An Analysis Of Children's Penholds

Abstract

This chapter examines the penholds of pupils of 7–15 years. It showed that a systematic description of penholds was workable and revealed several significant findings. There are two main differences among the penholds used by school children. The first difference is that in over 60% of children, the distal interphalangeal joint of the index finger was hyperextended, thereby suggesting that the majority of children hold their pens too tightly. The other was the surprising number of children (65%) who write with their thumbs closest to the pen tip (writing manuals usually suggest that the index finger should lead). There are two points of the evolution of grip with age: index finger less often on the side and middle finger less often on the top/touching side. One implication of the relative lack of effect of penhold, at least on writing speed, is that a child writing with an unconventional penhold would not necessarily do better to adopt a more conventional grip.