Goal for handwriting?

[Night Elf]

So I've homeschooled over 9 yrs. now and we did less than 1 year of handwriting workbooks. They've written some schoolwork over the years but mostly everything has been typed. I've been looking at their handwriting lately and ds13 writes small and fairly neat. Dd12 writes kind of sloppy. Some of it can be illegible, and she writes just like my DH.

 

So, would making her practice handwriting every day really make a difference? DH remembers his mom making him handwrite during summer break one year when he was about dd12's age and it helped alot, but only for the first couple of months of the new school year. Then he went back to sloppy writing and has never improved beyond that. He's not bothered by dd12's writing because of this.

 

So, what do you think? :)

[tweedybird]

Good question! Handwriting has been a problem for my boys...my 10 1/2 yr. old son has bad printing and even worse cursive. He basically knows how to sign his name in cursive and that's it. (I've never required him to do assignments in cursive so he's had no practice with it.) He tells me his printing is so bad because he is worried about getting done "fast", so he doesn't take time to write nicely. He types all his writing assignments. I'm having my 8 1/2 yr old son do a second round of cursive, but I'm wondering "why", since I'll not likely require him to write in cursive either. I wish someone would just tell me not to worry about cursive. I know this doesn't answer your question...I hope others will respond and either put my mind at ease, or inspire me to push towards handwriting excellence.

[lllll]

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[nansk]

I, personally, place a lot of emphasis on neat, legible, and if possible, beautiful handwriting. The actual style doesnt matter as much.

 

I think you have to give your dd a) a reason to improve her handwriting (internal motivation) and b) consistent practice for a year or more.

 

Will she have to submit a written college essay for instance? Or does she have a someone to whom she sends (or will send) handwritten letters?

 

You may let her choose which handwriting style she wants to learn, and what text she wants to copy/trace for daily practice.

 

HTH

[Rosie_0801]

My mother made me practice and practice and practice handwriting when I was 9 and it didn't do any good. I've been told calligraphy uses different skills, so it is possible for people with lousy handwriting to learn nice calligraphy. Maybe that'll work for yours, I haven't got as far as testing that theory for myself.

 

Rosie

[creekmom]

My 9 year old dd is practicing handwriting this summer. I have her copy dictation sentences out of my How to Teach Spelling book since she needs extra practice in spelling anyway. In my opinion, handwriting is a lot like spelling in that it doesn't matter how smart your children are, if they can't spell and their handwriting is sloppy, they will not be perceived by others as very intelligent.

[jenn-]

Can she write neatly if she slows down and told to focus on her handwriting? If so, I say ignore it. My handwriting is a step better than chicken scratch if it doesn't really matter (or worse if it is note taking in a class). If I need to write something for someone else to read, I focus on making it legible. In today's society, things are expected to be typed in school, not handwritten.

[Night Elf]

Dd12 can write neatly if she slows down and focuses, that's true. But it's not her normal inclination to do that.

 

I'm taking 2 college classes right now and I use my laptop to take notes. I started out writing them by hand but saw many students using laptops. It is so much easier for me to type. I'm taking much better notes now. I have no idea if that is standard on campus or if I am lucky and have 2 great instructors right now. I'll find out when Fall semester starts. :)

 

I've got some of my college notes written in cursive. I'll have the kids see if they can read them.

 

I love neat handwriting. Dd12 is always complimenting me on my handwriting. But it hasn't motivated her to want to improve hers. :tongue_smilie: