Does your child struggle with handwriting?

[Embassy]

I've heard that children who skip crawling tend to have difficulty with handwriting later in life because they didn't go through the developmental stage with the weight placed on their hands. Do you find that true with your children?

[mazakaal]

I heard the same thing, but my two oldest boys crawled normally for several months before learning to walk, and they both have bad handwriting. On the other hand, my daughter hardly crawled at all. She basically rolled anywhere she needed to get and finally learned to crawl a very short time before learning to walk. She has very nice handwriting.

[Parrothead]

Dd has always had problems with printing. Her cursive is much better.

 

She crawled for 2 days, got up and walked at 9.25 months

[Daisy]

Is it horrible to say I don't even remember?

 

Both kids did some type of crawling, but I can't remember if it was on all fours or not.

 

11yo has nice handwriting.

8yo's handwriting looks like a kindergartener's.

[JenneinCA]

My oldest has great handwriting. She crawled for two weeks.

 

My middlest has handwriting in need of help. He crawled normally.

 

My youngest crawled for about a month. He has beautiful handwriting.

[Farrar]

Is it about the weight on the hands or the brain integration thing like with reading? Mine are still so young, but one of them is clearly going to struggle, at least a little. He's just a messy writer. I'm guessing that (like with the reading/crawling thing) this is going to be one of those things that's only statistically noticeable in a *huge* sample and that within that people will have all different kinds of experiences.

[Penny_P]

DS commando crawled for several months before regular crawling (very briefly) and then walking at 12 months. He has dyslexia/dysgraphia.

[Cedarmom]

So should I tell my 19yr old (who still hates his handwriting) that he needs to go back and crawl correctly?:001_smile:

[LauraGB]

I have absolutely no idea. I don't remember the first 2 years very clearly (sleep deprivation, no time to eat, needing to do 3-12 things at once...that'll do that to some people ;)). I'm not sure about crawling, but I do know they were both walking by 9 or 10 months. And I know that ds was about 2 weeks behind dd (because that's consistently been the case when it comes motor/physical sorts of things). And dd has nice handwriting, but ds's handwriting is abysmal.

 

So, I guess my answer doesn't help you, but now I'm curious. I think I'll ask dh or mil (how terrible is that?!).

[MomOfOneFunOne]

terrible handwriting, normal crawler.

 

But at this point I'd try anything!

 

Honey! Come in her a sec! You have some crawling to do!

[Cinder]

I voted standard crawling for ds2, who has poor handwriting. He crawled for about 7 months. He loved crawling, but also walked well--hardly fell at all. He has always had great gross motor skills, poor fine motor.

 

Ds1 OTOH, rolled, belly crawled, then did a sort of crawl with one knee and one foot. He only crawled for 3 months then decided he preferred running and falling. He has very nice handwriting. So he's opposite--strong fine motor, not-so-good gross motor.

 

Dd crawled (standard) for about 3.5 months before deciding to walk at 9.5 months. She has great fine and gross motor skills. (My neighbor had a small panic attack when she saw 5yo dd using regular scissors.) And her handwriting is turning out quite nicely.

 

Cinder

[KrissiK]

Horrible horrible handwriting, did the commando crawling. Hmm, interesting theory!

[Cortana]

I've also been told by physical therapists that kids that don't crawl can grow up to be bad spellers.

 

Ds #1: odd crawl, looked like a bear scooting on his bottom. He doesn't write yet, he also has down syndrome.

 

Ds #2: rolled, never really crawled. Not great handwriting and poor spelling, he also has autism. We are more inclined to believe his autism has more to do with his handwriting and spelling skills than a lack of crawling.

 

Dd: traditional crawler, have to wait to see as she's only 2. :)

 

On the other hand, I never crawled and I have great handwriting and I'm a good speller. Dh did the traditional crawl, he has terrible handwriting and is an awful speller.

[K&Rs Mom]

Mine didn't really crawl, and younger writes neater than older but has more letter reversals. :confused:

[Mimm]

I'm not sure if Imogen struggled with handwriting, she learned it in school. Genevieve does struggle though and she crawled normally, hands and knees. Her struggles and related to her perfectionism though. If she can't do something perfectly the first time, it's very traumatizing. In this regard, I think handwriting is very good for her. It teaches her to live with mistakes and accept weaknesses. Plus, maybe she'll learn how to write cursive. :)

 

Oh, and just in case you were talking about her manuscript, it's very neat. Imogen however has fairly atrocious handwriting and also crawled normally, so my poll answer works for both of them. :) She's the type that rushes through her work not really paying attention.

[elise1mds]

I've also been told by physical therapists that kids that don't crawl can grow up to be bad spellers.

 

Interesting. My son skipped crawling initially, walked at 8 1/2 months, and then went back and crawled later. His handwriting is awful. However, he also has Asperger's. He is an excellent speller, though!

 

My daughter crawled for ages. Her handwriting is already nicer - and smaller - than my son's. I have no idea how her spelling will be yet, but she does do pretty well.

[MamaT]

Five of my children crawled, and three of them have terrible handwriting. The other two who crawled have a beautiful handwriting. My one child who never crawled, and also didn't walk until she was 17 months, also has a beautiful handwriting.

[OrganicAnn]

My DD has handwriting problems, but we don't think crawling is an issue. She did crawl, but not for a prolonged time.

 

Also we have do exercises to strengthen all the muscles that can help handwriting. So we don't think the muscles is the issue.

 

We have found that working with little rhymes that help remember how to form each letter helps the most. So for us, we think it is how her brain interacts with hands.

Edited September 14, 2010 by OrganicAnn

[Kim in Appalachia]

2 of my kids have had what is called dysgraphia. My 8 year old is very bad. My oldest had the problem as well, but it was not as severe. When she reached 3rd grade I gave up with handwriting and let her type.

 

My 5 year old can write better than my 8 year old. But he crawled, and for a while. My oldest only crawled for a bit, and then she started walking.

[The Girls' Mom]

My bad handwriter never crawled. She started walking at 9 months. My aunt (who worked for years with developmentally delayed kids) told me she'd never have good co-ordination if she didn't crawl...and she doesn't. But it has more to do with genetics than crawling...her mom isn't Miss Grace herself ;)

[FO4UR]

I voted "other."

 

My ds7 crawled one day and was walking literally the next day...so not much crawling.

 

He wasn't even drawing stick people at age 4yo, and was sent to an OT for an eval after his 4yo well-child check up. The OT basically sent me home with a stack of things to do with him to get his fine motor skills rolling.

 

Fast forward to the 7yo he is today, he has beautiful cursive handwriting *if* what he's writing isn't too taxing. (If he's unsure of the spelling...the handwriting goes by the wayside too...) His print is like any other 7yo's print. OK, but not perfect.

 

Between the ages of 4 and now, I *worked* to train his little fingers. He would have definitely struggled in a normal classroom with writing...and the OT's advice on how to handle ds's future kindergarten teacher on the subject was enough to seal the HSing deal for dh and I. ;)

 

So, I voted other b/c I think he fits the profile, but is managing to overcome b/c handwriting has been such a high priority in his day for so long.

[mom31257]

I don't know about the weight issue, but crawling does help the development of the corpus callosum between the hemispheres of the brain.