Improving handwriting with fun, game based activities
Hello, I'm Sheilagh. I'm the founder of Help with Handwriting. I'm the 'go-to' person for helping kids with handwriting.
Let me tell you about myself and my fabulous team. And, how occupational therapy will be the key to your child's writing success.
About Sheilagh and Help with Handwriting
We’re here to demystify handwriting. Turning it into bite-sized achievable steps whilst keeping it fun.
There is more than one way to teach handwriting. Teaching everyone in the same way is like fitting into a box; it does not work. (Similar to how I couldn’t fit into the cupboard!) We need to find out what style of handwriting instruction works for your child.
We began in 2016. I was frustrated that children weren’t getting the help they needed to write. So, I created a place where they would get the best help. We now work with kids worldwide, helping hundreds of kids from 6 to 16 year olds. As much as our parents do ask us, sorry we don’t work with adults.ย
Two of my greatest joys are seeing the relief on parents’ faces when they realise their child’s handwriting won’t hold them back. And when the kids try to hide their smiles when looking at their improved handwriting.
Why Choose an Occupational Therapist?
As occupational therapists, we can help your child like no one else. Here's why choosing an OT over a traditional handwriting tutor can help:
1. We see the bigger picture
We can assess fine motor skills, visual perception, posture, and writing mechanics. Our training allows it.
2. Specialist knowledge
Unlike teachers who use school handwriting schemes, we have a medical background in physical and mental ill health. As well as a wealth of specialist knowledge.
3. Individualised approach
We focus on one-on-one work. We use methods suited to each child’s needs. It is never about a one-size-fits-all classroom approach.
4. Motivation through play
We use fun games to help kids with their handwriting.
5. Problem solving experts
A key skill of an occupational therapist is to solve problems. Then, teach the solution in small, achievable tasks.
6. Building independence
We want more than better handwriting. We want to give your child the tools to self-review and improve their work without us around.
7. No cookie-cutter lessons
Each session is tailored to your child’s needs. It ensures they get the exact support they require.
An occupational therapist is more than a handwriting tutor
You’ll get a skilled professional. Who knows about writing complexities. Who will help your child build the skills and confidence for success.
Meet the Team
Sheilagh
I’m the founder, handwriting expert and OT. I’ve published two books on handwriting and I’m the handwriting expert for the Peppa Pig series. I create all our courses and see students for lessons and in the club.
Andree
Andree is a handwriting specialist, dyslexia specialist and OT. She provides fantastic online lessons seeing children from 6 to 16 years. She uses her creativity to make them extra special for the students.
Helen
Helen is our coordinator, Duke of Edinburgh Award assessor and OT. She is behind the scenes making sure that all the courses run efficiently. She helps plan any launch dates and promotions.ย
Laura
Laura manages the support desk, she is invaluable. If you need to change a lesson or have a question she is the best person to help you. Often being able to answer everything quicker than the rest of us.
Read our latest reviews
We help children from the UK and worldwide including America, Australia, Asia, South Africa, and Europe.ย
Parents and kids alike will love the handwriting club. It removes the burden and resentment that our child had, and turns it in to a fun engaging activity every one gets involved with. Stuffed full of enthusiasm and surprises, absolutely getting your moneys worth. Watch the results and attitudes grow!
Sheilagh at Help with Handwriting has been a dream. She has helped our daughter vastly improve her handwriting but most importantly, she has given her the confidence to believe that she can! Thank you. One of the best โgoogleโ finds ever and well worth the money. Thank you.
I discovered Sheilagh and Help with Handwriting via a Google search after spending years trying (and failing!) to help my 12-year-old son improve his handwriting.After just 6 lessons, his writing has significantly improved and is now legible ๐ Furthermore, he understands what he needs to do to continue to improve his writing and believes that he can achieve this.Most importantly, Sheilagh personalised every lesson, making them enjoyable and engaging for my son. He gained confidence and belief that he could โcrackโ handwriting and felt motivated to practice between lessons. Who knew that handwriting could be so much fun!Thank you! C&A
I found Help with Handwriting when looking for help for my 8 year old son and his poor handwriting. From the get go Sheilagh made the sessions fun and made the time to get to know my son. He loved the sessions, which is amazing as he hated writing, he especially liked that he had control over the games they played! Sheilagh wass very clever in how she gave advise, tips and tricks and made sure that she gave plenty of praise which worked so well for my son. We saw a huge improvement in my son’s writing style after the 6 sessions and I believe he has made adjustments that will stick for life. I cannot thank Sheilagh enough and will be recommending her far and wide!
We reached out to Sheilagh after years of our (Y3) son struggling with his writing (to the point that for a long time he was refusing to pick up a pen). The simple act of writing would make him really tense and anxious, and this was having an impact on his wellbeing as well as school performance in all subjects.After 6 lessons with Sheilagh (fewer actually) he is a changed boy. He writes much faster, his handwriting is legible and -more important of all- he is now much much more relaxed about writing. This has helped him at school and made him a much happier person.Not only the lessons were incredibly effective, but our son enjoyed them (something that used to be unthinkable for any task involving writing) and has even asked me to set up a booster session before the next school year.I have been recommending Sheilagh to everyone I know because she has really made a massive difference in our son’s writing and more importantly in his relationship with writing, school and himself.
I’m so pleased we found Sheilagh to help my nearly eight year-old with his handwriting. The improvement in just a couple of months is remarkable.Sheilagh not only has the expertise to assess where the difficulties may stem from, but also the skills to make the sessions fun and engaging. My son has gone from dreading handwriting as something he is “bad” at to feeling much more confident that he can produce written work to feel proud of.I also appreciated that Sheilagh was able to help my son with the style of handwriting taught at his school, rather than having him start from scratch (which he did NOT want to do!).I would not hesitate to recommend Help with Handwriting to anyone looking for handwriting support.
Sheilagh was brilliant with my (initially reluctant!) daughter. We got absolutely where we wanted to be with my daughterโs handwriting a lot faster than I had expected. The admin side of things with booking/re-booking appointments was nice and straightforward and Laura was very helpful and efficient. Thank you both!
Sheilagh was great — my son really enjoyed his sessions with her and his handwriting has improved a lot.
Our 8-year old son really enjoyed working with Sheilagh, and has asked for more lessons! We had parents evening this week and, looking through his work books, the difference in his handwriting since before Christmas is remarkable, his teacher is really pleased and his confidence has grown so much. Sheilagh not only took time to identify and then work on individual issues with our son, but also to explain to us what was happening and how we could practice, so that I understood the techniques and language enough to help him, which Iโd never had from school. The lessons are fun and engaging, Sheilagh connected brilliantly with our son, and the lessons absolutely generated results. Thank you, we are really gratefulโฆ now, do you do spelling lessons!?!
My son worked with Help with Handwriting with Sheilagh and what an excellent investment it turned out to be. The improvement has been unprecedented, his handwriting has gone from poorly formed and difficult to read to clear, smaller and fully formed even at speed! The difference has been noticed at school as his teachers have commented on the improvement. Most of all it has increased his writing confidence which is a huge relief for all of us and of course, will benefit him throughout his life, especially during his exams. Sheilagh makes the classes fun and enjoyable, in fact they are hard to give up, he will miss the classes and Sheilagh but thanks to her my son has achieved something we didnโt think was possible in his teenage years; clear, smaller, legible handwriting without any fighting or tears! A great experience from Help with Handwriting.
My 10-year-old son recently had a block of six lessons with Sheilagh. He really enjoyed the lessons, and Sheilagh included lots of fun activities to keep him engaged. His handwriting has really improved with Sheilagh’s input, and he’s now taking more care over the presentation of his work.I would definitely recommend these lessons ๐
Best parenting decision yet!When my ten-year-old daughter confessed that handwriting really hurt her hand, I wasnโt sure what to do. Her handwriting had always been an issue, and now I understood why. Yet school wasnโt particularly helpful on how to address it, so I went online looking for a solution, and thatโs when I came across Sheilagh Blyth and Help with Handwriting.Within one session, Sheilagh significantly improved my daughterโs handwriting and isolated the cause of her pain. I was an instant convert!Over the course of their one2one lessons, my daughterโs confidence increased as her handwriting became downright gorgeous. Sheilagh also worked like a detective to find the best pen-holding posture for my daughter โฆ one which relieved the pain but that was โcustomisedโ to her so her good pen-holding habits would stick. My daughter also learned to write legibly at speed, which will be of huge value as she reaches the exam school years. Sheilagh was fun and engaging; my daughter always looked forward to her handwriting lessons as she loved the games Sheilagh played with herโSheilagh is truly masterful at making kids feel at ease. If you are considering getting help for your childโs handwriting, I cannot recommend Help with Handwriting enough!
Thank you so much for putting together this handwriting course. My sonโs handwriting is sooooo much better than before he started it. He has more confidence with his writing and can see his mistakes and correct himself, plus it’s all legible and has a distinct style!
Sheilagh has been fantastic with my son who has always struggled with his handwriting. He is currently in Year 6 and has been quite ashamed of his writing, but Sheilagh helped him to realise that if he slowed down and gave his letters more space he actually has lovely writing! Sheilagh methodically worked through a number of issues he had and he now has strategies to make his writing much better. The best outcome for us has been a huge boost in self confidence which means he’s now happy to write and proud of his work. This is worth it’s weight in gold!
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. Winiโs handwriting has improved hugely. I can see how much more confident and relaxed she is when approaching her written work. wouldnโt hesitate to recommend Sheliagh to any parent looking for support with their childโs 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 โHelp with handwritingโ 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 didnโt 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 didnโt even realise he even had an issue with it.Sheilagh also helped us a parents. Itโs 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 sonโs handwriting. He is 15 and his handwriting has always been poor. Although he really didnโt 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 Sheilaghโs 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. Itโs 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 couldnโt read her own writing and the teachers were writing unhelpful comments in her book saying they couldnโt read or mark her work. Iโll admit that we couldnโt 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 sheโd like to be an author one day. This love of writing means that sheโs had a summer holiday full of writing practice without it even feeling like work. Iโm 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, youโre 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 sonโs 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 wasnโt lost. My usually-school-work-shy son said he found her sessions didnโt 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 โฆ โbrilliant, lovely lady who has helped me loadsโSheilagh 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 couldnโt 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 heโs 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 ๐
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 sonโs 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. Sheilaghโs 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 didnโt like handwriting came to look forward to lessons with Ms. Blyth. We highly recommend her!
I canโt 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 sonโs 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 canโt thank Sheilagh enough for the help and support sheโs given our family.
Weโre 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 heโd 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 hadnโt 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 heโd made significant improvement and was almost where he needed to be. Weโd highly recommend Sheilagh and wish weโd intervened sooner.My son saidโI 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.โ
Ready to see your child's handwriting go to the next level?
Game based learning gives children the confidence to try and write. Matched with our occupational therapy skills you’ll be onto a winner.ย
