Great article!
Please see this article that appeared today in the Wall Street Journal
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704631504575531932754922518.html
Handwriting Morphs to Math
It is important that children think of handwriting as part of everything they do when writing instruments are in their hands. You may think, “Well, of course!” But sometimes it seems as though good handwriting practice is relegated to isolated lessons, with little relevance to other subjects.
Two days ago in a Kindergarten class children used tweezers and tiny beads for a hand/finger strengthening lesson.
1) Children traced this pattern in the air with their index fingers extended. 
2) Next they wiggled their fingers around, then pinched index finger to thumb.
3) They picked up tweezers, holding them between index finger and thumb. Using the tweezers the children picked up tiny beads and placed them in little cups.
4) Next children moved to paper and markers where they chanted as they traced the hair-like patterns on the puppy you see below.
5) They could trace as many patterns as they wanted, and then they took the tweezers and placed a bead on the pattern that they thought the best.
The next day children used the tweezers again with slightly larger beads. The purpose was still hand/finger strengthening, but the lesson was Math. This time they counted out beads as they picked them up with the tweezers and strung them on string to make a bracelet with Math-related decoration.
THUMBS & FINGERS
Too often children have a tense or awkward hold on writing tools. For some playful ideas to get a good “hold” on the matter, go to the September third post and the heading HANDS AND FINGERS. I am always looking for more solutions. Here are wise words from Carrie Lippincott OTR/L
…consider the child’s thumb use.
I’ve found that children hold their pencil vertically to avoid flexing
their thumb interphalangeal joint. I work on getting children more
comfortable with flexing their thumb (tweezers use, using a sparkle
wheel and a pickle fork or 3 pt grabber). I also work on improving
distal control of the thumb/index finger coordination by working on
improving finger control in small spaces ( such as drawing small loops
in a picture or using a pushpin to poke holes in reinforcer circles
stuck to paper with an old mouse pad underneath).
An idea from Kristi White, another pediatric occupational therapist:
I also have a box with a latch that is locked and the child has to access it with a key. Inside the box are tasks designed to increase thumb and index finger strength.
Teach Your Pen to Dance
“The dance of the pen” is a quote often used to refer to handwriting that flows. The essence of most dance is flowing, rhythmic movement. Of course there are dances that emphasize fitful, angular movements for special effects, but for legible handwriting that is easy to write and easy to read rhythm is essential.
The light blue patterns will put rhythm in your writing. The patterns are shown with corresponding, BFH italic lowercase letters, but the patterns work just as well for any method of writing, including conventional cursive. Focus on lowercase letters. Capitals are used less often and therefore are not much of a problem.
Scribble the patterns frequently to teach your pen to dance. Improve your handwriting without worrying about individual letterforms.
The first rhythm pattern is the simplest. It develops consistent slant, spacing and letter size. Lift your pencil or pen slightly after each pattern so your hand does not drag the patterns off the baseline and distort them.
The second and third patterns improve consistency and add some bounce into your writing.
Do you favor printing, but need to make it easier to write, easier to read?
If you remove the serifs (those little entry and exit strokes) from some of the letters shown above they look almost like the print-script that you may have learned.
A print-script r has no wiggle as in the one above.
A print-script k is made with two strokes.
There are other minor differences. If you usually print, it is not difficult to gain fluency by adapting to the BFH letters above. You need not copy them exactly. Keep your individual self in your writing.
The Tiger Lesson
Even if you don’t use Barchowsky Fluent Handwriting, this page could be fun for handwriting practice. The warmup patterns to the right of the tiger are good for any method of writing. Trace them; then write them on the rest of the line. Make your pencil move down, leap up and over then down, spring up and over and then down, leap up and over then down. There are tiny little strokes that start and end each pattern; they help the lines to flow.
A homeschooling magazine, The Link, carries two articles on handwriting, one by me. See pages 17 and 20 at http://www.bluetoad.com/publication/?i=31044
Soon to come: short lessons for young children.
Take It Easy!
Introduce handwriting to children through play. Pretend writing is fun, so give them crayons or markers and some paper and let them scribble.
Drawing and painting are good too.
Workout play: Build hand and finger strength for a relaxed and efficient hold on pencils. Mold clay, even make mud pies! Collect shiny beads; pick them up with the index finger and thumb. Pinch clips to hang up some favorite pictures. Poke a hole in the ground with the index finger and plant flower seeds.
Relax. Too often we try to teach letters before heads and hands are ready. We forget that handwriting is a complex skill. Children must recognize letters, learn how to form them, and then how to combine them into words, and finally send from their minds to hands to paper. Young children can become unnecessarily tense as they try to put all this together.
I like to start with pre-writing patterns. They are easy with natural flow, and relate well to lowercase letters. Lowercase are easier than capitals and we use them more.
Relax and natural are key words. If letters are simple and formed with lines that conform to the most natural movements of the hand and fingers, it becomes easy to both teach and learn to write.