interesting article. I've often thought teachers can get too hung up on the "right" way to hold the pencil. I figure kids learn by watching us and trying things. At some point the teacher helps and I've heard of "battles" over the proper grip.
Apparently, my mom was in trouble because I learned cursive by watching her before I went to kinder. The teacher was upset that my mom had "taught" me. Last year I broke my right shoulder and learned to fill in many insurance forms with my left hand, most were legible after some experimenting.....I was proud
I'm assuming there's actually a variety of acceptable ways to hold a pencil. I hold mine differently from the way my wife holds hers. But if you hold it in your fist, then it seems you have to move your whole hand to write, which doesn't seem conducive to legible penmanship to me. I believe that most two year old children hold pencils in their fists, while my DD is holding hers exactly how my wife holds hers, although my wife is not the one who taught her. I assume she learned not to use her fist at daycare, but perhaps there is a genetic predisposition at work, that resulted in the specific variation chosen. Having seen what my wife can do with a pen, there is no way I would consider asking my daughter to adjust her grip away from what she's doing.
