writing

Your child can be bright, curious, and capable and still melt down over an itchy tag, loud kitchen noise, or a schedule that won’t budge. That’s not “bad behavior.” It’s often sensory processing colliding with executive functioning, and once you see it, you can finally respond with the right supports instead of more pressure.

On this collection of encore conversations with Sarah Collins, an occupational therapist and the creator of Homeschool OT, she helps parents figure out the real “why” behind learning struggles by looking at the whole occupation: the task itself, the skills it requires, and the environment surrounding it. Dr. Amy and Sandy ask Sarah to dig into the sensory systems beyond the basic five, including vestibular, proprioception, and interoception, and explain how sensory overload can derail attention, working memory, task initiation, persistence, and emotion regulation. We also talk about what “calm” can actually mean for different kids, and why movement might be a focus tool for one child while it overwhelms another.

Then we get practical about handwriting. Sarah breaks “messy writing” into the pieces parents can actually observe and support: core strength and shoulder stability, fine motor endurance, motor planning, visual processing, and even whether your child believes their thoughts are worth putting on paper. We explore why cursive can help some learners find writing flow, share curriculum ideas like Size Matters and Learning Without Tears, and offer simple homeschool setup tweaks like vertical writing on a mirror.

Handwriting isn’t just pencil meets paper; it’s purpose, posture, vision, and motor planning working in sync. On this episode of The Brainy Moms Podcast, Dr. Amy and Sandy sit down with occupational therapist and homeschool consultant Sarah Collins (The Homeschool OT) to explore how kids move from “hot mess” letters to confident, legible writing by addressing the real foundations: core strength, shoulder stability, explicit motor plans, and a clear sense that their ideas matter.

We break down why cursive can be a game changer for productivity and flow, especially for ADHD and dyslexic learners, and how copy work—when used wisely—reduces cognitive load so kids can master patterns before juggling spelling and punctuation. Sarah shares practical strategies you can use today: vertical writing on mirrors or whiteboards, sand and tactile tracing, wooden letter forms, and programs like Size Matters for spacing and size or Learning Without Tears and its wet-dry-try sequence for consistent motor cues.

Vision gets a spotlight too. From visual scanning to convergence, subtle eye issues can sabotage reading and writing. You’ll hear how to spot red flags, when to consider referrals, and why multi-sensory practice helps the brain integrate “hardware and software.” We also revisit early milestones like crawling and cross-body play, connect them to later fine-motor readiness, and offer creative ways to rebuild those foundations if they were missed. Throughout, we focus on legibility over perfection, endurance for note-taking, and the powerful memory benefits of handwriting and summarizing in your own words.

If you’re a parent, educator, or homeschooler looking for evidence-based, real-world tools to make writing easier and learning stick, this conversation delivers. Subscribe for more brain-smart episodes, share with a friend who needs fresh handwriting strategies, and leave a review to tell us which tip you’ll try first.