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Struggling with handwriting
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Hi SCM family,
I have a ds8 whose fine motor skills aren’t great, so handwriting is a struggle.
His handwriting is very wobbly he looses control of his pencil/pen. The knowledge is there but the putting thought to paper is a problem.
We do Ball and Stick copywork of about 2-4 sentences, which he gets through, but becomes easily fatigued. He also still writes capitals in the middle of words and doesn’t stay on the line. We have Writing With Ease or I make copywork pages for him. We have the same problem with drawing but have just started Draw Write Now, but the copywork sentences are a little too simple. I am just trying to make sure he does copywork daily even if it’s only short. I’m just not sure if I’m doing the right thing.
Has anyone had a child struggle like this and what do others do to help handwriting?
Is there a handwriting programme that has dramatically helped their childs handwriting?
How important is handwriting?
If ds struggles with manuscript do I wait til he has that down pat before attempting to teach cursive?
I don’t want to buy an expensive programme but I do want to get the best fit for him.
Do I just keep plodding along and eventually it will become easier for him?
Thanks for reading, I welcome any suggestions.
Renelle
Check out the Handwriting without Tears website. Even if you don’t buy the program (it’s a little pricey if I remember correctly), there are some tips and printouts on the site. Also google “dysgraphia” for some suggestions.
HTH,
Karen
Hi Renelle
Not knowing any other background, i wouldn’t think it is a problem for an 8-yr-old boy. In CM schools Daily Schedules (these are found in SCM’s Planning Your CM Education p. 117 and taken from The Parents Review, Vol. 19, 1908) Class 1 (Grades 1-3) the students alternated between printing, writing (copywork), drawing and brush-drawing. These were very short lessons alternating days.
We switched to something more like this schedule for our 2nd grade boy and all are much happier & handwriting has improved. Handwriting is only about 5 minutes long and we use Penny Gardner’s Beautiful Italics. If he does get discouraged I like to show him what his printing looked like when he first started 1st grade. Having “meaningful handwriting experiences” has also helped. He received some beautiful notes from his cousins and a thank-you card from a friend and it seemed a lightbulb went off.
Here’s my post on Handwriting and Brush Painting if you are interested.
All my best,
Richele
Renelle,
I have some Handwriting without Tears materials I would send to you for free if you PM me your address.
Heather
My 7 year old son has exactly the same problems you talked about!
Handwriting Without Tears is great, and you don’t have to spend much. The workbooks are only around $8. You don’t have to get all the extras. If your son already knows how to make the letters, you only would get the workbooks. We got our son the Kindergarten and First grade workbooks and just started the K book. I think it will help him get it under control. I hope anyway.
But you’re not alone. I try not to worry about it; I only have him copy VERY little at a time. He gets so tired of it. He’ll get there. Everyone’s different.
Good luck!
My daughter with special needs needed grip control help and we got a book at a local school supply store called Activities for Fine Motor Skills Development by Jodene Smith. It is available on Amazon. It was for K-1 but if you preview it maybe activities could be made a little more grown up. It could just be a muscle development issue but I would check with my doctor and they may refer you to an occupational therapist who would be very helpful with activites and advice.
Oh, I didn’t mean to suggest in any way your son may have a developmental issue. I was just saying that is why we had the book, sorry about that. All kid’s skills develop at different rates and I am sure if he is on target in other areas then strengthening in this area is not unusual.
Thankyou all so much for your valuable help.
Karen – I looked up dysphagia and I wouldn’t be surprised if that is the case as ds has mild asperger sydrome. We used to go the an OT, but we found it difficult to get to, as we live out in the country away from services like that and expensive.
He has been doing well in all other areas.
I’m thinking it will improve over time but I haven’t had anything to compare his writing to, except a 7yr old girl whose writing is magnificant.
Richele – I’m going to visit you at the blog thanks for the suggestion. I really think it will help. Because he hasn’t liked working with a pencil and drawing detail, he hasn’t been encouraged to do alot over the years until I brought him home from school 6 months ago. I was really unaware of alot of things that he was experienceing at school until I pulled him out. I think when I sent him to school I thought he would learn all those things there, but not the case! So glad to have him home I missed him and worried about him daily. I didn’t realise how much I had handed over to school system until he was already gone and let me tell you he is ‘blooming’ at home.
Heather – thankyou for your generosity, that would have been great, but I live in Australia and wouldn’t expect you to post here. But I will look at the HWOT website. Thankyou
Art – thankyou for the HWOT suggestion I will definitely be checking it out
Igeurink – Thanks, I will look for that book Activities and Fine Motor Skills Development. We have been to an OT in the past but they didn’t really offer much in the way of helping with handwriting skills. I might see if we can see the OT again maybe 1 or 2 more times and just see. To go regularly is very difficult. Ds has been diagnosed with mild Asperger Syndrome. We have talked to him about it and he sees it more like a super power! He’s very bright and unique, keeps me on my toes, never a dull moment.
I think I need to trust the tried and true methods and be patient. Above all I need to ask God for the things I need help with so thankyou for reminding me – I know God can do it. Thankyou all for the encouragement and ideas.
Renelle
I’ve jus been over to Richele’s blog and it has some gentle, effective suggestions. It’s great Richele, I’m going to do this today!
Renelle
Part of our daughter’s issues are labeled as “autistic tendancies” so I can relate! Today she was running around outside with her winter coat and boots on….and fairy wings. What our neighbors must think! One thing our OT suggested was keyboard work (though anything more than basic mouse work is too hard for her). If he is able to type his answers to much of his work and do less handwriting he may feel “cool” and less frustrated and since most writing is typed now days it wouldn’t hurt for most careers except maybe a caligraphist (is that a word?!). Then with therapy options his handwriting may improve without even really working on it as he gains muscle tone and control while playing games, not struggling doing something he feels he is failing at. I commend you for homeschooling with a challenge. My daughter is in 2nd grade this year (though she is 9) and in the fall we will have her going only half days for the first time since she was 3. We have aids for her in our home now so that will be helpful and we can include her in more homeschool activities. I hope you find some help and fun too!
Hi Renelle,
I am not sure if this is helpful or not, but I share it for what it’s worth.
Many children (mine, included) find cursive easier and less taxing than print. My dd learned to print with HWT at age 4 and when 5 or 6 asked to learn cursive. I taught her with Cursive First (very inexpensive) and she learned quickly and said, “Mommy, this is soooo much easier than print. Why didn’t we start with cursive from the beginning.” Well, that got me to thinking and researching and I discovered that up until the 1940s all school children were taught cursive from day 1 of first grade and didn’t learn print until later. There are no letter reversal issues, spacing issues, etc.
So, armed with this new information, I decided to make my 5 yo son a guinea pig. I started him on cursive and he’s doing great! For him, I am using a very simple software program called Pencil Pete that demonstrates how to form the letters over and over (it is available for print or cursive.) He loves this! Now, neither of these 2 of my kids have any special needs, so their experience may not amount to much in this circumstance. I do, however, find the historical precedent of cursive interesting.
Anyway, it’s just something more to think about.
Many blessings,
Christie
Hi,
I still welcome any suggestions as I think this will be an ongoing thing for us. Ds writes everything he is asked to but it can take a while.
Igeurink – My ds runs around with a red and blue cape on in the yard also. I want to try a few more things before he does too much typing and had thought that I would include typing in his schedule next year (he’ll be 9, normally 4th grade in Australia).
Christie – I’m definitely interested into looking into doing cursive to see if it at all is easier for him. It may be a while but I will try to remember to post the results if I think its worth a go at this stage.
I think that I need to be a little more creative and work on some skills with muscle control and strengthening, fine motor skills and such.
I still welcome any ideas for this.
Blessings to you and all yours,
Renelle
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