September 11, 2025 • 24 mins
Discover why handwriting instruction is disappearing from classrooms and how this impacts your child's literacy development. In this research-backed episode, handwriting specialist Holly Britton reveals the neuroscience behind why forming letters by hand activates crucial brain pathways that typing cannot replicate.
What You'll Learn:
- Why explicit handwriting instruction is missing from most schools and its impact on reading comprehension
- The kinesthetic connection between hand movement and language acquisition in the brain
- Evidence-based strategies for teaching proper letter formation and pencil grip
- How to support children struggling with handwriting difficulties and learning differences
- Whether cursive writing still matters in digital education
- Practical tools and techniques that make handwriting easier for young learners
- What happens when handwriting instruction is delayed or skipped entirely
Key Research Discussed: Studies from Indiana University, University of Washington, and Frontiers in Psychology demonstrate that students who practice handwriting show stronger neural activation for reading and language, write more words, express more ideas, and develop better fine motor skills than those who rely solely on keyboards.
Guest Expert: Holly Britton, M.Ed., is founder of the Squiggle Squad Method, a research-based handwriting program used in schools across the United States. With 25+ years in education, Holly bridges the gap between educational neuroscience and practical classroom application.
Perfect for: Elementary teachers, parents of young children, homeschoolers, special education professionals, and anyone interested in literacy development and brain-based learning strategies.
Resources Mentioned:
- SquiggleSquad.com - Free name worksheet generator
- Contact: holly@squigglesquad.com
- Research by Karin James (Indiana University)
- Virginia Berninger's handwriting studies (University of Washington)
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Sponsored by Dr. Gregg Hassler Jr., DMD
Trusted dental care for healthy smiles and stronger communities—building brighter futures daily.
Head to the show notes to find if this episode is CPD eligible and details on how to claim your CPD certification!
Sponsored by Dr. Gregg Hassler Jr., DMD
Trusted dental care for healthy smiles and stronger communities—building brighter futures daily.
If you have a story about what's working in your schools that you'd like to share, email me at lisa@drlisahassler.com or visit www.drlisahassler.com. Subscribe, tell a friend, and consider becoming a supporter by clicking the link: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2048018/support.
The music in this podcast was written and performed by Brandon Picciolini of the Lonesome Family Band. Visit and follow him on Instagram.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (00:00):
In a world where keyboards rule the
classroom, have we forgotten oneof the simplest yet most
powerful tools for learning?
Today, we'll explore howhandwriting shapes the brain,
boosts literacy and may justhold the key to unlocking every
child's full potential.
Welcome to the brighter side ofeducation, research, innovation
(00:29):
and resources.
I'm your host, dr Lisa Hassler,here to enlighten and brighten
the classrooms in Americathrough focused conversation on
important topics in education.
In each episode, I discussproblems we as teachers and
parents are facing and whatpeople are doing in their
communities to fix it.
What are the variables and howcan we duplicate it to maximize
(00:49):
student outcomes?
In an era where tablets andkeyboards dominate classrooms,
handwriting instruction isquietly disappearing from many
early education programs.
Yet research shows that writingby hand is far more than an
old-fashioned skill.
It's a powerful driver ofliteracy, comprehension and
brain development.
A landmark study by Karen Jamesat Indiana University found
(01:12):
that forming letters by handactivates neural pathways for
reading and language in waysthat typing does not.
Similarly, virginia Berninger's2012 University of Washington
study revealed that students whopracticed handwriting wrote
more words, expressed more ideasand wrote faster than peers
using keyboards.
The motion of shaping eachletter strengthens memory for
(01:35):
language, aiding spelling,reading, fluency and
comprehension.
A 2020 Frontiers in Psychologyreview further showed that
explicit handwriting instructionsupports fine motor skills,
attention, working memory andacademic confidence.
Without it, children often facelasting challenges in reading,
writing and self-expression.
One form of handwriting,cursive, has largely vanished
(01:57):
from schools since the CommonCore Standards of 2010, but
research shows it engages thebrain differently from print,
can improve fluency andcomprehension, and may help
students with dyslexia avoidcommon letter reversals.
Beyond the cognitive benefits,cursive can be highly motivating
, giving children a sense ofaccomplishment and pride when
mastered.
To help us understand why thismatters and how to address it,
(02:20):
we're joined by handwritinginstruction specialist Holly
Britton.
As the founder of SquiggleSquad Method, she has spent over
25 years helping children,parents and educators strengthen
the connection between hand andbrain to boost literacy and
learning.
Her approach, grounded ineducational neuroscience, offers
practical strategies thatempower both teachers and
(02:40):
students.
Holly, welcome to the BrighterSide of Education, thank you so
nice to be here.
Holly Britton (02:45):
What brought you on the path to handwriting?
Having children got me intoeducation and, unexpectedly in
homeschooling.
Later I just got so intoteaching and education, ended up
going into private school andpublic schools.
All of that introduced me toaspects of handwriting across
various institutions and how itwas being addressed in the
(03:08):
nation.
I saw a huge gap and a lot ofmisunderstanding about how it
affects learning.
As we have watched handwritingfade into the background.
We're also seeing spiralingliteracy rates and just wonder
if they couldn't be somewhatrelated.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (03:26):
So, squigglesquat, when did you
start this and how did it begin?
Holly Britton (03:29):
I tried some of the methodologies when I was
coaching kinder was seeing thatteachers coming into the
profession had not been trainedin how to teach children to
handwrite at really young ages.
So you're starting at four,five and and six years old and
they jump right into writing asa way of expressing yourself
without any of the base skillbuilding that was necessary at a
(03:52):
very young age.
So I went in trying totroubleshoot that and found out
that the closer I got to theirdevelopmentally appropriate
modalities, the better successwe had with handwriting, namely
allowing kids to move and usingmovement as a way of honing the
coordination and dexterityskills that they would need to
(04:13):
write letters by hand.
Fast forward, I was watchingkids from different backgrounds
in mid to higher elementarylevels and realizing that we're
missing foundational skills.
There's so much research outthere.
It's not for lack of researchor misunderstanding about
handwriting in literacy, it'sthat that information is stuck
(04:36):
in the books and has not yetreached the classrooms.
So I wanted to be that bridgebetween what we know to be true
in research and what we'repracticing in the classroom, and
Squiggle Squad was born.
My daughter is my co-founder.
She is a graphic designer andwe are about five years into it,
we are now in schools acrossthe United States.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (04:55):
What do you think is missing in handwriting
instruction as it stands today?
What kind of gaps have you seenand how do you see it show up
in other aspects of studentslearning?
Holly Britton (05:06):
Not to be too cavalier about this, but we're
actually missing handwritinginstruction.
Yeah, it's not being explicitlytaught and it's not being
championed as a tool forliteracy learning.
It's been pushed to a backtable, if at all.
It's been expected that thekids will just pick it up as
they go.
We show them a symbol that wecall a letter and we expect them
to make it, as if they know howto form it correctly.
(05:29):
So effectively they are drawingshapes.
So there's no efficiency.
There's no attention to sizingor spacing, to baseline and
capital versus lowercase.
All of that affects legibilityand if it's too hard for a child
to do, they're not going towant to do it.
And instead of teaching themhow to do it and showing them
(05:49):
properly and then giving themthe practice to do it, the
teacher simply sees the messywriting and says I know you can
do better, go change that.
And they send it back withoutany instruction to that kid and
the kid's going okay.
So how does a child make itbetter?
They go slower, they think moreabout the writing than the
concepts they are writing.
(06:09):
So we've now taken them awayfrom higher level learning back
to foundational skill practice,that window of opportunity for
affecting handwriting to make itefficient and legible and
automatic happens at the lowergrades.
I mean they're just notaddressing handwriting at all
past first and second grade.
Once you get past that, themuscle memory takes over and you
(06:32):
write the way you write, andchanging it is nearly impossible
, especially if it's neveraddressed.
So what Squiggle Squad does isseparates the motor skill from
the letter learning, so that weare practicing physical and
we're practicing cognitive.
And when the child is ready tomeet the two, then they can put
a pencil in their hand and trytracing letters with a finger
(06:53):
and they're learningdirectionality.
They're learning the symbolsneeded to understand handwriting
instruction, because if yougive kids dotted lines with a
dot and an arrow and tell themto practice, they will ignore
those dots and arrows.
I've sat in kindergartenclasses where the teacher gives
them a book and, by the way, thebook is very fat and their
(07:14):
hands are very little so theycan't hold down the binding
while they practice theirwriting and I sit at that table
and I watch those kidspracticing.
They're struggling the entiretime and they're writing.
However, they want bottom totop, clockwise instead of
counterclockwise, so the kidbelieves that's the way you're
supposed to do it, and theresults are felt all the way up
(07:35):
the academic pipeline.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (07:36):
We have a lot of focus on getting the content
in, and so handwriting, when itcomes to the language arts block
, diminishes because you'retrying to get in all those other
skills.
Holly Britton (07:46):
When we compartmentalize handwriting,
especially at the early years,where we push it into a block
and we say we're going topractice handwriting now, now
we're going to leave it and dosocial studies, where I'm going
to have you write about yourfamily, but there's no attention
paid to the way that they writein their social studies block,
then you are reinforcing badhabits over good habits, because
(08:09):
the less time you spend in thathandwriting block, the more
time you need to give thempractice doing it correctly.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (08:16):
Little ones have those tiny little hands.
What do you think is like bestto start off material?
Holly Britton (08:21):
wise.
So this is a great question.
We should understand why we usethe writing implements we use.
I like to say don't start ahabit you have to break If a
child can let them.
If a child at the age of fourcan hold a standard size pencil
and form letters with littleeffort, there's no reason for me
(08:42):
to go to a small pencil or afat pencil or even a crayon,
though it does help handstrength a lot to use fatter,
smaller things.
You can use those as tools fordeveloping the skills that they
need the strength, thecoordination, the dexterity.
If they struggle with dexterityand they can't pinch their
(09:03):
fingers around a small pencil,then give them a fatter pencil.
If their hand's very small andthey're having a problem
controlling the top part of thepencil, their hand's very small
and they're having a problemcontrolling the top part of the
pencil because it's too long andunwieldy, then give them a
short pencil so that they don'thave to worry about that extra
length.
But as soon as they can and youdo start seeing a tripod or a
(09:24):
quad and hold, then just givethem a regular pencil and you
can make a big deal of it.
The same would go for pencilgrips.
Maybe their problem is holdingthree, so you need a level three
hold, one that you can do.
And maybe it's that they theyare using their wrist too much,
in which case you would choose adifferent one that maybe gives
them a little bit of of cushion.
(09:45):
The reasons why you're givingthem what you're giving them.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (09:48):
You talked about motions and the movement
of the strokes.
That kinesthetic connection Doyou want to elaborate on when it
comes to handwriting and howthat motion of writing then
shapes the language pathways inthe brain?
Holly Britton (10:01):
Yeah, this is the part that's really exciting
when it comes to languageacquisition and literacy
learning.
So we learn first about thewritten word through our eyes
and our ears and eventually whatwe pronounce.
So all of that is coming fairlynaturally and then acquired,
more so when a child is read toseeing print in front of them,
(10:25):
and then slowly they begin tomake that association with the
squiggles they see in a book oron paper, to the sounds that
they're hearing from the mouthof an adult reading.
To them that's just super,super slow and we call it print
emergence.
So they don't fully understandthe symbolism behind all of it
or the decoding part of it.
(10:46):
So that's where phonics comesin.
We start to show them the shapeon the page that's called a, b,
and we start telling them thesound it makes is B.
So now we want them to be ableto reproduce sound.
We call that encoding.
So they're decoding one way.
Now we want them to write it,which is encoding.
That's the next step.
(11:07):
And we want them to do it in away that when they start putting
them together, the movement isefficient, because the end goal
of handwriting is quick,efficient, automatic and legible
writing, and that needs to seemsuper natural.
So in order to make it feelnatural, we need to tuck it into
(11:30):
long-term memory and we do thatin part kinesthetically.
We write the letter on the page, which reinforces the different
regions of the brain that istrying to understand language,
that is trying to make aconnection between what they're
seeing and the cognitiveprocesses necessary to come to
that light bulb moment that saysoh, I get it.
(11:53):
Kinesthetic movement has beenshown in many, many aspects, not
just handwriting, to helpsolidify learning in a young
child especially.
So when we do things we imprintthem better into our brain.
So when they are physicallyready to hold a pencil and make
movement, then we can startusing the kinesthetic connection
(12:15):
to help them understand howlanguage is used on paper.
And what handwritinginstructors should be aware of
is that when you're teaching achild a letter, you in your mind
know that that letter is goingto attach to another letter.
It's going to attach to anotherletter.
It's going to become a word anda sentence and a paragraph.
(12:36):
So even though a child doesn'tunderstand that, it's really
important that the efficiency ofthat first letter is such that
they're set up for the nextletter and the next letter,
because in the end, we want thathand to flow so that it can be
used as a tool for thinking,learning and communicating.
And if our hand doesn't flow,then our thoughts can't flow.
(12:59):
We need it to be so automaticthat we can think about what
we're thinking and not about howwe get it on paper.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (13:07):
There's ownership when it comes to
writing.
If you've created a paper andyou write it handwriting first
your summary, your outline, yourideas you have more ownership.
It stays in your memory forrecall longer, better.
Holly Britton (13:20):
I think that teachers of young children need
to know that they're giving thema tool for the rest of their
life.
It accesses a part of yourbrain that nothing else can
access.
So we know people.
When they need to think deeper,they go to handwriting.
They say that handwritingmastery doesn't happen until
sometimes in the middle schoolgrades and sometimes higher.
What?
Dr. Lisa Hassler (13:41):
kind of tips do you have for teachers or
parents whose child may bestruggling with legible
handwriting?
Holly Britton (13:48):
Broadly speaking , the best thing that you can do
for a child is to evaluate theissue at hand, whether it's
legibility or sizing ordirectionality.
Start big and get smaller bydoing large muscle movement,
making those stroke movements inthe air, tracing them large on
(14:08):
big pieces of paper, get themcoordinating their eye and their
hand with a little bit ofguidance, and allow that
physical movement to happenbefore you're asking them to
reproduce it from memory.
And then you start to shrinkeverything in from the sides and
bring it down to the hand-onpencil.
(14:28):
Once you get to writing lettersyou don't want to write too big
because you start drawing thatletter instead of writing it
like a letter.
So we do want to play withthose sizings a little bit.
Make sure that thedirectionality is not an issue
for that kiddo.
More times than not it is Top tobottom and clockwise circles
are the most common, but it'salso excessive pencil lifts.
(14:50):
Like you get one letter thatdoesn't have to have a pencil
lift at all and they might lifttheir pencil twice to make that
one letter.
Go back to the traditionalformation of lowercase letters
and get that flow as best youcan.
And again, if it has to startbig and get small, then do that
and bring them up incrementally.
What about sandpaper?
Dr. Lisa Hassler (15:10):
letters, shaving cream I always loved the
shaving cream.
Yes, we did shaving cream andchalk as well.
I taught Montessori theirsandpaper letters were always
very nice.
The kids seemed to really enjoythe texture of it.
What about like lefties?
Holly Britton (15:24):
If we are trying to teach letter formation,
doing it in interesting ways, itdoesn't matter if it's
sandpaper or chalk or shavingcream.
You are getting them to movetheir muscles in the direction
you want them to move theirmuscles.
So you're still improvingmuscle memory in the direction
associated with handwriting orletter formation strokes.
I do have a lefty, and when Iasked him about designing a
(15:47):
handwriting program for leftiesspecifically, I said is there
anything that you wouldrecommend that I design into
this program that would havehelped you as a lefty?
And he said well, mom, just thefirst thing is don't let them
write over the top of their hand.
So you know how leftiessometimes will hook their hand
over the top of their fingers inorder to sort of pull the
(16:08):
pencil across, ostensibly tokeep it from smudging.
But what I have seen is it hasmore to do with the push-pull
aspect of writing, because theysomehow have figured out that
that pushing across motion iseasier for them than to get
underneath and pull it across.
In the end, what our endobjective is is that they have
(16:32):
this automatic, efficientwriting, but also comfortable.
We don't want to cause any kindof carpal tunnel or pressure.
We want to build up longevityin a way that they can sustain
it over the course of theirlifetime without hurting
themselves.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (16:47):
I have a left-handed son and he
definitely did the hook over andwas always very annoyed with
like spirally on the left, andwhen you were talking about
having to push down and holddown a book while writing, it
became very hard.
As righties too.
It depends on, I guess, whichside of the book you're writing
on.
So I didn't know if there waslike any sort of strokes or
(17:07):
strategies that you knew thatwould maybe help out those
lefties.
Yeah.
Holly Britton (17:12):
They basically write the same way.
It's just that the movement isa push or a pull versus, you
know, depending on the formationof each letter.
In our program we specificallyhave booklets that lay flat, so
that you don't have to worryabout that binding as you're
learning how to form letters, doyou?
Dr. Lisa Hassler (17:28):
think hand strength has become an issue for
poor handwriting.
When I was teaching, I wouldgive them putties of different
strengths that they would twistand pull and I would hide things
inside there.
So they would have to pull itand we would go from a softer
putty to a tougher one and thatstrength in their hands I didn't
(17:50):
know if that was ever an issuethat you had come across or had
any advice for.
Did they like those activities?
Holly Britton (17:56):
Oh, they loved it.
Yes, yeah, that's what I foundtoo, that they actually enjoyed
that.
I think this problem is gettingworse and in the three years
I've been in classrooms doingthis with many children, I have
absolutely seen the lack of handstrength and I think that those
kinds of things that you'redoing are awesome.
I also think parents just needto get those kids outside
(18:18):
climbing monkey bars and doingthings that actually strengthen
their hands and not usehandwriting to strengthen their
hand.
Use those outside activitiesand even Lego building and putty
manipulation, play-doh sorting,pinching.
Those activities absolutelycontribute to a child's ability
(18:38):
to write by hand.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (18:39):
A lot of schools have stopped teaching
cursive, but I found that thekids in my classroom were so
excited to learn it.
They wanted to learn it.
It was like a sign of thembeing grown up, and so when they
were done learning the lowerand the uppercase and they
wanted to get quills, it wasexciting for them.
So what are your thoughts oncursive?
Holly Britton (18:57):
In the past it was an art form, because
handwriting was used in all ofour business negotiations and
personal interactions.
How you wrote and the way itlooked was a reflection on your
education and your intellect.
It's not so much that anymore,but what it is really important
(19:19):
for is speed and efficiency.
So there are some people likemyself who continue to use print
, but because I know cursive, Iwill do a hybrid of the two for
efficient handwriting.
That is okay.
However, a child will never usethat or come to that if they're
never taught that.
So again, we are depriving themof a possible useful tool for
(19:42):
their life if we don't give themthat option.
I used to have girls stay in atlunch in my classroom because
the school didn't teach cursive.
But they knew that I knewcursive and they wanted me to
teach them.
Once they have the print inproper direction, adding that
little ligature is just notdifficult.
(20:03):
Then it is like their eyes areopen.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (20:05):
They're like it's not a mystery what happens
when handwriting is notaddressed in the child's early
years?
Holly Britton (20:11):
Motor memory sinks in and it becomes almost
impossible to change it later.
Memory sinks in and it becomesalmost impossible to change it
later, unless you get realbuy-in from an older student
that wants to get better at getfaster or more efficient or make
handwriting more easier for himor herself.
It's really really ingrained inthe muscle memory.
It's very hard to changewithout deliberate, intentional,
(20:32):
focused instruction.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (20:33):
I've even seen where they completely avoided
it at all costs.
It's very laborious and theyknow that it doesn't look good
If they're exchanging paperswith their peers.
You know, as they get older andsomeone is like, well, I'm
supposed to read your work to beable to grade it like a pair
thing and I can't read it, andso that doesn't feel good.
Holly Britton (20:49):
Not only the kids avoid it, but when it's
laborious for the kids, theteachers avoid it.
The more the teachers avoid it,the less the kids are going to
learn.
There's a recent article in theNew York Times about college
professors needing to go back toBlue Book because of AI
cheating that's happening arehaving a hard time doing that
because the kids can't write byhand.
It affects them all the way upthe academic pipeline.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (21:11):
What would you hope parents, teachers and
schools consider when it comesto handwriting instruction?
Holly Britton (21:17):
It needs to be addressed early and it needs to
be addressed well.
Handwriting instruction mattersto young children.
Breaking it down intoincremental pieces is super,
super important and if you dothat and it remains easy for
students, then as you increasethe challenge, they're up for it
because they have experiencedthe intrinsic reward of being
(21:39):
able to do it.
Once that window closes, it'svery hard to get it back.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (21:43):
So where can parents or teachers go to be
able to access your resourcesand the Squiggle Squad program?
Holly Britton (21:50):
Yeah, pretty easy.
Just find me atsquigglesquadcom.
Any contact form on there willreach me personally.
Or you can reach me at holly atsquigglesquadcom.
Any contact form on there willreach me personally or you can
reach me at holly atsquigglesquadcom.
I'd love for your listeners toknow about our free name
worksheet generator.
That's on the homepage of thewebsite.
They can go on there, put theirkiddos' names in the form and
(22:11):
it'll print out Squiggle Squadstyle their name.
On guidelines to help kidslearn the capital letter at the
first of their name.
On guidelines to help kidslearn the capital letter at the
first of their name and thelowercase letters to follow.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (22:21):
Oh, that's wonderful and perfect timing for
the beginning of the year, whenteachers are definitely running
those off and making sure thatthey are learning how to write
their name properly and well.
Thank you so much for sharingwhat you're doing with Squiggle
Squad, your insights onhandwriting, how it connects to
language, and your differentstrategies.
I think that it's somethingthat we don't talk enough about,
(22:42):
and so I'm really excited thatyou came on to talk about it
with us.
So thank you.
Thank you for inviting me.
It was a pleasure.
I encourage you to look at howhandwriting is taught, or not
taught, in your classroom orhome.
If you have a story aboutwhat's working in your schools
that you'd like to share, youcan email me at lisa at
drlisahasslercom, or visit mywebsite at wwwdrlisahasslercom
(23:05):
and send me a message.
If you like this podcast,subscribe and tell a friend.
The more people that know, thebigger impact it will have.
And if you find value to thecontent in this podcast,
consider becoming a supporter byclicking on the supporter link
in the show notes.
It is the mission of thispodcast to shine light on the
good in education so that itspreads, affecting positive
(23:25):
change.
So let's keep working togetherto find solutions that focus on
our children's success.
In a world where keyboards rule the
classroom, have we forgotten oneof the simplest yet most
powerful tools for learning?
Today, we'll explore howhandwriting shapes the brain,
boosts literacy and may justhold the key to unlocking every
child's full potential.
Welcome to the brighter side ofeducation, research, innovation
(00:29):
and resources.
I'm your host, dr Lisa Hassler,here to enlighten and brighten
the classrooms in Americathrough focused conversation on
important topics in education.
In each episode, I discussproblems we as teachers and
parents are facing and whatpeople are doing in their
communities to fix it.
What are the variables and howcan we duplicate it to maximize
(00:49):
student outcomes?
In an era where tablets andkeyboards dominate classrooms,
handwriting instruction isquietly disappearing from many
early education programs.
Yet research shows that writingby hand is far more than an
old-fashioned skill.
It's a powerful driver ofliteracy, comprehension and
brain development.
A landmark study by Karen Jamesat Indiana University found
(01:12):
that forming letters by handactivates neural pathways for
reading and language in waysthat typing does not.
Similarly, virginia Berninger's2012 University of Washington
study revealed that students whopracticed handwriting wrote
more words, expressed more ideasand wrote faster than peers
using keyboards.
The motion of shaping eachletter strengthens memory for
(01:35):
language, aiding spelling,reading, fluency and
comprehension.
A 2020 Frontiers in Psychologyreview further showed that
explicit handwriting instructionsupports fine motor skills,
attention, working memory andacademic confidence.
Without it, children often facelasting challenges in reading,
writing and self-expression.
One form of handwriting,cursive, has largely vanished
(01:57):
from schools since the CommonCore Standards of 2010, but
research shows it engages thebrain differently from print,
can improve fluency andcomprehension, and may help
students with dyslexia avoidcommon letter reversals.
Beyond the cognitive benefits,cursive can be highly motivating
, giving children a sense ofaccomplishment and pride when
mastered.
To help us understand why thismatters and how to address it,
(02:20):
we're joined by handwritinginstruction specialist Holly
Britton.
As the founder of SquiggleSquad Method, she has spent over
25 years helping children,parents and educators strengthen
the connection between hand andbrain to boost literacy and
learning.
Her approach, grounded ineducational neuroscience, offers
practical strategies thatempower both teachers and
(02:40):
students.
Holly, welcome to the BrighterSide of Education, thank you so
nice to be here.
Holly Britton (02:45):
What brought you on the path to handwriting?
Having children got me intoeducation and, unexpectedly in
homeschooling.
Later I just got so intoteaching and education, ended up
going into private school andpublic schools.
All of that introduced me toaspects of handwriting across
various institutions and how itwas being addressed in the
(03:08):
nation.
I saw a huge gap and a lot ofmisunderstanding about how it
affects learning.
As we have watched handwritingfade into the background.
We're also seeing spiralingliteracy rates and just wonder
if they couldn't be somewhatrelated.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (03:26):
So, squigglesquat, when did you
start this and how did it begin?
Holly Britton (03:29):
I tried some of the methodologies when I was
coaching kinder was seeing thatteachers coming into the
profession had not been trainedin how to teach children to
handwrite at really young ages.
So you're starting at four,five and and six years old and
they jump right into writing asa way of expressing yourself
without any of the base skillbuilding that was necessary at a
(03:52):
very young age.
So I went in trying totroubleshoot that and found out
that the closer I got to theirdevelopmentally appropriate
modalities, the better successwe had with handwriting, namely
allowing kids to move and usingmovement as a way of honing the
coordination and dexterityskills that they would need to
(04:13):
write letters by hand.
Fast forward, I was watchingkids from different backgrounds
in mid to higher elementarylevels and realizing that we're
missing foundational skills.
There's so much research outthere.
It's not for lack of researchor misunderstanding about
handwriting in literacy, it'sthat that information is stuck
(04:36):
in the books and has not yetreached the classrooms.
So I wanted to be that bridgebetween what we know to be true
in research and what we'repracticing in the classroom, and
Squiggle Squad was born.
My daughter is my co-founder.
She is a graphic designer andwe are about five years into it,
we are now in schools acrossthe United States.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (04:55):
What do you think is missing in handwriting
instruction as it stands today?
What kind of gaps have you seenand how do you see it show up
in other aspects of studentslearning?
Holly Britton (05:06):
Not to be too cavalier about this, but we're
actually missing handwritinginstruction.
Yeah, it's not being explicitlytaught and it's not being
championed as a tool forliteracy learning.
It's been pushed to a backtable, if at all.
It's been expected that thekids will just pick it up as
they go.
We show them a symbol that wecall a letter and we expect them
to make it, as if they know howto form it correctly.
(05:29):
So effectively they are drawingshapes.
So there's no efficiency.
There's no attention to sizingor spacing, to baseline and
capital versus lowercase.
All of that affects legibilityand if it's too hard for a child
to do, they're not going towant to do it.
And instead of teaching themhow to do it and showing them
(05:49):
properly and then giving themthe practice to do it, the
teacher simply sees the messywriting and says I know you can
do better, go change that.
And they send it back withoutany instruction to that kid and
the kid's going okay.
So how does a child make itbetter?
They go slower, they think moreabout the writing than the
concepts they are writing.
(06:09):
So we've now taken them awayfrom higher level learning back
to foundational skill practice,that window of opportunity for
affecting handwriting to make itefficient and legible and
automatic happens at the lowergrades.
I mean they're just notaddressing handwriting at all
past first and second grade.
Once you get past that, themuscle memory takes over and you
(06:32):
write the way you write, andchanging it is nearly impossible
, especially if it's neveraddressed.
So what Squiggle Squad does isseparates the motor skill from
the letter learning, so that weare practicing physical and
we're practicing cognitive.
And when the child is ready tomeet the two, then they can put
a pencil in their hand and trytracing letters with a finger
(06:53):
and they're learningdirectionality.
They're learning the symbolsneeded to understand handwriting
instruction, because if yougive kids dotted lines with a
dot and an arrow and tell themto practice, they will ignore
those dots and arrows.
I've sat in kindergartenclasses where the teacher gives
them a book and, by the way, thebook is very fat and their
(07:14):
hands are very little so theycan't hold down the binding
while they practice theirwriting and I sit at that table
and I watch those kidspracticing.
They're struggling the entiretime and they're writing.
However, they want bottom totop, clockwise instead of
counterclockwise, so the kidbelieves that's the way you're
supposed to do it, and theresults are felt all the way up
(07:35):
the academic pipeline.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (07:36):
We have a lot of focus on getting the content
in, and so handwriting, when itcomes to the language arts block
, diminishes because you'retrying to get in all those other
skills.
Holly Britton (07:46):
When we compartmentalize handwriting,
especially at the early years,where we push it into a block
and we say we're going topractice handwriting now, now
we're going to leave it and dosocial studies, where I'm going
to have you write about yourfamily, but there's no attention
paid to the way that they writein their social studies block,
then you are reinforcing badhabits over good habits, because
(08:09):
the less time you spend in thathandwriting block, the more
time you need to give thempractice doing it correctly.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (08:16):
Little ones have those tiny little hands.
What do you think is like bestto start off material?
Holly Britton (08:21):
wise.
So this is a great question.
We should understand why we usethe writing implements we use.
I like to say don't start ahabit you have to break If a
child can let them.
If a child at the age of fourcan hold a standard size pencil
and form letters with littleeffort, there's no reason for me
(08:42):
to go to a small pencil or afat pencil or even a crayon,
though it does help handstrength a lot to use fatter,
smaller things.
You can use those as tools fordeveloping the skills that they
need the strength, thecoordination, the dexterity.
If they struggle with dexterityand they can't pinch their
(09:03):
fingers around a small pencil,then give them a fatter pencil.
If their hand's very small andthey're having a problem
controlling the top part of thepencil, their hand's very small
and they're having a problemcontrolling the top part of the
pencil because it's too long andunwieldy, then give them a
short pencil so that they don'thave to worry about that extra
length.
But as soon as they can and youdo start seeing a tripod or a
(09:24):
quad and hold, then just givethem a regular pencil and you
can make a big deal of it.
The same would go for pencilgrips.
Maybe their problem is holdingthree, so you need a level three
hold, one that you can do.
And maybe it's that they theyare using their wrist too much,
in which case you would choose adifferent one that maybe gives
them a little bit of of cushion.
(09:45):
The reasons why you're givingthem what you're giving them.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (09:48):
You talked about motions and the movement
of the strokes.
That kinesthetic connection Doyou want to elaborate on when it
comes to handwriting and howthat motion of writing then
shapes the language pathways inthe brain?
Holly Britton (10:01):
Yeah, this is the part that's really exciting
when it comes to languageacquisition and literacy
learning.
So we learn first about thewritten word through our eyes
and our ears and eventually whatwe pronounce.
So all of that is coming fairlynaturally and then acquired,
more so when a child is read toseeing print in front of them,
(10:25):
and then slowly they begin tomake that association with the
squiggles they see in a book oron paper, to the sounds that
they're hearing from the mouthof an adult reading.
To them that's just super,super slow and we call it print
emergence.
So they don't fully understandthe symbolism behind all of it
or the decoding part of it.
(10:46):
So that's where phonics comesin.
We start to show them the shapeon the page that's called a, b,
and we start telling them thesound it makes is B.
So now we want them to be ableto reproduce sound.
We call that encoding.
So they're decoding one way.
Now we want them to write it,which is encoding.
That's the next step.
(11:07):
And we want them to do it in away that when they start putting
them together, the movement isefficient, because the end goal
of handwriting is quick,efficient, automatic and legible
writing, and that needs to seemsuper natural.
So in order to make it feelnatural, we need to tuck it into
(11:30):
long-term memory and we do thatin part kinesthetically.
We write the letter on the page, which reinforces the different
regions of the brain that istrying to understand language,
that is trying to make aconnection between what they're
seeing and the cognitiveprocesses necessary to come to
that light bulb moment that saysoh, I get it.
(11:53):
Kinesthetic movement has beenshown in many, many aspects, not
just handwriting, to helpsolidify learning in a young
child especially.
So when we do things we imprintthem better into our brain.
So when they are physicallyready to hold a pencil and make
movement, then we can startusing the kinesthetic connection
(12:15):
to help them understand howlanguage is used on paper.
And what handwritinginstructors should be aware of
is that when you're teaching achild a letter, you in your mind
know that that letter is goingto attach to another letter.
It's going to attach to anotherletter.
It's going to become a word anda sentence and a paragraph.
(12:36):
So even though a child doesn'tunderstand that, it's really
important that the efficiency ofthat first letter is such that
they're set up for the nextletter and the next letter,
because in the end, we want thathand to flow so that it can be
used as a tool for thinking,learning and communicating.
And if our hand doesn't flow,then our thoughts can't flow.
(12:59):
We need it to be so automaticthat we can think about what
we're thinking and not about howwe get it on paper.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (13:07):
There's ownership when it comes to
writing.
If you've created a paper andyou write it handwriting first
your summary, your outline, yourideas you have more ownership.
It stays in your memory forrecall longer, better.
Holly Britton (13:20):
I think that teachers of young children need
to know that they're giving thema tool for the rest of their
life.
It accesses a part of yourbrain that nothing else can
access.
So we know people.
When they need to think deeper,they go to handwriting.
They say that handwritingmastery doesn't happen until
sometimes in the middle schoolgrades and sometimes higher.
What?
Dr. Lisa Hassler (13:41):
kind of tips do you have for teachers or
parents whose child may bestruggling with legible
handwriting?
Holly Britton (13:48):
Broadly speaking , the best thing that you can do
for a child is to evaluate theissue at hand, whether it's
legibility or sizing ordirectionality.
Start big and get smaller bydoing large muscle movement,
making those stroke movements inthe air, tracing them large on
(14:08):
big pieces of paper, get themcoordinating their eye and their
hand with a little bit ofguidance, and allow that
physical movement to happenbefore you're asking them to
reproduce it from memory.
And then you start to shrinkeverything in from the sides and
bring it down to the hand-onpencil.
(14:28):
Once you get to writing lettersyou don't want to write too big
because you start drawing thatletter instead of writing it
like a letter.
So we do want to play withthose sizings a little bit.
Make sure that thedirectionality is not an issue
for that kiddo.
More times than not it is Top tobottom and clockwise circles
are the most common, but it'salso excessive pencil lifts.
(14:50):
Like you get one letter thatdoesn't have to have a pencil
lift at all and they might lifttheir pencil twice to make that
one letter.
Go back to the traditionalformation of lowercase letters
and get that flow as best youcan.
And again, if it has to startbig and get small, then do that
and bring them up incrementally.
What about sandpaper?
Dr. Lisa Hassler (15:10):
letters, shaving cream I always loved the
shaving cream.
Yes, we did shaving cream andchalk as well.
I taught Montessori theirsandpaper letters were always
very nice.
The kids seemed to really enjoythe texture of it.
What about like lefties?
Holly Britton (15:24):
If we are trying to teach letter formation,
doing it in interesting ways, itdoesn't matter if it's
sandpaper or chalk or shavingcream.
You are getting them to movetheir muscles in the direction
you want them to move theirmuscles.
So you're still improvingmuscle memory in the direction
associated with handwriting orletter formation strokes.
I do have a lefty, and when Iasked him about designing a
(15:47):
handwriting program for leftiesspecifically, I said is there
anything that you wouldrecommend that I design into
this program that would havehelped you as a lefty?
And he said well, mom, just thefirst thing is don't let them
write over the top of their hand.
So you know how leftiessometimes will hook their hand
over the top of their fingers inorder to sort of pull the
(16:08):
pencil across, ostensibly tokeep it from smudging.
But what I have seen is it hasmore to do with the push-pull
aspect of writing, because theysomehow have figured out that
that pushing across motion iseasier for them than to get
underneath and pull it across.
In the end, what our endobjective is is that they have
(16:32):
this automatic, efficientwriting, but also comfortable.
We don't want to cause any kindof carpal tunnel or pressure.
We want to build up longevityin a way that they can sustain
it over the course of theirlifetime without hurting
themselves.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (16:47):
I have a left-handed son and he
definitely did the hook over andwas always very annoyed with
like spirally on the left, andwhen you were talking about
having to push down and holddown a book while writing, it
became very hard.
As righties too.
It depends on, I guess, whichside of the book you're writing
on.
So I didn't know if there waslike any sort of strokes or
(17:07):
strategies that you knew thatwould maybe help out those
lefties.
Yeah.
Holly Britton (17:12):
They basically write the same way.
It's just that the movement isa push or a pull versus, you
know, depending on the formationof each letter.
In our program we specificallyhave booklets that lay flat, so
that you don't have to worryabout that binding as you're
learning how to form letters, doyou?
Dr. Lisa Hassler (17:28):
think hand strength has become an issue for
poor handwriting.
When I was teaching, I wouldgive them putties of different
strengths that they would twistand pull and I would hide things
inside there.
So they would have to pull itand we would go from a softer
putty to a tougher one and thatstrength in their hands I didn't
(17:50):
know if that was ever an issuethat you had come across or had
any advice for.
Did they like those activities?
Holly Britton (17:56):
Oh, they loved it.
Yes, yeah, that's what I foundtoo, that they actually enjoyed
that.
I think this problem is gettingworse and in the three years
I've been in classrooms doingthis with many children, I have
absolutely seen the lack of handstrength and I think that those
kinds of things that you'redoing are awesome.
I also think parents just needto get those kids outside
(18:18):
climbing monkey bars and doingthings that actually strengthen
their hands and not usehandwriting to strengthen their
hand.
Use those outside activitiesand even Lego building and putty
manipulation, play-doh sorting,pinching.
Those activities absolutelycontribute to a child's ability
(18:38):
to write by hand.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (18:39):
A lot of schools have stopped teaching
cursive, but I found that thekids in my classroom were so
excited to learn it.
They wanted to learn it.
It was like a sign of thembeing grown up, and so when they
were done learning the lowerand the uppercase and they
wanted to get quills, it wasexciting for them.
So what are your thoughts oncursive?
Holly Britton (18:57):
In the past it was an art form, because
handwriting was used in all ofour business negotiations and
personal interactions.
How you wrote and the way itlooked was a reflection on your
education and your intellect.
It's not so much that anymore,but what it is really important
(19:19):
for is speed and efficiency.
So there are some people likemyself who continue to use print
, but because I know cursive, Iwill do a hybrid of the two for
efficient handwriting.
That is okay.
However, a child will never usethat or come to that if they're
never taught that.
So again, we are depriving themof a possible useful tool for
(19:42):
their life if we don't give themthat option.
I used to have girls stay in atlunch in my classroom because
the school didn't teach cursive.
But they knew that I knewcursive and they wanted me to
teach them.
Once they have the print inproper direction, adding that
little ligature is just notdifficult.
(20:03):
Then it is like their eyes areopen.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (20:05):
They're like it's not a mystery what happens
when handwriting is notaddressed in the child's early
years?
Holly Britton (20:11):
Motor memory sinks in and it becomes almost
impossible to change it later.
Memory sinks in and it becomesalmost impossible to change it
later, unless you get realbuy-in from an older student
that wants to get better at getfaster or more efficient or make
handwriting more easier for himor herself.
It's really really ingrained inthe muscle memory.
It's very hard to changewithout deliberate, intentional,
(20:32):
focused instruction.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (20:33):
I've even seen where they completely avoided
it at all costs.
It's very laborious and theyknow that it doesn't look good
If they're exchanging paperswith their peers.
You know, as they get older andsomeone is like, well, I'm
supposed to read your work to beable to grade it like a pair
thing and I can't read it, andso that doesn't feel good.
Holly Britton (20:49):
Not only the kids avoid it, but when it's
laborious for the kids, theteachers avoid it.
The more the teachers avoid it,the less the kids are going to
learn.
There's a recent article in theNew York Times about college
professors needing to go back toBlue Book because of AI
cheating that's happening arehaving a hard time doing that
because the kids can't write byhand.
It affects them all the way upthe academic pipeline.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (21:11):
What would you hope parents, teachers and
schools consider when it comesto handwriting instruction?
Holly Britton (21:17):
It needs to be addressed early and it needs to
be addressed well.
Handwriting instruction mattersto young children.
Breaking it down intoincremental pieces is super,
super important and if you dothat and it remains easy for
students, then as you increasethe challenge, they're up for it
because they have experiencedthe intrinsic reward of being
(21:39):
able to do it.
Once that window closes, it'svery hard to get it back.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (21:43):
So where can parents or teachers go to be
able to access your resourcesand the Squiggle Squad program?
Holly Britton (21:50):
Yeah, pretty easy.
Just find me atsquigglesquadcom.
Any contact form on there willreach me personally.
Or you can reach me at holly atsquigglesquadcom.
Any contact form on there willreach me personally or you can
reach me at holly atsquigglesquadcom.
I'd love for your listeners toknow about our free name
worksheet generator.
That's on the homepage of thewebsite.
They can go on there, put theirkiddos' names in the form and
(22:11):
it'll print out Squiggle Squadstyle their name.
On guidelines to help kidslearn the capital letter at the
first of their name.
On guidelines to help kidslearn the capital letter at the
first of their name and thelowercase letters to follow.
Dr. Lisa Hassler (22:21):
Oh, that's wonderful and perfect timing for
the beginning of the year, whenteachers are definitely running
those off and making sure thatthey are learning how to write
their name properly and well.
Thank you so much for sharingwhat you're doing with Squiggle
Squad, your insights onhandwriting, how it connects to
language, and your differentstrategies.
I think that it's somethingthat we don't talk enough about,
(22:42):
and so I'm really excited thatyou came on to talk about it
with us.
So thank you.
Thank you for inviting me.
It was a pleasure.
I encourage you to look at howhandwriting is taught, or not
taught, in your classroom orhome.
If you have a story aboutwhat's working in your schools
that you'd like to share, youcan email me at lisa at
drlisahasslercom, or visit mywebsite at wwwdrlisahasslercom
(23:05):
and send me a message.
If you like this podcast,subscribe and tell a friend.
The more people that know, thebigger impact it will have.
And if you find value to thecontent in this podcast,
consider becoming a supporter byclicking on the supporter link
in the show notes.
It is the mission of thispodcast to shine light on the
good in education so that itspreads, affecting positive
(23:25):
change.
So let's keep working togetherto find solutions that focus on
our children's success.
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