Need Handwriting Help

I am an ex K-1 teacher and have a few ideas for you. If you live near a teacher supply store, or spend some time on the net searching for a pencil holder. It is soft and fits around the writing end of the pencil. It is usually triangle shaped and soft. It will help her hold the pencil correctly and that will help her write the letters better.

But she probably will always have "not so good" handwriting. Except when she wants to. Thank goodness for computers!

Ask your daughter's teacher if she has handwriting materials to send home for extra practice with you. Often schools use a particular "font" (like D'Nealian), so you might want to ask about that. If you just want materials, lots are available online such as: http://www.first-school.ws/t/alpha_tracers_dn1/a2.htm
For spacing, they usually have kids leave "a very small gap" between letters in a word, and one (child-sized) finger width between words.

Some kids have delays in fine and gross motor skills, we all develop at different paces. Get her some primary penmanship paper, that is 3 lines, so she can write her letters using the spacing on the paper. You can find this at most department stores, Target, Fred Meyer, in their school supply area or go to Lakeside in Bellevue. Also, what I found for my son who had diagnosed delays, is to get an easel and let him write his letters really big, so he can use his large muscles and he got the shapes down pat. He made pictures out of the letters after he wrote them for fun. Don't stress her out, talk with her teacher, ask for suggestions. Get her opinion. Kids can be extremely cruel. And tell her she just needs to practice, and it takes practice to do anything well. Those kids who play baseball, they're probably hitting the ball off a tee, they can't take a pitch yet like Ichiro, or mention some other sport or activity that takes practice to do well, no one just does it. Reward or praise her great efforts and accomplishments. My boys still have lousy handwriting and for my oldest it's because of his initial disability, dyspraxia, he's overcome it, but because he had it when he was learning, his command of penmanship isn't what I would have hoped. Pity his professors at the university he's attending. He's a great photographer, extremely intelligent, is a marathon runner... the point is she will be okay, work with her, give her opportunities. Talk with your pediatrician, she might have some fine motor skill delays. (How is her use of scissors?) They grow up very fast, so enjoy all the moments!

The schools we've switched to use 'form drawing' to teach the hand and the mind the movements that will be necessary before the letters are even taught, much less the kids are taught to write them--but then the children are expected to write them very clearly when that time comes (latter part of first grade).

Form drawing essentially involves imitation of the teacher (you), drawing big shapes/lines that fill entire big pages (I think they are about 12x18). Literally the first form is the straight up-and-down line that cuts the page in half. Then, when they can do that well, quartering the page by drawing a line up and down and a line across, both well centered. I can't remember the proper sequence after that. I think the next one is the 45 degree turn, the X with the lines going all the way to the four corners. There are "c"s and backwards "c"s, and a time when they have to put a dot in the center of the page, and then draw things from that, and then they have to put dots in the center of things like the triangles formed when they draw "M" on the page (always hitting the edge of the paper with every 'stroke') ...

Anyhow, I ran into the same idea at my Catholic gradeschool in band (play at half speed and then, once you have it right, it will naturally flow into full speed) and in my public junior high and high school in art (draw it big, or you will never actually know what you are drawing and your small pictures, no matter how 'finely done,' won't look right).

Let her step back to the level that gives her brain enough time to assimilate and integrate the information (the brain trying to do things it isn't really biophysically, developmentally prepared to do is the basis for things like dyslexia--or me needing to wear bifocals at age 8 because I did too much reading ;) ).

I deliberately stepped my oldest 'back' from what her academic-focus kindergarten pushed on her (writing and reading) by switching her to this new school, because watching her and her classmates suddenly gave me great clarity into the damages I had seen done, especially to 'more intelligent' children, all my life in school. I had to heavily encourage her to let go of the old forced teaching, but she did let it go after a few months (phew!), 'couldn't read' again until halfway through second grade, but now is easily reading chapter books, both out loud to her sibs and in bed to herself ... and now I am not worried about glasses for her, and hoping to avoid Daddy's former dyslexia for my boys. (Daddy was "very dyslexic" ... essentially stopped reading at all in high school ... which ACCIDENTALLY was exactly the right thing, because all of the forced miswiring loosened up, and when he took up reading again in time to go to college, it all wired in a much healthier way ... and he was an English Lit major!)

I guess what I'm saying is, if she keeps working from where she's at, she can only build on the shaky foundation. If you stop the process (summer break coming up may be just the thing you/she need!), and build the foundation FIRST, all future work will be (1) easier (less struggle to stay standing, as it were) and (2) better.

I don't think they spend much time teaching it anymore. Both my boys, 15 and 12, can't write. Their handwriting looks like mine did in 2nd grade.
I would just get lined paper and spend as much time as you can having her practice, practice, practice. Don't make a huge deal out of it.

Have you thought about getting her the books that they have that you copy over the letters and then practice writing them yourselves? and yes you are right this is a skill that she will learn over time. my daughters handwriting was atrocious in 1st grade, but you have to remember she is JUST learning how to write so not to be h*** o* her about it. It will get neater in time, practice makes perfect. Unless her teacher is coming to you saying OMG, this is horrible, then i wouldnt worry about it. and the other kids saying its sloppy? im sure their's isnt any better.

I am a second grade teacher and my experience has been that generally children really enjoy handwriting. At our school we introduce cursive in second grade and all my students love that. If your daughters teacher is ok with diciphering her handwriting until she gets more practice then I think she should be ok. However over the summer if you want to pracitce with her with worksheets, I would recommend going to a teacher store--Lakeshore is one of the best(by Bridgeport Village South of Portland) or The Learning Palace in both Salem and Portland-- and you can find plenty of handwriting workbooks for her to practice with' many of them being fun and with wipe off boards or other "fun" things like that. I would advice that you check with your school to find out what handwriting they ascribe to, because their are several different curriculum of handwriting especially when it comes to cursive. Good Luck!

Handwriting has much more to do with learning to manipulate your fingers than eyesight. I just learned in one of my development and curriculum classes that an excellent way to help foster handwriting is to use clay, play dough and other similar fine motor activities to develop dexterity in fingers. Working with natural clay is not as common in elementary schools now as when we were growing up, and we are seeing the difference.(all those coil pots we were making back then were for handwriting purposes more than art:) If you are going to use play dough, I would suggest making a homemade batch because you can make it more dense than commercial dough. Plus it is more fun to make it with her and much cheaper. There are lots of recipes on the web but if you like I can email you some recipes from my curriculum. I would also suggest things like weaving and knitting and crocheting as activities. There is a simple knitting loom called the Knifty Knitter that can be picked up at JoAnns for about $10, and it is very simple to use, and lots of fun. I have been addicted to it at times, and my 3 year old is learning to knit on it as well:)

This is a fairly common problem from what I hear. My daughter also was doing this. It takes lots and lot of practice on her end, and patients on yours. I just saw something my daughter wrote and her writint was perfect!! I suggest getting a couple of tablets that have the lines (school paper that we used in elementary school) and the dots in the center to show how igh her lower case letters should be. I found it at the dollar tree, along with many activity books to practice writing. Another place to look is anywhere that sells teacher supplies.
My oldest would writing was wavy (up and down like a wave) and in her case it was her eyes.

As a teacher of kinder and 2nd graders I have to say that some kids develop fine motor skills later...practice is always good. One good way to practice is to download traceable writing for her to practice on properly spaced and formed letters. There are lots of websites for that here is one www.handwritingworksheets.com , or you can go to learning palace and buy a handwriting notebook...these usually have a line to trace and then a practice area. Another thing you might want to do is watch when she is writing and see if she is writing the letters in the proper way. For example where does she start the letter e? Some kids that are having difficulty are unsure of where to start the letters and this makes letters look awkward and illegible. Also get a popsicle stick for her to use as a spacer between words (I always draw a little happy face on the popsicle stick so it's smiling at the student while they are working).

One ?. Is she left handed? After years of watching kids write I have found that left handers usually have sloppier handwriting despite best efforts (I am a leftie myself) This doesn't mean that she shouldn't practice...just that it might not be as beautiful as she wants.

Good luck.

BTW...ask her teacher what to do. Her teacher will know if her handwriting is developmentally appropriate and if not will probably have ideas how to help her and maybe practice materials for her to work with.

I haven't read all the responses, but thought I'd throw out my 2 cents, LOL. I have a 5.5yr old who will be in kindergarten this Sept. (Sept baby who missed the cut off this year) For over a year we've been working (playing on her part) on some letters and numbers. I've found that Kumon has a lot of great workbooks. They are thorough with out being complex (at least the first step ones) So I would maybe try their workbooks. Another thought is working on her "reading" skills. To show her a bit about sentence structure and how words need spaces and such.

Good luck
E.

Hi, Nicole.

I'm a mom of a 21 month old, so I haven't gone through a handwriting challenge, but I did want to give my input with the lazy eye.

I have a lazy eye that is corrected straight with contacts. My vision varies in that eye from 20/70 to 20/200 depending upon the day and lighting conditions. Because I utilize my good eye for writing and such (and I've never known any different way to see), I have a hard time thinking her eye is the issue.

If you believe it is a hand-eye coordination issue, I would involve her eye doctor and/or pediatrician. They can give you suggestions on how to help her learn spacing/sizing techniques until they become second-hand to her. How does she do with coloring in the lines and tracing?

Like you said, help your husband be patient with her. Children should never be disciplined for struggling with a skill, only for behavior issues. It will only teach them that they are not good enough and make them withdrawn.

Good luck.

Nikki

Handwriting Without Tears!!! It's a fantastic program.

http://www.hwtears.com/

There are free online tutorials for *you* as well, which is great. You can buy everything you need (workbooks, slate, paper, alphabet strip), OR make most of them yourself. Regardless I highly recommend you buy the alphabet strip.

Remember to go easy on her (physically speaking). If she hasn't been writing for several years, the strength in those muscles isn't up to the task of writing for longer then 5-15 minutes. A GREAT trick is to teach yourself to write with your opposite hand. Also remember, it's easier for you, since you already a) know how to write, & b) have some fine motor strength built up. Everyone can learn to write with their opposite hand, and it's actually easier to do that then to learn to write in the first place. Puts things into a bit of humbling perspective. ALSO you have that strength built up already, so if you find your hand cramping, know that your daughters probably started cramping in half the time, and she just kept going. Kids are amazing.

While it's UNLIKELY to be the case, there is also a disorder called "dysgraphia" (aka :so you're gonna be a doctor when you grow up, hmmm?"). Dysgraphia is like dyslexia, except for the miscommunication isn't between the eyes and brain, but the hand and brain. The #1 most recognizable symptom is TERRIBLE handwriting. It's not usually diagnosed until 3rd-6th grade because, lets face it, most younger children have terrible handwriting. They don't have the fine motor control/strength yet. Dysgraphics are also like dyslexics in that they tend to have higher then average intelligence.

There are two things here, one the teasing at school which should not be occurring. You can work with your daughter on some strategies to manage her response and with your daughter's teacher on how to make it not necessary for her to respond because the comments are not occurring.

The second is the handwriting. If she wants to work seriously on it then workbooks and such are a way to go. If it is a matter of having assists then you need reasons for her to write. With my (now) second grader we bought a bunch of postcards and had him send one every week to someone he knew (cousin, grandma, grandpa, friends when we were on a trip) I also would take his weekly spelling list and make handwriting worksheets using (free) writing wizard http://www.writingwizard.longcountdown.com/handwriting_pr... His handwriting improved as did his spelling scores.

Good luck!

I agree with the pre-reading techniques to try with your child. They will strengthen her fine motor skills. She is still young to be concerned about her level of writing, however I think what is more of a concern is to address the children in the class making fun of her.
I hope the teacher is telling them that it isn't okay for them to criticize, judge or comment on their fellow classmates work. Everyone has areas they can improve on. I would talk to the teacher about it. I would work on helping her confidence level and looking for things to praise her on and show how proud of her you are and help her not focus on what she still can't do or is not up to pare on. The fine motor work can just be a fun activity to do, not homework.

My granddaughter is ending the 3rd grade. Her letters are still different sizes and spaces uneven. Her teacher is not concerned. She said the age at which children's ability to write more legibly varies greatly.

If you want to have your daughter practice writing you can lightly draw the letters and have her write over them. There are also many workbooks available to use for practice. They are attractive with pictures and colors. I've seem them at Fred Meyer, Costco, and an educational store at Mall 205.

I've tried to use a couple with my granddaughter and she's not interested. She thinks her hand writing is just fine. I think it is more helpful to support the idea that handwriting is just fine then to have them do remedial work. Confidence is the key to success.

At the school which my granddaughter attends they have the students write starting in kindergarten which is before they are taught the appropriate placement and size of letters. Putting thoughts on paper is a higher priority then writing correctly.

So....if your daughter wants to practice writing provide her with a workbook and/or your printing lightly so that she can trace over it. But don't worry about it. She has many more years to gain this skill.

True, our writing needs to be legible. But she's only in the first grade. It's OK if it's not, as long as she is writing and her teacher is OK with it.

An idea that might help her with spacing is to have her look at a simple children's book while you're reading it. Along with talking about the story and pictures talk about the placement of letters. Point out how words are separate and there is space after the period at the end of the sentence. Make it fun. Be careful to be relaxed and above all let her know that she is doing OK and that this business of writing is an ongoing learning process. She will get better with time. If her teacher has not said so, she is not behind.

I find that the school system has lower expectations in many ways than they did when I was in school. My daughter received As for work that would have been at the best C when I was in school. Accepting that was a difficult transition for me.

Schools are now teaching writing much earlier than they did when I was in school. Most children did not go to kindergarten. I think we didn't start printing until perhaps the 2nd grade. And we didn't write before we knew how to print.

I think today's children have more difficulty with writing because they are writing before they know the letters or have any idea about spelling. This results in them developing poor habits which I think makes learning how to write more difficult. The school is apparently aware of this and does not expect good hand writing in the first, second and third grade. My granddaughter's teacher (3rd grade) did focus more on handwriting this year. Still my granddaughter's sloppy hand writing is acceptable.

I noticed that several students in my granddaughter's kindergarten class could write clearly and evenly. Many were just as sloppy as my grandaughter. Again, the teacher was not concerned.

I've also been told that hand writing is not considered an essential skill any more because of technology. Most writing is done on a computer.

I know this is going to sound childish but get some of those alphabet books.They help you lean how to space and how big to write.

My littel sister had problems with this.She is also in 1st grade.I also had this problem and he helped alot.

If you explain to her because she said she wanted to be better at right? Then she should have no problem if it's helping her excell.

~D.

Teaching a method of writing is important. Handwriting needs to be taught and personal style is what develops. Often illegible handwriting leads to set back in academic acheivement. When I started to investigate I found that this issue needs to be address and sooner the better.

I founded Write to Shine to help children develop those hand muscles and work on mastering Handwriting.

The Write to Shine®program is here to provide Handwriting Tutoring individualized to the child's need based on the highly acclaimed Handwriting Without Tears® program to teach writing readiness, printing, or cursive.

Handwriting workshops and education is available for schools, parents, and community groups in the form of workshops, in-services, or presentations.

S.
Certified Handwriting Specialist
www.writetoshine.weebly.com