You'd think so, and I agree with you, but the so-called educational 'experts' would disagree entirely.
Our LA Trackers, based on EYFS Development Matters, clearly state that at 25-36 months a child
must be "Beginning to hold writing tools with three finger tripod grip...." The tracker states that we must not progress a child to the next stage of learning until they pass all criteria in each section. So, no tripod grip, no moving the child on.
I have 2 client
parents who do not use a tripod grip. Do I tell them they need to learn to write again cos they're setting a bad example and clearly lack the competences of a 3yo? Indeed, I've come across several elite sportspeople (in my previous work) who, signing cheques and credit card slips demonstrated very unusual grips which are nothing like the tripod grip which is (according to the experts) essential to the development of any kind of literacy. Would the experts and government ministers care to tell these Olympians and capped internationals that they are "...functioning below the expected level..." of physical skills for a 3yo? (How on Earth did Team GB win all those medals? One can only assume the rest of the world's sports stars were all still using nappies and sippy-cups.)
Is it cynical to suggest these educational experts and academicians are several light years away from their professed interest in "the unique child" and are rather following an agenda of social control to make sure they all turn out the same, to make things easier for the teachers to cope with?
It actually puts me in mind of the days (only just prior to my own school days) when all children were forced to write with their right hand cos left-handedness was seen as incorrect technique which would impair a child's ability to write and learn properly.
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