Sheilagh and her team ...
Are here to help your child improve their handwriting.
Not just so that their teacher can read it and they get better marks but also so that they can function in the real world. We may need to be typers but we also need to write every single day in our work and everyday lives.
You’re making the right decision by setting your child up for success with their handwriting.
Take a look at what we have on offer...
We have books, online lessons and courses with worksheets to help children aged 4 to 16 with their handwriting. An occupational therapist supports all interventions. Students receive online support through lessons, video feedback or group calls. Parents receive advice at the end of a lesson or in our monthly Q&A calls.
Did you know Help with Handwriting is an approved Duke of Edinburgh award provider?
Solutions that make a real difference
Helping children write readable handwriting without pain, achieve pen licences and get up to speed for exams.
Our latest reviews:
We help children from the UK and worldwide including America, Australia, Asia, South Africa, and Europe.
Our son has just completed a series of 6 lessons with Sheilagh, and it has been transformative! Her manner and the games she plays are fun and engaging, and our son looked forward to his lesson each week. The improvement in his writing has been more that I expected. He is now writing in cursive and it is very readable whereas at the start is was mostly print and largely illegible. Most importantly though, he is not avoiding writing any more – his technique has improved and he no longer says it is uncomfortable to write. His teacher has also commented on the improvement. We feel that with a bit more practice he will be well placed to approach his SATS without his writing holding him back.
Sheilagh was a pro at engaging my daughter from the first session. She encouraged Wini to take pride in her handwriting ,without being critical, and knew immediately the areas for improvement/help. Wini’s handwriting has improved hugely. I can see how much more confident and relaxed she is when approaching her written work. wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Sheliagh to any parent looking for support with their child’s handwriting- thank you! X
My 10yr old son has always struggled with his writing and as time as gone on it was more noticeable to him. The school had exhausted all options they could and my son had zero confidence and felt he was failing. Then we found ‘Help with handwriting’ booked a course of 6 with Sheilagh. My son was a little anxious but Sheilagh was so lovely, patient and made it so fun that my son didn’t feel like he was learning and looked forward to the lessons. He has gone from his writing being illegible to such an improvement over the summer that his yr 6 teacher didn’t even realise he even had an issue with it.Sheilagh also helped us a parents. It’s always such a worry when your child is unhappy and struggling but knowing we had that support there has helped no end. Would recommend to anyone who is struggling or just needs a bit of help. Worth every penny!!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Sheilagh was fantastic. She was great with my son and his handwriting has really improved. I thoroughly recommend the lessons.
We are so pleased with the block of lessons our son did with Help With Handwriting over the summer. He needed some help before starting secondary school, as his writing was hard to decipher (at best), and we have had minimal success doing handwriting practice with him ourselves. We found Help With Handwriting to be engaging and practical from the start. The sessions and practice were all tailored to his interests. We had some simple suggestions about the type of pen, writing position etc that were easy to implement and very effective. I feel that my son had things like letter formation and joins explained to him in a clear and simple way that finally made sense. He now has much more confidence in his ability to write neatly. Thank you.
Our ‘Power Hour’ one-to-one session with Sheilagh was incredibly valuable. With my son’s GCSEs soon approaching, we were a little nervous about improving his handwriting in time but now, thanks to some handy tips from Sheilagh and the brilliant online resources, we’re well on our way to getting him exam-ready.
I am delighted that we chose Sheilagh to help with my son’s handwriting. He is 15 and his handwriting has always been poor. Although he really didn’t see the problem, his writing was slow, his letters inconsistent and usually illegible and his hand hurt after only a sentence or two. I was very worried about how he would cope with exams and had tried unsuccessfully to get help from his schools and by using different books and resources over the years. He was initially reluctant to engage with the lessons but Sheilagh was very patient and flexible in her approach, letting him choose the kinds of activities to do and matching the work to his school subjects. With Sheilagh’s help we found a pen that helped him to write with less tension in his hand, and worked on his presentation and legibility. After six lessons, his writing is now legible and he is happy to continue some exercises himself to improve his writing speed and presentation. A great result. I would definitely recommend Sheilagh and the Help with Handwriting team.
Excellent experience with Sheilagh for my 11 year old. She quickly identified the issue and worked with him to set him on the right pathway. For him it was about embracing his natural style, giving him the right tools to facilitate this and supporting him through the change process. I have a confident boy going into senior school who can write quickly and its completely readable! Amazing progress in such a short space of time. Thankyou Sheilagh!
Our experience with Sheilagh and the Help with Handwriting team has been fantastic. My son (7) really enjoyed the lessons and was willing to practise in between. He gained a lot of confidence as well as improving the mechanics of his writing.Sheilagh identified key areas to focus on that made a real difference to legibility. For example, ‘You need to make your letters a consistent width and make sure they do not fly off the line’ rather than calls to ‘be neater’ or ‘just practise’ which do not help anyone. He now has a personalised checklist of what to look out for in his writing and the confidence to use it correctly to keep his writing improving. I would definitely recommend Help with Handwriting to anyone who feels that their child is losing confidence at school due to their handwriting, especially if they cannot really figure out why. We had already tried lots of extra practice at home with special handwriting paper, workbooks and letter formation to no avail. I only wish we’d gone to the expert sooner!
My son dislikes handwriting and has struggled on for years! During his ‘Help with Handwriting’ lessons he was so interested in the personalised games and activities that he didn’t mind the writing. His teacher quickly built up a rapport and so he worked very hard to improve on his writing each week. He is making incremental progress and has finished his initial course with a checklist to continue his improvements over time. Highly recommended!
Not only is Sheilagh extremely knowledgable and professional, but she is really likeable and makes a concerted effort to get to know the children and understand their issues with handwriting. My daughter, who has been diagnosed with dyslexia, has hated anything to do with handwriting until now. She very quickly said how much she liked Sheilagh and has been very keen to please her and has worked hard at home to try to make improvements to her writing to make her proud. It’s been a long process for us, and probably taking longer than most to get through the course, but the work sheets are fun and manageable, while reinforcing the strategies without it feeling repetitive or boring. At the start, my daughter couldn’t read her own writing and the teachers were writing unhelpful comments in her book saying they couldn’t read or mark her work. I’ll admit that we couldn’t read it either but the big red writing in her books from her teachers seemed unkind and disheartening. Now her work is much clearer and I only hope that this will continue into year 8. She now enjoys writing and has started writing a book, and even said that she’d like to be an author one day. This love of writing means that she’s had a summer holiday full of writing practice without it even feeling like work. I’m so proud of how much she has achieved given her struggles. I wish there was a Sheilagh in every school in the country to support children just like my daughter. Thank you Sheilagh, you’re one in a million! Michelle & Daisy X
We worked with Sheilagh for 6 sessions, each week and session there was a noticeable improvement. Sheilagh developed a excellent rapport with my daughter, setting relevant homework, she looked forward to each session.The help with Handwriting website is excellent, both visually and the ability to book appointments on line was extremely helpful over the busy summer/end of term period.
Our 12 year old recently completed his second set of online lessons with Claire – his handwriting has improved considerably over the course and is now more legible and consistent. Claire made each session fun by using games and quizzes focusing on topics that he was interested in. She also encouraged him to critique his work and apply what he had learned to his school work. I thoroughly recommend Claire and Help with Handwriting
Sheilagh is a real find – she transformed my seven year old son‘s handwriting in just six sessions, (spread over a couple of months) and he enjoyed them so much he keeps asking if we can have more sessions with her! From the outset it was clear that Sheilagh really knew the mechanics and psychology of handwriting – observing from the start how the child sat, held their pen\pencil and immediately suggested changes that enabled big changes in a small amount of time. She also knows how to engage children, by using a series of games to encourage and improve their writing – and being kind and fun but also firm to ensure that the overall aim wasn’t lost. My usually-school-work-shy son said he found her sessions didn’t feel like lessons at all, even though he took on board what she taught him.
Sheilagh worked with my son on his handwriting. Her recommendations were easy to put into practice. She made the work fun and engaging which I thought would be impossible! His handwriting has improved. Thank you!
The support that my son received prior to his GCSE examinations was second to none. To see him smile at the end of his first lesson because someone was helping him and making him feel like he could improve was a delight. Thank you
Sheilagh and the team at Help with Handwriting have been little short of transformational. The whole experience has been absolutely fantastic and I’ve no doubt has boosted my daughter’s GCSE results. A few months ago the school advised us that her handwriting was close to unreadable during certain parts of her exam responses (i.e. when she was trying to get as much information down as possible). This was clearly a problem as academically she was very strong, but was losing marks because the teachers (and therefore examiners) would not be able to read her answers. We therefore signed up to Help with Handwriting and the change has been absolutely incredible. Sheilagh is such a fantastic teacher/therapist that we went from having a very upset daughter who didn’t know where to turn, to having a confident student ready to sit her exams knowing she’d be understood. Also, she is still able to write as fast as she was scrawling previously – just now it is readable. I cannot recommend Help with Handwriting enough. If you are in any doubt as to whether it is a worthwhile exercise, don’t be. It is money very, very well spent.
From the laid back, often seemingly unenthusiastic, almost 15 year old boy … “brilliant, lovely lady who has helped me loads”Sheilagh had a brilliant approach with my teenage son and kept him engaged for 95% of the time – something I can only aspire to do! His handwriting has improved with her practical help and support. Highly recommend!
I cannot recommend Sheilagh highly enough. As soon as cursive was introduced at school our older son has struggled. His handwriting was completely illegible (he couldn’t read it) and was really holding him back and knocking his confidence. We were desperate (he is year 5). Sheilagh was amazing – she built a wonderful rapport with him (not easy as he’s very shy and often anxious) and his teachers cannot get over the improvement (nor can we!). We will be signing our younger son up to Sheilagh soon and have no hesitation in recommending her.
The change in my daughter’s handwriting has been amazing. I was dubious about doing on-line classes rather than face to face but Sheilagh made the classes really fun and Charlotte looked forward to them (unheard of as she HATES handwriting). Thank you Sheilagh for really encouraging Charlotte and praising her when she’s done well. I think handwriting has been such a negative experience for her…until now. Thank you 🙂
Sheilagh is a star. Both my children have had trouble with their handwriting and Sheilagh has helped them both.Her ability to help their confidence and handwriting while keeping them entertained is brilliant.Neither of them ever moaned about their session, they both enjoyed them.Having the one on one help to work on the areas they were struggling with was a life saver rather than just sitting copying line which is what school provided. Thank you Sheilagh!
Sheilagh is a superstar she managed to turn my 10 year old son’s writing around in the space of 6 weeks . His confidence has soared and he no longer dreads writing at school .His class teacher has seen a huge change in his writing – cannot recommend enough ,do not hesitate to get in touch with Sheilagh if I could give 10 stars I would
Sheilagh is incredible. She has been working with my son (10) for a few weeks now and he really enjoys her lessons, she makes them really fun. Her lessons have been the only thing that has worked up help him with his handwriting… It is really improving and his teachers have noticed a difference. Can’t recommend highly enough.
My high school aged son was finding handwriting incredibly stressful and upsetting. It was affecting his well-being in other areas of his life. Sheilagh’s help has been life changing for our household. The confidence my son has gained through such a significant improvement has flowed on to his friendships, his self image and his sense that he is capable of growing in an area where he previously felt powerless to improve. I should mention that Sheilagh has a very refined and special skill of being able to communicate with boys who are not in a positive mood about learning due to the difficulty faced by handwriting! Real value. Thank you Sheilagh!
A unique course with engaging content – not going to lie my 13 year old was reluctant to always complete the work (he has a significant amount of homework which he finds hard anyway) but he completed the 66 days and is working his way back through the activities without prompts, he has seen the improvement and his confidence has increased, well worth doing at any age!
My son is left handed and has struggled with handwriting for years. In a very short time Ms Blyth was able to help him dramatically improve his penmanship! Her methods are fun, engaging, silly, but most of all effective. My son who didn’t like handwriting came to look forward to lessons with Ms. Blyth. We highly recommend her!
I can’t recommend Help with Handwriting enough.My son age 14 has been told his entire school career that his handwriting was poor with very little intervention from the school. I was informed it was too late to improve his handwriting.I did some research and came across Sheilagh.Sheilagh has not only significantly improved my son’s handwriting but also helped to build his confidence.He is not a natural scholar and Sheilagh had gone the extra mile to research his hobbies to keep him engaged.Sheilagh was always very patient, understanding, and was able to understand my sons needs very quickly.Sheilagh was able to help transform my sons writing to now been legible and now being complimented at school.I can’t thank Sheilagh enough for the help and support she’s given our family.
We’re pleased that we found Sheilagh. Our son had always struggled with writing at school and despite some interventions by the school his handwriting was several years behind where it needed to be.After the trial lesson Sheilagh gave fundamental advice in terms of positioning, the pen and pen grip, and he’d found the lesson so engaging we decided to continue with a block of sessions.After lesson five we felt there was a significant change in his attitude to writing and a marked improvement. We hadn’t expected the difference to be so pronounced so quickly.Through a warm and fun approach Sheilagh gave him the confidence to try joined up writing at school and tips to make his cursive writing more legible. The school even commented that he’d made significant improvement and was almost where he needed to be. We’d highly recommend Sheilagh and wish we’d intervened sooner.My son said“I really liked the lessons with Sheilagh because of the different fun games she plays. Sheilagh is a good teacher and explains everything clearly, like letter joins and letter sizing.”
Who are we?
A handwriting company for children aged 4 to 16 years. We see and help kids from across the world by offering online lessons, online courses or our handwriting club.
We work with parents who value handwriting as a life skill, see this as a potential issue for their child and wish to make changes now so that handwriting does not impede future academic success.
What makes us different?
We’re a team of occupational therapists, who will capture your child’s interest through playing games (and then they write the answers down) or by them doing carefully selected activities that are practical and engaging.
Learning is fun when it is broken down into bite-sized achievable steps.
If you’re worried about your child’s handwriting and how it is affecting their confidence or school grades we are here to help.
Looking forward to working with you and your child.
Best wishes,
Sheilagh
Sheilagh Blyth, founder of Help with Handwriting, children’s Occupational Therapist, handwriting expert and author of two published handwriting books.
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Our Latest Blogs
We’ve been featured in:
The Telegraph
BBC Radio
The Good Schools Guide
Penguin Random House UK
TES SEN Show
Twinkl
University of Southampton
Occupational Therapy Show
About Help with Handwriting:
We’re an occupational therapy company helping children aged 4 to 16 years improve their handwriting. We believe handwriting is a life skill that everyone can learn and typing is not always the best option. Our way is to make it fun, engaging and real. Let us connect and make this work for your child.
We plant trees:
With every new student, we plant a tree for them to offset any extra use of paper when improving their handwriting.
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