Earth Paper ... What is it?

Occupational Therapists have been using "earth" paper for a while.  Typically "earth" paper is a series of lines (baseline and scaffold lines) for handwriting.  The lines are coloured to provide a visual guide for letter placement and size.  Working on letter size and placement helps handwriting legibility when printing.  

I have used my version of "earth" paper in therapy sessions with great success to help with letter size and letter formation.  The results are neatness and legibility as well as child's understanding of how letters look in relation to each other.  

I have developed a set of "earth" paper which is unlike those found elsewhere.  There are solid coloured lines for the earth {brown}, grass {green} and the sky {blue}.  Lines have been produced in two sizes (8mm and 6mm).  My version of "earth paper" can be purchased from the Your Kids OT shop.

I usually use "earth" paper when introducing letter sizes and reinforcing starting points for letter formation.  "Earth" paper is great when introducing letter families according to size of the letters {Refer to previous post for descriptions about letter families in "Meet my Letter Families"} . 

"Earth" paper may be laminated for durability to use with multiple children or repeated use with one child.  You can take a photo of their work so that you have a record of progress.  Alternatively you could colour photocopy numerous pages of "Earth paper" to use as needed with a class or individual children.

As a child becomes familiar with writing on the paper, I may place a copy of the "earth" paper under their regular notebook as a faint guide.  I will then withdraw the use of the paper as the child shows more consistency with letter size and formation.  I may come back to the "earth" paper with the same child if they have a future block of therapy or after a break such as the school holidays. 

Here is a guide for using "earth" paper.

Small letters 
Small letters are written within the green coloured line {grass}.  All small letters have a starting position and finished position for forming the letter within the green coloured line {grass}. The exception to this is the letter “i” where the dot above the line is placed in the blue coloured line {sky}.

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Tall letters 
Tall letters start their letter formation in the blue coloured line {sky} and move into the green coloured line {grass}.  The exception to this is the letter “d” which starts in the green coloured line {grass} and extends to the blue coloured line {sky}.

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Tail letters 
Tail letters start their letter formation in the green coloured line {grass} and move down into the brown coloured line {earth}.  The exception to this is the letter “j” which also has a dot in the blue coloured line {sky}.

"Earth" Paper may be purchased from the Your Kids OT shop.  This PDF visual guide contains a how to use guide, wall poster with NSW foundation font letters placed on the "earth paper" and two pages of blank "earth paper".   Lines have been produced in two sizes (8mm and 6mm).   See a preview of this paper below.

Have you used "earth" paper? Has your child shown an improvement in handwriting legibility after using "earth" paper?