CBS Therapy

The expectation for kids to start writing is getting earlier and earlier all of the time.  However, the youngest children don’t have the physical development needed to use the small muscles in their fingers and hands to hold and control a pencil.  Writing is a foundational learning skill that helps requires visual-motor integration, bilateral coordination, midline crossing, etc.  It is correct that it is an important skill to master.  But how do you get young children started before jumping in with a pencil and paper?  Read on for several ideas to help kiddos get ready to write without actually writing.   Strengthen Big Muscles First For a person to write successfully, they need to be able to stabilize their upper arm.  If the movement comes from their shoulder joint when they write, they will get tired out quickly.  Use play to strengthen the upper body.  Wheelbarrow walking, crawling, and animal walks all work well for this.  For...

Whether it be talking with co-workers around the water cooler, saying “I love you” to your spouse, sharing a joke with your neighbor, texting your brother, or sending an email to your boss, people love to communicate, it’s what we do. Communication, in all its forms, is what creates and maintains the bonds and relationships in our lives, and the ability to communicate is what defines us as being human. Communication can be divided into three main categories: comprehension, expression, and production. Comprehension or receptive language is the ability to receive a message from someone and understand the meaning of that message whether it be spoken, written, or via gestures such as American Sign Language (ASL). Expression or expressive language is the ability to send a meaningful message to someone verbally, in writing, or by using gestures. An additional goal of expressive language is that it is socially appropriate, which means knowing what and how to say something in a given circums...