​“Making mud pies in the back yard!”
“Being so mad at my brother when he cut my Barbie’s hair!”
“Sledding and snowball fights in the neighborhood!”
“Baking with my mom on a Sunday afternoon!”
“Summers at the pool with my friends!”
 
Something we like to ask participants to do in our workshops is to think back to childhood and to yell out memories that come to mind.
 
Why do we do that?
 
These memories give us information about qualities of things that we remember… and we can apply this to best practice for teaching our kids. We could even make the question more specific. What classes do you remember the most? For me, the answer is pretty straightforward: “The classes that were hands-on, and in which I was learning through doing/movement.” Even though I have not worked in a hospital setting professionally, I still remember some techniques that I learned in classes because I was learning through doing. Do you have similar experiences?
 
So, how does memory move from short-term and working memory to long-term memory? We like to use the idea of “Memory Lanes” (Sprenger, 1999) to describe the process. These “lanes” are:

• Semantic (discussion and reading)
• Episodic (picturing an event)
• Emotional (emotionally-charged events= most potent)
• Automatic (readily available)
• Procedural (related to movement)

 
[Side note: Automatic and Procedural memory are processed through the cerebellum (part of the brain that coordinates movement). More on the cerebellum in the next blog (sounds boring, but it's actually super-cool!)
 
In what categories do your memories fit (many won’t fit discretely into one category- there is certainly overlap in the lanes)? For most people, many childhood memories fit into Emotional and Procedural memory lanes.
 
The bad news is that most schools spend the most time using Semantic learning, which leaves out the opportunity for even greater and deeper learning through other lanes (Lengel & Kuczala 2010).
 
So, how does this apply to teaching handwriting?
 
We’ve got to get these kids moving and emotionally connected, and this will help them to remember and will set them up for success in learning handwriting! We love to start handwriting sessions with music and dancing (emotional and procedural memory lanes) as children are learning spatial concepts needed for handwriting (see previous blog). Then, we teach each letter using musical tones with whole body mirror movement first (emotional and procedural memory lane), then writing on a vertical surface and finally taking pencil to paper.
 
Have little guys? Use these memory lanes to help them to learn spatial concepts that they will need for writing—top, under, big, little… 
​

Make the letter of the week with tape on the floor (and/or make it with various other materials- beanbags, balance beams, etc.) then have kids move along the letter in various ways-- log roll, animal walk (frog, crab, bear), jump, walk backwards, etc.. This reinforces the formation of the letter through movement (procedural memory lane) while also working on foundational skills needed to support learning, moving and writing (bilateral skills, reflex integration, strength, visual-motor skills). Plus... it's FUN (emotional memory lane)!!

About CEW®
Connect Experience Write (CEW) is an interpersonal handwriting program that uses sensory-motor integration and visual-spatial concepts to facilitate the development of handwriting skills in students. 
 
In CEW, students write letters using visual templates while listening to musicthat simulates the movements needed to form the letters.  This combination of visual templates and auditory guides strengthens the visual-spatial foundations related to writing.
 
How does it work? 
Keeping relationships and emotional connection at the forefront, CEW classes begin as a group.  Students participate in whole body movements to the beat of music to help them identify the top, middle, bottom, left, and right parts of their bodies – all important foundational concepts to writing.  They then move their shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers to a song that helps them isolate the body parts used when writing.  Lastly, gross motor movements are performed with a partner (called “Mirror Movements”) that correlate with foundational writing strokes – vertical line, horizontal line, curves, and diagonals.  The music is comprised of the same tones as the music that is used for each letter.
 
About the Creators
CEW was developed in 2012 by occupational therapists, Michele Parkins and Carrie Davis, while working in a school for children with challenges in relating and communicating. Together, they realized that so many students are missing the foundations they need in order to be successful in writing and have experienced many defeats in the area of handwriting before. With their knowledge of music, development of gross and fine motor movement, visual-spatial development and engagement, they decided to create a fun, engaging handwriting program that effectively teaches kids to create letters!
 
​
If you would like to learn more about CEW, please contact us!.
 

Lets stay connected! Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and check us out on Pinterest!

​Music and handwriting are peas in a  pod!
 
Really? Do they even relate at all??? Actually… yes!!
 
Let’s start with relating music and movement. THAT’s a pretty easy connection to make. Music starts and your toe starts tapping or your head starts moving to the beat. Do we even think about it? NO! We are neurologically wired so that our bodies respond to music! Pretty cool! There are even studies that show connections between moving specific parts of the body in response to certain timbre and rhythm in music. Something that their study showed was that people move their heads more in response to “low frequency spectral flux” (like kick drum and bass guitar)—so, imagine fans of Metallica or Slipknot moving their heads to the music/ head-banging. Pulse clarity (or a clear beat) was closely correlated with a variety of movements; the clearer the beat, the more body parts people moved (head, hands, hips, etc.).
 
“Interesting, but let’s get back to talking about handwriting…”
 
So, we understand that music is related to movement (more on movement and learning in the next blog). But, how is it related to handwriting?? Actually, we could answer this question in different ways.
 
#1 Music is fun, and kids will learn handwriting much more easily if they’re having fun: We know that we all learn more easily when we are internally motivated and inspired. One way that we love to use music is in preparation for handwriting—moving in synchrony with our kids (as a group or with individual children) to the music while teaching spatial concepts like TOP and BOTTOM. Check out our video of one of the songs Brady Rymer wrote for us! 
 
#2 Music inspires movement of the whole body, not just the fingers, and we know that when we move more of our body, more of our brain is activated. We teach letter formation using musical tones (see #3 for a more detailed explanation), and always start with whole body movement, then move to writing on a vertical surface, and ultimately use pencil-to-paper writing.
 
#3 Music gives a sensory cue about spatial concepts/ movement without the learner needing to process language: In our patent-pending program, each letter has music that accompanies the formation of the letter. Children learn that if they hear a high note, the letter is starting at the top. If the next tone is low, they will make a line down. There are different tones for different types of lines, as well. It may make more sense if you check out our video demonstrating formation of the letter “S.”
 
So, are you convinced? Music and handwriting: a match made in heaven!

Try it out!
Are your kids getting frustrated during handwriting practice? Try sound effects! 

As you are teaching kids how to create letters, use noises that help the kids to understand how to form the letters (and reduces the need to use words). A lot of us already do this automatically. Think about what noises will give the best cues to your children about how to make the shapes needed to form the letters (eg, what sounds like a curve?). Also- have the kids create sound effects as they are creating the letters. We've found that this really motivates kids and helps them to be more invested in writing, and to learn writing more easily!

Having trouble coming up with sound effects?....We have made them for you.  Check it out! 

The mind-body connection. A lot of people might picture a Tibetan monk meditating on a mountain, or someone sitting in a completely uncomfortable position. But did you know- the mind-body connection is central to our everyday lives and, yes, to handwriting!
 
Do you believe that the brain is the controller of everything? You wouldn’t be alone if you said, “Yes.” There are plenty of examples of the mind’s influence on the body. We start to worry about something (mind) and our shoulders start inching up towards our ears (body). Athletes imagine themselves completing the perfect routine (mind) and then are more able to do it (body). We think about a delicious meal (mind) and our mouth starts watering (body). We get embarrassed about something (mind) and our cheeks flush (body). We feel disappointed about something (mind) and we slump in our chair, head bowed (body).
 
So now, let’s think about the other direction- body to mind. When I was working on my psychology degree, I remember very vividly a story that my Abnormal Psychology professor told that highlights the power of the BODY in this mind-body equation. He was a young father and one day, his son came home crying with a bloody nose because he and the next-door neighbor boy were roughhouse playing and his son fell and hit his nose, causing the bleed. At first, my professor took the situation in stride, taking care of his son, etc. Unbeknownst to my professor, he was starting to get a stomach virus and his stomach was starting to hurt. He interpreted this pain as an emotional reaction to this occurrence, and, completely out of character, ultimately went over to the next door neighbor’s house and started yelling at the boy’s dad about how he needed to provide better supervision, etc. Later, when he realized he had a stomach virus, and the pain he had felt was related to that and not the anger about his son, he realized that this physical sensation had spurred this angry outburst. His body was the initiator.
 
We can think of plenty of simpler examples of how the body influences the mind. We get an awesome massage (body) and we feel relaxed and calm (mind). We go for a brisk walk (body) and we feel more focused and organized (mind). We take a few deep breaths when we are stressed (body) and we can be more present (mind). How about this? Michele tells the story of a phase in which her son would spin himself constantly, run around in circles, etc. and very soon thereafter began drawing circles. His body was experiencing and playing with circles, and then he was able to understand and create circles. (If you’re interested in finding out more, there is an interesting theory called Embodied Cognition that connects cognition foundationally to the body- very interesting and worth reading about).
 
This connection between the body and the mind is one of the foundational concepts of Connect Experience Write (CEW)®. Every letter is taught first through whole body movement, so that children are able to FEEL the letter first, before trying to write it. Each letter is also paired with musical tones that match the movement needed to create the letter (so, a high tone moving to a low tone signifies a line from the top to the bottom). We will cover the power of music in another blog post! We have worked with multiple children who were having difficulty with handwriting, and through this approach of using whole body movement first, followed by creating the letter on a vertical surface (slowly transitioning to smaller and smaller muscle groups), then ultimately using paper and pencil, children were able to be successful in creating letters. What an amazing experience when children look up after creating a letter for the first time—the ear-to-ear grin and sense of power these kids get is amazing! It’s why we do what we do. 

Try it out!
Is your child stuck on creating diagonals? Take a step back and do some whole body movements related to diagonals!
 
BACK-TO-BACK DIAGONAL BALL PASS
Stand back-to-back. Use a ball that is big enough to be held with both hands. Pass the ball to the child over your right shoulder (the child will be picking it up from his/ her left shoulder). Bend down to your left foot and encourage the child to bring the ball down to pass it back to you. You then take the ball and bring it back up to your right shoulder and continue the movement. The child will be making diagonal movements with his/ her body from top-left to bottom-right. You can then switch the direction (start passing at your left shoulder and pick it up at your right foot). You can sing a song while doing this, count a certain number of times, do it fast and slow, etc. This is a fun game and activates many senses (vestibular, proprioceptive, visual), requires a child to cross the midline of his/ her body, and encourages movement in diagonal directions. So fun!

Timocco's CEO, Eran Arden, announced a collaboration with Connect Experience Write and is launching an online interactive handwriting program to debut at the upcoming AOTA conference in Chicago. Timocco provides a motion-detecting gaming environment that helps support the development of motor, cognitive, and communication skills in children with disabilities, as well as neurotypical children. CEW-Online, developed together with occupational therapists Michele Parkins and Carrie Davis, teaches letter formation developmentally, first through larger, gross motor movement then through smaller, fine motor movement and pencil-to-paper writing. Each letter is accompanied by musical tones that provide children with an additional cue that helps them to understand the movements that are used to create letters.  The program begins with whole body songs that help children to learn the spatial concepts needed for writing (top, bottom, left, right). To bring these spatial concepts to life, children can either sing and dance to a video or play a game to catchy, upbeat music created by Grammy-nominated children’s singer/ songwriter Brady Rymer.

“Timocco’s motion-gaming platform is a wonderful match for Connect Experience Write (CEW)®. Movement is at the core of our program and when children are playing CEW-Online, they are using more of their bodies to create letters than if they were only writing on a device or writing on paper. Children also benefit from additional sensory cues to support learning,  and when using CEW-Online their movements are paired with both the visual feedback from the computer screen as they move, as well as the musical tones that provide feedback on the spatial orientation of the letter’s parts."

CEW-Online begins on a computer screen and incorporates movement, music and sound. Once a child masters the movements required to successfully write a particular letter, the teacher or therapist continues the skill building through a printed worksheet. Letters are introduced using a developmental sequence, with easiest letters introduced first. The program also offers the flexibility to write spelling words or a child's name. Cathy Kelly, a Preschool Intervention Specialist with the Cleveland Metropolitan School District, shared her experience. "I have a student in my class whose first name begins with the letter "S"  and no matter what I tried she continued to print the"S" backwards", Cathy said. "We have been using CEW with her and working on the "S"  and today when she wrote her name the "S" was correct and the rest of her letter formation is also better.” 
 
Timocco and CEW-Online's progress tracking module enables teachers and therapists to view results work while using the program. Reports can be printed and images of complete writing templates can be uploaded. CEW-Online is also a great way to ensure home carryover, as parents can easily use this program with their children. CEW-Online makes it is easy to keep track of progress and celebrate the child's continued success. 

To learn more about CEW-Online, visit www.cewhandwriting.com

 We are so excited that Grammy-nominated singer/ songwriter Brady Rymer has worked with us to create a CD that gets kids up and moving! Movement is a strong support for learning and this is at the core of CEW. This CD includes the two songs that Brady created for CEW (Shake It from the Top and Ready to Write), as well as ten more of his songs that inspire kids to get up and dance. We love so many of his songs that it was hard to choose! We hope you'll check it out! Also, check out Brady Rymer's website, and check out when he might be in your area!

​There is a growing awareness about the decrease in movement opportunities and increase in seated work that is required from our children starting at younger and younger ages.  My own 5 year-old daughter comes home from Kindergarten with mounds of handwritten worksheets every day.  While this appears to be beneficial in increasing educational gains….I can’t help but ask what is suffering?
 
Many people are demanding that movement is put back into the curriculum of pre-K and Kindergarten classrooms.  Developmentally children enjoy moving their bodies to climb, crawl, jump, slide, hide, ride a bike, throw a ball. 
 
Sure all of this movement is clearly fun for kids but how is it educationally beneficial?
 
All learning starts with the body.  We learn concepts of top, over, under, around, up and down when we move our bodies to climb, crawl, jump, slide, ride a bike, throw a ball.
 
How is this important to learning once you have to sit at a desk and write answers on worksheets in Kindergarten?  *Children are asked to provide handwritten responses for the majority of their school day  - even in Kindergarten! 

The directions are provided with statements such as – “put your name at the TOP”, “draw a circle AROUND the one that matches”, “start the letter at the TOP, move DOWN UNDER the line, come back UP”.  All of these directions that require a written response require an understanding of a concept that is learned when children move. 

If we take away the movement, we take away their opportunities to learn these concepts in a developmentally appropriate way.  We then have to work harder to get them to learn it in a way that is not natural for them at this young age.  This leads to “bad habits” in letter formation and poor handwriting that soon requires therapeutic invention. 
 
Even if we understand this, how can we put movement back into the classroom when there is so much curriculum that teachers are responsible for?  How can we teach letter formation to help children be prepared for Kindergarten worksheets in a way that is developmentally appropriate? 
 
Connect Experience Write has a few solutions! 

We offer a movement-based program that teaches foundational concepts AND letter formation.  Children move their bodies to musical tones that simulate the letter they are learning to write.  Each letter has large body movements, arm movements and finger movements (tabletop practice).  This patented sequence allows the children to learn spatial concepts and practice handwriting by moving!
 
Check us out to help get your kids get moving and writing to increase their Kindergarten success (and beyond!)
 

Join us at one of our upcoming presentations, as we will discuss this research as well as practical ways to engage students using sensory-motor integration, affective connection, and visual spatial concepts in order to facilitate learning of letter formation and to support early literacy. Handwriting practice leads to improvements in cognition, motor skills, and reading comprehension. This evidence-based creative curriculum uses music, movement, and technology to enhance the learning of pre-writing and handwriting skills and has been effectively used with students with autism as well as students in mainstream. Research studies documenting this will be shared. Through working on pre-writing and handwriting skills in this way we will demonstrate how you can enhance motor development, sensory integration, and early literacy all while teaching students who are engaged and having fun.
 
Objectives:
Participants will be able to: 
​
1.Identify strategies and skills for conducting evidence-based affect-, music- and movement-based treatment of handwriting challenges.

2.Create lesson plans and/ or individualized treatment plans that incorporate music, movement, and technology to target handwriting/ pre-writing goals, as well as foundational sensory-motor goals.

3.Describe research demonstrating the importance of visual spatial and motor development on handwriting development.

4.Discuss research on affect, sensation, music and movement in relation to the acquisition of letter formation skills.
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5. Identify the importance of the occupation of handwriting in supporting access to learning through improved processing of information, as well as supporting reading and early literacy. 
 
Upcoming Presentations:
RAIR Symposium, Sunday, February 28th 9:00am
Profectum Foundation’s 4th Annual Conference, Saturday, March 20th 9:00am
AOTA Annual Conference, Saturday, April 9th 9:00am
Young Child Expo & Conference, Tuesday, April 12th 1:00pm

1. Writing helps kids learn to READ and supports literacy.
Writing is “language by hand” and reading is “language by eye.” Their core is the same. As kids learn to create letters, they begin to understand and notice those letters in the world around them.
 
2. Writing by hand helps you to LEARN more easily.
When you write notes versus type them, you are using more of your brain and having to PROCESS the information more—so, you remember the information more!
 
3. Using WHOLE BODY MOVEMENT can help make it easier to learn to write.
Using multi-sensory strategies to learn letter formation is proven to support a child’s ability to learn to write more easily and automatically.
 
4. Teaching handwriting through FUN, DEVELOPMENTAL activities in the early grades can prevent later challenges that impact a child’s learning.
If an older child has to focus on how to create letters, it leaves very little “space” for processing the teacher’s instructions, planning what he or she wants to write, etc., affecting self-esteem, academic achievement and more. Currently, 80% of the day in elementary school involves writing!
 
5. In the United States, handwriting is still required to be taught in the early grades, but the focus on handwriting has declined.
HANDWRITING and KEYBOARDING can live happily together, both for their own specific purposes. Think about how YOU use handwriting in your everyday life!
 
About CEW®
Connect Experience Write (CEW) is an interpersonal handwriting program that uses sensory-motor integration and visual-spatial concepts to facilitate the development of handwriting skills in students. 
 
In CEW, students write letters using visual templates while listening to music that simulates the movements needed to form the letters.  This combination of visual templates and auditory guides strengthens the visual-spatial foundations related to writing.
 
How does it work?
Keeping relationships and emotional connection at the forefront, CEW classes begin as a group.  Students participate in whole body movements to the beat of music to help them identify the top, middle, bottom, left, and right parts of their bodies – all important foundational concepts to writing.  They then move their shoulders, elbows, wrists, and fingers to a song that helps them isolate the body parts used when writing.  Lastly, gross motor movements are performed with a partner (called “Mirror Movements”) that correlate with foundational writing strokes – vertical line, horizontal line, curves, and diagonals.  The music is comprised of the same tones as the music that is used for each letter.
 
About the Creators
CEW was developed in 2012 by occupational therapists, Michele Parkins and Carrie Davis, while working in a school for children with challenges in relating and communicating. Together, they realized that so many students are missing the foundations they need in order to be successful in writing and have experienced many defeats in the area of handwriting before. With their knowledge of music, development of gross and fine motor movement, visual-spatial development and engagement, they decided to create a fun, engaging handwriting program that effectively teaches kids to create letters!
 
​
If you would like to learn more about CEW, please contact us!.
 

Lets stay connected! Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and check us out on Pinterest!
 

Wow! We're so impressed! After a 10-week CEW/ CEW-Online program, check out the difference in these kids' writing!

... and check out a couple of drawings of themselves! Without cueing, they've included a lot more detail and more body parts! Body activation is key!