Pediatric developmental assessments from the early 1900s are different from those used more often today. Certain present-day pediatric expectations of fine motor skills, specifically those of pre-writing strokes, appear more advanced when compared to those of the past. In the mid-20th century, child developmentalists described the sequences in which children learn, but observed that skill regression occurred as children grew older and academic expectations changed. The educational theories of today neglect to examine early learning progression through the foundations of fine motor performance. Comparisons of contemporary prewriting stroke developmental sequencing within the early Gesell Developmental Schedules reveal various factors to consider when assessing children's' school readiness and academic access and choosing the appropriate protocol for assessment purposes. A comparison of prewriting stroke expectations gives way to the idea that today's educational instruction expects students to do more than the developmental norms. Investigating the advances of different developmental protocols throughout the decades brings question to how prewriting stroke norms are developed and whether they need to be updated based on how expectations are determined.