Handwriting Expectations by Grade

At Handwriting Solutions, our biggest goal is PROGRESS! You've heard the saying progress>perfection, right?! Well that is what we strive for... making steady gains to lead to legibility (can you read it?), automaticity (does it flow?), and efficiency (is it timely?) with writing.

Progress can be measured in a variety of ways.

For our client's we informally measure a student's progress each session, PLUS every 10 sessions we use a progress measure rubric. This rubric is based on handwriting expectations for your child's grade. We can easily see where your student has grown as a writer, what strengths they can leverage, and what areas are still emerging. Finally, we complete a full re-assessment upon parent request or after 3-6 months.

But often parents aren't quite sure what to expect out of their child at each age or grade.

So we have made it easy for YOU!

Below you will see Grade Level Expectations for students in Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd & Beyond.

These are standards are sourced from Learning Without Tears and The Core Standards.

Kindergarten

Correct and efficient pencil grip for writing

Stabilize paper with non-writing hand while drawing and writing

Position writing paper appropriately

Maintain sitting posture for writing, coloring, and drawing

Demonstrate skills in printing most letters and numbers from memory.

Demonstrate correct formation of letters and numbers 

1. Start capitals at the top

2. Start numbers at the top

3. Start lowercase letters (except d and e) at the top

4. Follow standard formation sequence for letters and numbers

Orient letters and numbers correctly (with few reversals)

Place letters and numbers on a baseline (within 1/8" above or below

Write letters and numbers in a grade-appropriate size

Write his/her name: begin with a capital 

Copy from near/far point

Write two-to five-letter words using appropriate spacing between letters

Write simple two-to three-word sentences

1. Start sentences with a capital

2. Leave a clearly defined space between words

3. Use ending punctuation

Spelling

1. Write a letter or letters for most consonant and short-vowel sounds

2. Spell simple words phonetically

1st Grade

Correct and efficient pencil grip for writing

Stabilize paper with non-writing hand while drawing and writing

Position writing paper appropriately

Maintain sitting posture for writing, coloring, and drawing

Demonstrate skills in printing letters and numbers from memory

Demonstrate correct formation of letters and numbers 

1. Start capitals at the top

2. Start numbers at the top

3. Start lowercase letters (except d and e) at the top

4. Follow standard formation sequence for letters and numbers

Orient letters and numbers correctly (without reversals)

Place letters and numbers on a baseline (within 1/16" above or below

Write letters and numbers in a grade-appropriate size

Write his/her name: begin with a capital 

Copy from near/far point

Write 2-7 letter words using appropriate spacing between letters

Write simple 2-5 word sentences

1. Start sentences with a capital

2. Leave a clearly defined space between words

3. Use ending punctuation

4. Return to left margin

Copy/write a short 3-5 sentence paragraph

Write titles of written works, capitalizing the first, last, and important words

Spelling

1. Use conventional spelling for words with common spelling patterns and for frequently occurring irregular words.

2. Spell untaught words phonetically, drawing on phonemic awareness and spelling conventions

2nd Grade

Correct and efficient pencil grip for writing

Stabilize paper with non-writing hand while drawing and writing

Position writing paper appropriately

Maintain sitting posture for writing, coloring, and drawing

Demonstrate skills in printing letters and numbers from memory

Demonstrate correct formation of letters and numbers 

1. Start capitals at the top

2. Start numbers at the top

3. Start lowercase letters (except d and e) at the top

4. Follow standard formation sequence for letters and numbers

Orient letters and numbers correctly (without reversals)

Place letters and numbers on a baseline (within 1/16" above or below

Write letters and numbers in a grade-appropriate size

Write his/her name: begin with a capital

Copy from near/far point

Write 2-10 letter words using appropriate spacing between letters

1. Capitalize proper nouns

2. Place apostrophe correctly in possessives and contractions

3. End abbreviations with a period

Write simple 2-8 word sentences

1. Start sentences with a capital

2. Leave a clearly defined space between words

3. Use ending punctuation

4. Return to left margin

5. Use commas and quotation marks to indicate speech

Write a 3-5 sentence paragraph with sentence conventions including intro, body, and closing

Write titles of written works, capitalizing the first, last, and important words

Spelling

1. Generalize learned spelling patterns when writing words 

3rd Grade & Up Print

Correct and efficient pencil grip for writing

Stabilize paper with non-writing hand while drawing and writing

Position writing paper appropriately

Maintain sitting posture for writing, coloring, and drawing

Demonstrate skills in printing letters and numbers from memory

Demonstrate correct formation of letters and numbers 

1. Start capitals at the top

2. Start numbers at the top

3. Start lowercase letters (except d and e) at the top

4. Follow standard formation sequence for letters and numbers

Orient letters and numbers correctly (without reversals)

Place letters and numbers on a baseline (within 1/16" above or below

Write letters and numbers in a grade-appropriate size

Write his/her name: begin with a capital

Copy from near/far point

Write 2-10 letter words using appropriate spacing between letters

1. Capitalize proper nouns

2. Place apostrophe correctly in possessives and contractions

3. End abbreviations with a period

Write 2-8 word sentences

1. Start sentences with a capital

2. Leave a clearly defined space between words

3. Use ending punctuation

4. Return to left margin

5. Use commas and quotation marks to indicate speech

Write a 5-6 sentence paragraph with sentence conventions including intro, body, and closing

Spelling

1. Use conventional spelling for high-frequency and other studied words and for adding suffixes to base words

2. Use spelling patterns and generalizations (e.g., word families, position-based spellings, syllable patterns, ending rules, meaningful word parts) in writing words

3rd Grade & Up Cursive

Correct and efficient pencil grip for writing

Stabilize paper with non-writing hand while drawing and writing

Position writing paper appropriately

Maintain sitting posture for writing, coloring, and drawing

Pre-Cursive Skills 

1. Students will demonstrate strokes needed for cursive handwriting: strokes that change direction, retrace lines, and form loops

2. Connect an under to an over stroke, moving left to right

3. Retrace a vertical stroke

4. Retrace a curved stroke

5. Produce neat loops (ascending and descending)

Demonstrate cursive writing skills efficiently from memory

1. Form lowercase letters correctly

2. Form capitals correctly

3. Place letters on a baseline (within 1/16" above or below)

4. Write letters in a grade-appropriate size

Demonstrate correct base line connections, maintaining letter integrity

1. Connect base line ending to a baseline start (e.g., t to e)

2. Connect base line ending to a mid line start (e.g., c to a) 

Demonstrate correct high connections, maintaining letter integrity

1. Connect a high ending to a mid line start (e.g., o to u)

2. Connect a high ending to a baseline start (e.g., w to h, b to r)

Use appropriate spacing between connected letters (i.e., close together, NOT overlapping, with only connections touching)

Cross and dot appropriate letters after completing connected letters

Demonstrate correct connections from capitals

1. Write signature in cursive using correct connections

2. Use correct connections for proper nouns

Use sentence writing conventions

1. Begin with a capital

2. Leave a clearly defined space between words

3. Use ending punctuation (period, question mark, or exclamation point)

4. Use commas and quotation marks correctly to indicate speech

5. Use commas to separate items in series and to set off clauses and phrases

Write paragraphs using proper conventions

1. Write five- to six-sentence paragraphs

2. Follow the standard format of intro, body, and closing

Let us know how your child is progressing through these outcomes!

And if you find yourself noticing that your child is struggling to master these skills, book a free consultation and we will discuss your concerns.