Plain answers to the questions parents actually ask about children's handwriting. What the styles are, what is normal at each age, and what is worth practising. Every piece of handwriting on this site is drawn live from real teacher-recorded pen paths, on real school guide lines.
Short, matched to the school, aimed at one thing. How long, how often, what to put on the table, and when more practice is not helping.
Where the pen goes down and which way it travels, not whether the finished shape is pretty. The faults finished work hides, and what to practise this week.
Cursive is the school word for it. What the DfE actually says about when joining should start, and how to tell if this child is ready.
Precursive has a lead-in but stays separate. Continuous cursive never lifts the pen. Both drawn on real guide lines, plus how to tell which one your school teaches.
Letter-join, Nelson, Penpals and Kinetic Letters teach cursive differently. Especially about which letters join at all. What your school's scheme commits you to.
Reception to Year 6, in plain English, with what each stage looks like at home and how to tell if your child is on track.
Eight things teachers look for, each one drawn on real guide lines so you can match it to your child's book. Plus the ninth you cannot see at all.
All 26 lower-case letters animating in the order a teacher writes them, grouped into the five UK families, with the teaching tip for each.
Where HWT is still the right choice, what changes if you are in the UK, and how a stroke-reading app differs. Written to be accurate rather than flattering to us.
Penwick started with a boy who would do anything to avoid a pencil, and a teacher who spotted the reason in ninety seconds.
Contact us, and the questions we actually get.
Penwick's three-minute assessment reads the real pen strokes as your child writes, with a stylus or a finger, then gives you a teacher-style report and tells you what to practise first. It runs in your browser. No account, no download, no adverts, nothing to cancel.