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Kate Bodle Education Tuition & Coaching for children age 5-11. Workshops & training for parents and school staff

“His fine motor skills are fine, his teacher says.”It’s a common misconception that to fix handwriting you always start ...
11/10/2026

“His fine motor skills are fine, his teacher says.”

It’s a common misconception that to fix handwriting you always start with fine motor skills.

Fine motor skills maybe . But they’re not always the issue.

Writing actually asks the brain to do several things at the same time. Remember the letter shape. Spell the word. Control the pencil. Stay on the line. AND map it all onto a page in the right place.

That last part is called visuospatial processing. When it’s tricky, try these at home:

Mazes and dot to dot activities
Building with Lego from a picture
Copying simple patterns on squared paper

Follow me for more tips on supporting children who find writing hard. 👇

Send this to a parent who needs to hear it. 💙

dyslexia, dyslexiaparents, dyslexicchild, handwriting, handwritinghelp, dyslexiasupport, primaryschool, senparent, learningdifficulties, katebodleeducation, specialeducationalneeds, neurodivergentchildren, finemotor, childrenshandwriting, dyslexiaawarenessmonth

‘She reads really well so her teacher doesn’t think she’s dyslexic.’I hear this so often.Reading accuracy is not the who...
08/10/2026

‘She reads really well so her teacher doesn’t think she’s dyslexic.’

I hear this so often.

Reading accuracy is not the whole picture. Some children work so hard to decode that by the time they reach the end of the page, they can’t tell you a thing about what they’ve just read. Their spelling is inconsistent. They’re written Work doesn’t come close to reflecting how bright they are.

My dyslexic son could read really well and understand what he read. He still got a dyslexia diagnosis because of the bigger picture.

Dyslexia is about how the brain processes language, not about whether a child can read aloud in class.

If something feels off, it’s worth looking at everything about their learning.

Comment CHECKLIST and I’ll send you my free dyslexia signs checklist, it covers the things that are easy to miss.

Tags: dyslexia, dyslexic child, dyslexia support, signs of dyslexia, dyslexia awareness, specialist dyslexia teacher

Orlando Bloom was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. He's talked about how hard he found reading at school.I think abou...
01/10/2026

Orlando Bloom was diagnosed with dyslexia as a child. He's talked about how hard he found reading at school.

I think about that a lot when I'm working with children who are struggling. So often they've already decided they're "not clever". Some of the most capable children I've taught believed that about themselves.

If your child is finding school hard at the moment, it tells you nothing about who they'll become.

Dyslexia Awareness Week runs from 5 to 11 October. This year I'm talking about something parents mention to me all the time: the child who seems fine at school, then comes home and falls apart.

dyslexia · dyslexic role models · dyslexia and success · supporting a dyslexic child · dyslexia awareness · specialist dyslexia teacher

(Photo: Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0)

When I’m working with a child on handwriting, no two sessions look the same however the elements are very similar.We sta...
27/09/2026

When I’m working with a child on handwriting, no two sessions look the same however the elements are very similar.

We start with big movement, building shoulder stability, core strength and gross motor skills.

We work on fine motor skills usually through fun activities - hand and finger manipulation activities, scissor skills. This builds finger strength and dexterity.

When we work on letter formation, we start with patterning and buildup to a specific sequence of letters so the hand learns movements to help make letter formation easier.

I try to link letter formation to spelling out or phonics as soon as possible as the aim is to encourage a motor memory for letter patterns which will then support these areas.

Different children need different types of support but the principles remain the same.

If you would like some ideas for how to support your child’s handwriting at home comment SKILLS for a free guide.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been sharing a series on the underlying skills that affect how children learn — and why und...
24/09/2026

Over the last few weeks I’ve been sharing a series on the underlying skills that affect how children learn — and why understanding them changes everything about how you support a child.

Motor memory — why practice alone doesn’t always help. Auditory processing — why a child with perfect hearing can still struggle to follow instructions. Visual processing — why reading feels exhausting even with 20/20 vision. Visuo-motor integration — why the hand doesn’t always do what the eye intends. Working memory — why a child can read a sentence perfectly and have no idea what they’ve just read.

None of these are about intelligence. None of them are about effort. They’re about understanding how a child’s brain is working — and making small changes that make a big difference.

Head to my grid to find the full series. Save the posts that resonate. Share them with anyone who needs them.

And if you’d like more of this practical, support for parents and tutors then sign up for my free newsletter via the link in my bio. It lands fortnightly and it’s full of the kind of thing that actually helps 💛

underlying skills · dyslexia parent · motor memory · auditory processing · visual processing · visuo-motor integration · working memory · SEND parent · specialist dyslexia teacher · dyslexia support UK · neurodiverse children · dyslexia tips · processing difficulties · from tears to triumph

22/09/2026

Visuo-motor integration is the coordination between what the eyes see and what the hands do, it’s a skill that can be built by doing the right activities at any age. It’s something many dyslexic children and those with dysgraphia struggle with.

Pre-writing shapes worked through in a developmental sequence. Cutting with scissors along a line. Threading and lacing. Completing mazes and dot to dot style activities and practising ball skills or that requires tracking and responding to moving objects.

None of these will feel like handwriting practice, but all of them are building on the underlying coordination that handwriting depends on.

Save this and share it with anyone who is supporting a child who struggles with writing.

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