Is 'correct' pencil grip really so important for the 4+ assessments?

When a child has the ‘correct grip’ of a pencil, they will enjoy the ‘writing’ process so much more than if they have the ‘incorrect grip’.

If your child can master the ‘correct grip’, they will have strong stability in their pencil hold. Your child will have more range and freedom of movement as they make marks on their page.

This is exactly why my bespoke year long programme of study includes tonnes of fine motor skills development. This is why we work on things like play doh, lego, beading and puzzles consistently and daily from a very young age (17 months - 3 years of age). Supporting your child with their fine motor skills will help them to develop the ‘correct grip’. I can tell immediately by looking at how a child hold their pencil if they have strong fine motor skills or not.

An ‘incorrect grip’ will inevitably lead to frustration, discomfort, fatigue, a lack of desire to write/draw/mark make and ultimately untidy handwriting in their later years.

You cannot rush a child into developing their ‘correct’ pencil grip so never, ever do this. If they haven’t mastered it and you have your 4+ assessments coming up in the next 3-4 weeks, support your child very gently by providing them with lots of fine motor activities such as play doh/lego/ puzzles and show them daily how you’d like them to try to hold their pencil. Do what your can. That’s the most your can do.

In a 4+ assessment, having the ‘correct’ pencil grip is very important in my humble opinion not because of the grip itself but because it reveals a lot about the child’s development in other key areas of learning.

I don’t really care about 4+ assessments when it comes to pencil grip. What I care about is instilling a love for writing/drawing/mark making in my very young students that will follow them into their older years and remove a load of completely unnecessary problems.

Build strong foundations. See incredible results.