Space Size and Accuracy of First Grade Students’ Manuscript Writing

A comparison was made of the accuracy of handwriting on large-spaced paper and normal-spaced paper of suburban and inner-city first grade students. Results indicate that first grade students produced more accurate letter strokes with large-spaced paper (space size 3.4 cm) than with normal-spaced paper (space size 1.6 cm). Suburban students produced significantly more accurate manuscript letter strokes than urban students. Finally, these data produced no significant differences in letter formation of boys and girls. This study provides justification for continued use of large-spaced writing paper with first grade students.