ds 10 struggles with mechanics of writing

[christine in al]

He is so frustrated that his work is not neat. It is heartbreaking how hard he works on just getting the eye-hand coordination to do what he wants.

 

He can write in cursive , but he hates both cursive and manuscript.

 

He needs to not be shut down my the physical act of writing. What can I do?

 

It seems to be that the pen or pencil jsut won't go where he wants it to. even his art is stick figures...

 

An art class? a drawing class?

 

please help.

~christine in al

[Kuovonne]

typing

[thowell]

:lurk5:

[katilac]

An art class? a drawing class?

~christine in al

 

A computer; let him type.

[christine in al]

I agree, but when it comes time for him to write... ie timed essays later.. he won't have the skill.

Do you think that it's just a physical development thing and physical writing will come easier say when he hits puberty?

 

his typing is quite good, but he takes a co-op writing class and needs to actually write. he will do it, but when it comes time for him to re-write his science notes for his tutor, he is in agony. ( I'll talke to her about him typing them.. so that's very helpful.)... hmm, maybe more writing when it's not important. )

 

So, we're on the same page with the typing... he does that, I completely agree that's the way to go sometimes with him... but what about those times when it's not workable?

 

~c.

[Karen in CO]

My son had terrible handwriting. I used Write Now with my son and highly recommend it. In addition to that, I'd suggest Mark Kistler's Draw squad. We successfully used both of those when my son was in 6th grade. It helped him to have handwriting that he wasn't embarrassed by along with basic drawing skills that allowed him to express himself creatively.

[SailorMom]

I would evaluate him for dysgraphia before you do anything else. The standard OT type things for poor handwriting do absolutely nothing for dysgraphia.

Handwriting Without Tears is an excellent program, but it did not work for our son. After a neuropsych eval, we have decided that typing and voice recognition software are his only hope.

I'm concerned about written timed tests as well - the Doc is writing us a letter/evaluation giving his analysis and asking for accomodations. I'm sure this will work great for college - but I'm doubtful the SAT boards will accomodate for anything :(

Good luck - and do a lot of reading on it before you try anything (your son will avoid a lot of frustration that way)....

[rafiki]

.

[Kate in Arabia]

Is there some central location where one could see handwriting samples? I mean, like typical handwriting at different grade levels, handwriting samples that would be considered "outside the norm", etc.?

[Julie in AZ]

Ｗｅ’ｒｅ　ｔｒｙｉｎｇ　Ｄｉａｎｎｅ　Ｃｒａｆｔ’ｓ　Ｓｍａｒｔ　Ｋｉｄｓ　Ｗｈｏ　Ｈａｔｅ　ｔｏ　Ｗｒｉｔｅ　ｅｘｅｒｃｉｓｅｓ　ｆｏｒ　ｔｈｅ　ｂｒａｉｎ．　

[christine in al]

I'll check for dsygrahia, etc...

 

 

the spacing and sizing thing is a struggle here too.

 

A reality check on " average writing skills" would be helpful. any leads on sites for that?

 

~c.

[christine in al]

???

[katilac]

This is meant to be examples of the writing, not the handwriting, but they are handwritten in both cursive and print:

http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/student.assessment/resources/guides/scoring/g4esamples03.pdf

 

and some samples/criteria from 1915, lol:

http://books.google.com/books?id=gJmdAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA7&lpg=PA7&dq=handwriting+samples+fourth+grade&source=bl&ots=JURJsqovUh&sig=Bv4stM3v9hKS3y9OQLUci_Yo7wg&hl=en&ei=gBO2TPmaN4KBlAeE87jxBQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=4&ved=0CCkQ6AEwAzgK#v=onepage&q=handwriting%20samples%20fourth%20grade&f=false

[siloam]

I'll check for dsygrahia, etc...

 

 

the spacing and sizing thing is a struggle here too.

 

A reality check on " average writing skills" would be helpful. any leads on sites for that?

 

~c.

My kids haven't been formally diagnosed, but I suspect we are all dysgraphic. Simply because none of us can trace a line without seeing white space between our tracing and the original line more than twice.

 

I went to fountain pens for my girls, with the exception of math. We all press too hard without even thinking about it, and then our hands cramp. If you do that with a fountain pen you end up with blobs of ink, so a good high quality fountain pen helps. We are using these recommended here, and I have ordered from them twice now. Just make sure you order at lest one set of refills with the pens because they can go pretty quickly. My doodle girl goes through a refill a week. :001_huh:

 

Here is samples of my oldest dd's writing. She was 11 when she wrote his, so probably beginning 6th grade. Here is a math page.

 

The only reason why I have good handwriting, I am convinced, is because my grandmother taught me calligraphy. Once I got writing as an art, I wanted my writing to look nice, but it does take me time. People hate to be behind me when I write a check because it takes me forever. Though I get compliments that my signature is the only one they can read. Funny they don't seem to make the connection between how long it takes me and readability. :D

 

I do have things I put onto computer just so they can type instead of write it out. Like my oldest dd's science questions. I don't do it all the time, but I just get better work out of her when I do.

 

Heather

[christine in al]

the sample was very very helpful.

ds' younger sister is an artist and took to cursive at age 6.. ' cause she wanted to " write pretty"

 

so having her in the fmaily is not a helpful thing for him.

I'll show him Sweet Pea's work and hopefully he'll relax a bit and keep working, but not freaking out.

 

And I'll keep the OT, dysgraphia thing in mind and move toward that approach too.

 

Thank you so much for going to the trouble to link those samples.

 

christine in al

[christine in al]

wow, thank you so much. Those links are amazing.

so very helpful for ds and me to see. he's really not that far off. He's just now in 5th so these samples are right on target.

 

This was so very helpful , thank you very much.

~Christine in al

[siloam]

the sample was very very helpful.

ds' younger sister is an artist and took to cursive at age 6.. ' cause she wanted to " write pretty"

 

so having her in the fmaily is not a helpful thing for him.

I'll show him Sweet Pea's work and hopefully he'll relax a bit and keep working, but not freaking out.

 

And I'll keep the OT, dysgraphia thing in mind and move toward that approach too.

 

Thank you so much for going to the trouble to link those samples.

 

christine in al

 

Oh that wouldn't help.

 

I have taken to writing razzing smile faces when Sweet Pea does her math right, but then makes an error because in step two she couldn't read her own handwriting to transfer the number correctly. Had that happen twice last week. If you don't laugh you cry right? We laugh a lot here and move on.

 

Heather

 

[thowell]

My kids haven't been formally diagnosed, but I suspect we are all dysgraphic. Simply because none of us can trace a line without seeing white space between our tracing and the original line more than twice.

 

I went to fountain pens for my girls, with the exception of math. We all press too hard without even thinking about it, and then our hands cramp. If you do that with a fountain pen you end up with blobs of ink, so a good high quality fountain pen helps. We are using these recommended here, and I have ordered from them twice now. Just make sure you order at lest one set of refills with the pens because they can go pretty quickly. My doodle girl goes through a refill a week. :001_huh:

 

Here is samples of my oldest dd's writing. She was 11 when she wrote his, so probably beginning 6th grade. Here is a math page.

 

The only reason why I have good handwriting, I am convinced, is because my grandmother taught me calligraphy. Once I got writing as an art, I wanted my writing to look nice, but it does take me time. People hate to be behind me when I write a check because it takes me forever. Though I get compliments that my signature is the only one they can read. Funny they don't seem to make the connection between how long it takes me and readability. :D

 

I do have things I put onto computer just so they can type instead of write it out. Like my oldest dd's science questions. I don't do it all the time, but I just get better work out of her when I do.

 

Heather

 

Your samples look exactly like dd10. I am convinced that she is dysgraphic. Try as hard as she can her writing is just bad. Random spacing and letter sizes words floating above or below lines. I think I am going to try the calligraphy with her. Oh, she also has no interest in coloring pages. She does draw and likes it but is pretty bad at coloring pages and really hates to do them. Any other suggestions?

[siloam]

Your samples look exactly like dd10. I am convinced that she is dysgraphic. Try as hard as she can her writing is just bad. Random spacing and letter sizes words floating above or below lines. I think I am going to try the calligraphy with her. Oh, she also has no interest in coloring pages. She does draw and likes it but is pretty bad at coloring pages and really hates to do them. Any other suggestions?

 

I teach typing starting in 2nd grade. :D

 

To a point I think they have to decide they want to change, like I did. Lucky in our time in history bad handwriting is not looked that down upon.

 

Heather

[Joyofsixreboot]

Now I'm worried. Those examples are so much better than ds can do no matter how hard he tries. Off to read about disgraphia.

[Julie in AZ]

???

 

My mom is in ICU and I was having trouble with my computer while in the hospital room with her. I thought it was more important to share the info. then worry about the font.

[thowell]

I teach typing starting in 2nd grade. :D

 

To a point I think they have to decide they want to change, like I did. Lucky in our time in history bad handwriting is not looked that down upon.

 

Heather

 

Do you use a typing program? If so which one?

[siloam]

Do you use a typing program? If so which one?

 

Typing Instructor for Kids, and I have an old version because it is the same one my oldest used. :D

 

 

I make them put a towel over their hands while they practice (I require 5 mins per day, but usually the kids get into and go longer). I also print out a picture of a keyboard, highlight the home row keys and tape it to the top of the monitor, so they can still find the keys even when they can't remember where they are, but they are not doing so by looking at their hands and using the wrong fingers to push the key.

 

Heather

[siloam]

My mom is in ICU and I was having trouble with my computer while in the hospital room with her. I thought it was more important to share the info. then worry about the font.

 

Praying! :grouphug:

 

Heather

[christine in al]

I'm so sorry , honey.

I just didn't get anything on my computer but some lines... I didn't get words on my screen at all, I was just trying to say... uhm, I didnt' get that. and not ignore that you had send something.

 

Are y'all better?

 

I truly didn't mean to be snarky in anyway at all. just to convey that what you sent didn't come through to my computer.

 

I hope things are better there.

 

~Christine