Variables Affecting Transition from Wide-Spaced to Normal-Spaced Paper for Manuscript Handwriting

The study investigated the manuscript letter strokes made by second and third grade boys and girls using wide- and normal-spaced writing paper. Scoring overlay sizes of 1 mm, 2 mm, and 3 mm were used. The results of the study indicated no differences in the performance of boys and girls. Different scoring overlay sizes resulted in significantly different scores for both normal- and wide-spaced writing paper. Second graders made significantly more correct letter strokes using wide-spaced paper, whereas third graders showed no differences in their performance on normal- and wide-spaced paper. The results suggest that transition from wide- to normal-spaced writing paper may be appropriate during the second grade.