Jump to content

Menu

Handwriting help


Recommended Posts

My 9 y/o dd is behind in handwriting. We just finished 1st grade HWT. She is doing well if she has a model.

 

Here is the problem. She says she wants to be an author & write stories about animals (non fiction). Her first attempt (2 sentences) was illegible. So I pointed out some things she could do better with (spacing, periods, etc) and her next 2 stories were much neater. But then today we did it again & it was a mess.

 

How should I approach this? I want to encourage her. This is what I did today-reviewed when to capitalize, talked about spacing, & using periods. She didn't remember any of it. I sat beside her & gently reminded her about spacing. Then when she was done (and had illustrated her story) I had her fix all the capital letters (she uses capitals in mid-word) & add punctuation.

 

It was only 3 sentences. I ignored spelling errors.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Separate the creative writing side from her learning to write correctly.  Those are two different processes and sometimes it takes explicit instruction, systematically implemented over a very long time for the physical act of writing to work smoothly.  Please let her dictate her stories to you.  Write them down for her so the skills of creating stories aren't bogged down in the physical act. 

 

Keep the handwriting lessons separate.  Work with her daily, in short periods so she doesn't wear out, but do it consistently.  This honestly may take years.  Or she could just "get it" one day.  Look up the term dysgraphia.  Your child may not be dysgraphic but a lot of the suggestions for remediation of children with this issue might very much help you to help your child.  It may also help you to understand the MANY processes that have to run smoothly and fluently for handwriting to work well.

 

Best wishes....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Separate the creative writing side from her learning to write correctly. Those are two different processes and sometimes it takes explicit instruction, systematically implemented over a very long time for the physical act of writing to work smoothly. Please let her dictate her stories to you. Write them down for her so the skills of creating stories aren't bogged down in the physical act.

 

Keep the handwriting lessons separate. Work with her daily, in short periods so she doesn't wear out, but do it consistently. This honestly may take years. Or she could just "get it" one day. Look up the term dysgraphia. Your child may not be dysgraphic but a lot of the suggestions for remediation of children with this issue might very much help you to help your child. It may also help you to understand the MANY processes that have to run smoothly and fluently for handwriting to work well.

 

Best wishes....

Thank you for your help. I have tried that approach in the past & she was not ok with it. She really WANTS to write it herself-or has in the past. I will try again & see if it's ok with her.

 

Which leads to another question-if she insists on writing herself should I just let it go? Keep with our formal program & make no comments about her personal writing?

 

She has serious medical issues & as a result is evaluated by an OT (among other professionals) every 6 months. Would they pick up in dysgraphia?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you for your help. I have tried that approach in the past & she was not ok with it. She really WANTS to write it herself-or has in the past. I will try again & see if it's ok with her.

 

Which leads to another question-if she insists on writing herself should I just let it go? Keep with our formal program & make no comments about her personal writing?

 

She has serious medical issues & as a result is evaluated by an OT (among other professionals) every 6 months. Would they pick up in dysgraphia?

Maybe.  Maybe not.  The more experience I get, the more I realize that a lot of experts have huge gaps in their knowledge.  And sometimes are actually truly clueless.  Or that a really important part of the bigger picture is not in their realm of expertise and training so they either don't even know to look for it or are not allowed to diagnosis it. You could ask the next time you go, though.

 

I would say that if she is insisting on writing herself, don't fight it.  Work on the actual formation of letters, spacing, etc. as a separate thing but let her write as she wishes otherwise, at least for now.  Hopefully you can get better answers and a more effective path from an expert at some point.

 

The biggest thing is for her to retain her enthusiasm as she gains skills.  If the writing issue is constantly pointed out but she is not making progress with that method she may end up hating writing altogether, and you may never get that enthusiasm back.  She is still very young.  Seek answers but give her all the support and encouragement she needs to thrive in her area of interest. 

 

FWIW, further down the road, if she is still struggling and this looks like a lifetime issue, be reassured there are many options for helping her to still be a great writer if that is what she wants.  Software like Dragon Naturally Speaking, Kidspiration or Inspiration, Ginger, etc.  all can help scaffold the physical process so it doesn't prevent her from doing well with the actual material.   :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The OT definitely has concerns although dd has made leaps & bounds since we switched to HWT. She actually had recommended OT services but I had a newborn & no vehicle at the time. At last eval she was only showing a mild delay so OT gave a few more suggestions & said keep it up.

 

I will ask about dysgraphia next time we go. I did a brief read up on it & it sounds like it fits. Do you have any good sources for the remediation side of it? I would like to read up a little more & try some things with her.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

FWIW, further down the road, if she is still struggling and this looks like a lifetime issue, be reassured there are many options for helping her to still be a great writer if that is what she wants. Software like Dragon Naturally Speaking, Kidspiration or Inspiration, Ginger, etc. all can help scaffold the physical process so it doesn't prevent her from doing well with the actual material. :)

Thank you for this. I could write a book about my dd's issues. And they will be for her lifetime. I get discouraged but this-this made my heart happy.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In addition to OneStep's thoughts about OT and ultimately software, etc., your dd is at an age for learning typing as well.  Keep moving forward with handwriting, but consider adding typing.  Some dysgraphic people struggle with typing too, but for others, it's a very practical mode of output.

 

Eta, have vision issues been ruled out?  Sometimes those go along with dysgraphia, as a type of motor issue.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In addition to OneStep's thoughts about OT and ultimately software, etc., your dd is at an age for learning typing as well. Keep moving forward with handwriting, but consider adding typing. Some dysgraphic people struggle with typing too, but for others, it's a very practical mode of output.

 

Eta, have vision issues been ruled out? Sometimes those go along with dysgraphia, as a type of motor issue.

She has regular eye appts but nothing specialized.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What has worked best here was for me to have DS practice handwriting quite literally every day with pencil and paper for brief periods of time, but also have him do a lot of output on various sizes of dry erase boards (some with lines) for other things (I take photos with my phone of the finished material), plus I have him dictate things to me while I scribe, especially if it is longer material. 

 

 He also prefers the feel of cursive to print and it helps him with his spacing/sizing.  He practices cursive every day, too, but just a little each day since he has not yet mastered the formations.  We use New American Cursive from Memoria Press along with the Start Write software you can purchase with it.  I can create whatever practice pages in whatever sizes I wish.  It is definitely coming along.  For instance, today he was taking a spelling test and asked if he could write some of his words in cursive.  I had him do them on a lined dry erase board and laid out a laminated cursive guide sheet in case he forgot how to form a letter then let him do it that way since he wanted to.  Normally he would have dictated the test or written in print on the dry erase.  He did well.  Was his handwriting perfect?  Goodness, no.  But it was legible and his size and spacing were more accurate than with print.  And although it was hard work, he was enthusiastic and the writing was legible.  Win win.   :)

 

I agree with Wapiti about typing, too.  DS is also working on learning to type.  We are using Type to Learn 4.  You can usually purchase this at a discount through Homeschool Buyer's co-op.

 

He likes being a secret agent that types to save information and he likes a lot of the typing games.  I started him out with a 5 w.p.m. and 90% accuracy requirement at first and had him go really slowly.  Once things started to click I increased accuracy to 95% but left w.p.m. at 5 since he really couldn't type faster than that yet and I wanted him focusing on accuracy and developing good muscle memory not bad habits from rushing.  He is finally up to 10 w.p.m. on a good day.  We have been at this two years but he is making progress and by high school should be very fluent in typing, albeit probably still slower than most (he is in 5th this year).  The issues causing dysgraphia have also caused issues with fluency in typing but they are not insurmountable.  He just needs a lot more time than most kids.  We can give him that time since he homeschools.   :)

 

A Developmental Optometrist could rule out developmental vision issues, which don't often show up in a normal eye exam, by the way.  DS has 20/15 vision.  Better than perfect.  Passed every eye exam he ever had with flying colors.  But they only tested for visual acuity, not developmental vision issues.  We found out he also has heterophoria.  His left eye tracks just out of alignment, especially when he is tired.  This causes coordination issues, exacerbates his dyslexia issues, etc.  Vision therapy helped with this.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Artistic ability is not an indicator one way or the other.  Just like love of reading or lack of a love of reading is not an absolute indicator one way or the other that someone is or is not dyslexic.  Dysgraphia isn't strictly numbers and letters, either, though.  

 

Think of it this way....  If you are creating something from scratch, something from your own head, you have the freedom to put onto paper your own thing.  And for those with artistic ability, that process is frequently something subconscious.  It just is there.  That is a very different process than trying to form letters or numbers that someone else told you had to look a certain way.  Does that make sense?

 

Honestly, dysgraphia can be caused by so many things.  A label of dysgraphia is just kind of giving a word to the result of those issues.  It doesn't tell you the cause.  There could be a neurological processing issue, motor planning issue, muscle memory issue, etc.  It depends on what the root cause or causes is as to what other areas will be affected.  

 

How does she do when she has to copy symbols for something?  Not create something from scratch but actually copy the size and shape of something?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

:grouphug:   You're an awesome mom.  I love that you're meeting your DD where she is.

 

I suggest that you have her learn to type so she can write her stories on the computer.  That's how she'll write as an adult, so why not start now?  You can work on handwriting separately without sucking the fun out of one of the things she enjoys.  Also, definitely have her eyes examined by a developmental optometrist to rule out any vision issues that normal eye exams don't address (e.g. convergence insufficiency).  My DD's exam wasn't covered by our eye insurance, but it was only about $120 (not as insanely expensive as I had feared).

 

FWIW, my 11 yo is a gifted artist but she struggles with the physical act of writing.  I don't know that she has dysgraphia, but handwriting is a totally different experience for her than drawing.  It's much more physically demanding for her and her handwriting definitely has unusual features.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

 Share

×
×
  • Create New...