Train your writing speed with the racetrack

Picking up speed: writing faster

Especially in dictations or when copying from blackboard pictures, speed in writing counts. Targeted training makes it easier to write quickly.

Pick up speed

The beginning of the school year is an exciting time for the little Abc students. Unfamiliar surroundings, new friends and learning something new every day. After a while, however, many children face the same challenge: writing quickly but legibly. This is because, in the beginning, novice writers tend to trace the letter shapes rather than actually writing them. As a result, they focus so much on the individual letter to be written that spelling or content fades into the background. This can lead to performance problems, especially in higher grades. The cause is often the same: the automation of the basic movements that children need for fluent handwriting is not yet fully developed. If the letters can be put down on paper without thinking, i.e. automatically, writing is faster and there is more concentration left over for the content. Already at preschool age, letter-like forms should be trained with a focus on speed and later transferred to writing letters. This is because adjusting the speed of drawing or writing and the correct acceleration form the basis for fast and fluent handwriting.

Writing motor skills exercise "The racetrack”

The racetrack exercise, for example, is ideal for promoting writing speed.

Together with the children, we made a racetrack out of the five basic shapes from which all the capital letters of the alphabet can be placed. In this way, the children get to grips with the letter shapes even before the actual game begins. In the next step, the racetrack becomes an adventure course: Let's go! Positioned on the starting line, two children face each other with the pens. After the starting signal, they race down the track as fast as possible, braking at the curves and jumping over the dangerous river. In this way, the children simply internalize the basic shapes that they will then need to write letters, and learn how to use speed in a playful way. The writing motor skills promoted in this way are ideal preparation for writing. Ideally, the little racers can then apply what they have learned - braking in the curves and faster speed on straight stretches - when writing the letters and thus become faster overall.

Download Racetrack Template

Learning to write advisor: overview