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When to be concerned about handwriting
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My ds turned 7 in November. His handwriting has not gotten better over the months. I have had him do copywork coming from tracing the yr before. He has worked on that for several months until I just couldn’t handle it anymore..lol..It looks so bad, sometimes readable, mostly not. I have even given very short passages to work on. So I went back to tracing to see if he could “get it” Even his tracing is bad! I am at a loss to as why tracing would be bad.
I suppose he is lacking in fine motor skills. He still has a problem eating something that requires to use hands..finger still go in mouth.
My question is how long shall I wait for his writing to improve. And should I keep on having him practice? My first ds writing was not that good in the beginning yrs ago, but he quickly learned and his writing is better than mine! LOL!
Thanks
Are there any other disabilities that he could have that you don’t know about yet? That would definitely concern me as a mom. I don’t know more specifics, but my instinct would be to take him in to the dr and get him evaluated for physical or learning disabilities.
My dd 6 1/2 is developmentally behind in her visual-motor integration, so writing has always been difficult for her. It is very hard for her to see something on a page and copy it correctly. She actually seems to be improving now that we’re learning cursive. We had her tested by an occupational therapist for sensory processing disorder, and she does have several sensory issues that were severe enough to warrant occupational therapy.
Something that really helped her was Handwriting Without Tears, especially building the letters with play doh and tracing them with her index finger. Also, she loves having cornmeal in a cookie sheet and making letters with her index finger in that.
We don’t use those things anymore now that she’s learning cursive, but they really helped develop those fine motor skills that she was lacking. And making the letters large helped her to see what they really looked like. She still makes her print letters very large, even when she’s writing on lined paper. Her cursive letters, however, are coming much easier to her. I don’t know why, but I’m happy!
To my knowledge, he does not have any learning issues. He is very bright. He can do math in his head and has great large motor skills. He plays soccer and about to play baseball. My oldest has sensory issues but his has not contributed to handwriting problems.
I guess I will go back to square one..w/ playing w/ stuff,tracing w/ finger, and maybe bead threading. I thought we were over that long ago! 🙂
Maybe cursive will come easier? Somehow I doubt it..his writing is really chicken scratch!
Thanks!
Playing with play dough, cutting traced lines with scissors, sqeezing a foam ball, etc. these things would help to build those small hand muscles required for fine motor skills without just getting him to repeat the tracing letters over and over. Also, maybe he would benefit from a pencil grip? To help him build the muscles in the proper places for holding a pencil correctly. Or maybe you could go back to the big red pencils that are often used in K?
I know that my ds7 has had a much more difficult time with these types of things (even things like cutting his own food!) than either of my girls. My mom (who was a K and gr. 1 teacher) said that many boys just need more time in these areas and a little more help developing those muscles.
Don’t be discouraged, it will come.
-Miranda
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