Differences in Hebrew handwriting skills between Israeli children in second and third grade

The characteristics of the development of the Hebrew handwriting and its underlying perceptual motor components were studied on 191 typically developing Israeli children in second and third grade. Developmental progression was found in the various characteristics between second and third grade children. Girls performed better than boys on most aspects. Among the underlying perceptual motor components, visual-motor integration, as measured by the Visual-Motor Integration Test (VMI-Beery, 1989) was the only significant predictor of the quality of handwriting. Similar results have been found in studies done in English, Norwegian, and Chinese. The results demonstrate that some characteristics of handwriting are perhaps universal and independent of the features that are unique to the script and the learning process of a particular language. These results provide insight into possible assessment strategies and treatment options for children who do have handwriting deficits, thus enabling inclusion of these children in regular classrooms.