Why Can Children No Longer Hold Their Pencils Correctly? - Intellectual Takeout

In recent years, a number of parents and grandparents have discovered an alarming trend: children no longer know how to write in cursive. - Annie Holmquist

• But what happens when children begin to learn cursive and can’t hold their pencil properly?

Amazingly, this is the growing reality in a number of countries. 

The Guardian explains:

“‘Children are not coming into school with the hand strength and dexterity they had 10 years ago,’ said Sally Payne, the head paediatric occupational therapist at the Heart of England foundation NHS Trust. ‘Children coming into school are being given a pencil but are increasingly not be[ing] able to hold it because they don’t have the fundamental movement skills.
‘To be able to grip a pencil and move it, you need strong control of the fine muscles in your fingers. Children need lots of opportunity to develop those skills.’”...