Piper Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 My rising 5th grader is a proficient reader, speller, etc., but her handwriting is a mess! She has no problem with letter formation, it's just that her printing is really messy. To be honest, I don't think it's improved much over the past couple of years. She can write cursive, but it's a bit laborious, as she still has to think about the formation of each letter. I know that that is just a matter of practice, but for her printing, I think her main problem is that she just goes too fast - she can't be bothered taking the time to form her letters tidily, so they all start to go to pot - the tails of p's and j's float on top of the line, for instance. I've come to the conclusion that she just needs to have lots and lots - and lots - of practice/drill, in both printing and cursive, until tidiness becomes more habitual. Does this sound right? And if so, does anyone have any "pretty" looking resources they can recommend to make this process a little less of a drag for her? She's going to hate the practice enough as it is, so I thought some fun color pictures or themes might help spark a modicum of interest or, at the least, alleviate the pain a little! :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rosie_0801 Posted August 4, 2015 Share Posted August 4, 2015 At grade 5, I'd give up as long as it is legible. If it's not quite that, perhaps have her move back to the thirds lines? I'm finding dd has an easier time keeping size regular with smaller lines, so she's switched down from 14mm to 9mm lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ausmumof3 Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 Can you get her interested in something like calligraphy or something? I had terrible handwriting and hated the nagging about it. Now I actually get the importance of an envelope being legible enough to get to the address it's better, but for school work never. If you can get her interested in something that uses the same fine motor skills she might get better without it being painful to you both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twigs Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 I remediated my messy handwriting in my 40s. I used Write Now: The Complete Program for Better Handwriting by Barbara Getty and Inga Dubay It was very easy. It is listed as a program for adults, but should be easy enough for a 5th grader. I did a page (out of the book) a day for about 6 weeks. One of the things I liked really well is that the cursive letters are formed exactly like the manuscript letters; you just add the joins. (I think there are 1 or 2 exceptions between manuscript and cursive.) I didn't even bother to learn the cursive uppercase letters - the manuscript work great. I used to be very embarrassed by my messy, illegible handwriting, now I am even proud of it (sometimes!) Best wishes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athomeontheprairie Posted August 7, 2015 Share Posted August 7, 2015 At grade 5, I'd give up as long as it is legible. I would define legible as "easily readable by someone outside the family" When I was in school, if the teacher couldn't read it-you got a zero. (I'm talking about normal kids here, no disabilities) or you re did it. When dd had messy handwriting, because it takes so long to make it neat... Well it takes even longer when I make her go redo it. D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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