05:00StartDOT App Launched<p>We are happy to announce the launch of StartDOT Handwriting on the Apple iTunes App Store!</p>http://startdothandwriting.com/handwriting-blog/index.php?controller=post&action=view&id_post=42013-06-14T18:09:21-04:00