plain jane Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 My 7yo's penmanship can, at times, leave a great deal to be desired. Thing is, at other times, it is pretty nice. I would like to encourage the nicer writing whenever possible but am not sure how to do so. Simply asking her to write neater is not working.:tongue_smilie: Her sloppiest work is usually her copywork :confused: and she does better on her writing assignments. Come to think of it, she tends to write neatly when it's something that interests here (IEW assignments, for example) but not so much on other things (grammar, some WWE copywork, etc.). I'd like to get her writing neatly/nicely on a more consistent basis. What techniques have you used to improve your dc's penmanship? At what age would you say that your child had the best penmanship? Is gr2 still too young? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nansk Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 My dd turned 7 in November and finished first grade at the same time. We have been doing WWE 1 copywork (just 1 sentence a day) for first grade. I sat beside her during copywork and I watched every letter like a hawk. I made her erase and re-write any letters not up to the mark. I have seen her penmanship improve a lot in the last 2 months. She has also switched to cursive-only around the same time. She is also able to take dictation in cursive now. She is now willing to write more than 1 sentence at a time. Last week, when I dictated her spelling words, she made up a short sentence for each word and wrote in cursive (which was a pleasant surprise). I also no longer have to sit by her side during copywork. I think her muscle control and strength has improved in the last few months, making it easier to write better and longer. She has also been playing with playdoh these past few months, which could be another factor. I would suggest you keep doing short sentences every day, watch and correct, provide encouragement (and a small reward if that is possible) and just wait for your dd's hands to to get stronger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rivka Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 When I switched my 6yo from very wide-ruled paper to 1/2" ruling, her handwriting improved dramatically. We also take a moment after copywork and each point out the letters we think are most beautiful. That focus on the positive seems to help a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 The handwriting instructions in Writing Road to Reading are phenomenal. There are scripts for how to form each letter. Instead of looking at a letter and inferring how to make it, the student is told EXACTLY how to make it. There are instructions for both printing and cursive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boscopup Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I'm right there with you! If he enjoys what he's writing, he'll write neatly. Copywork tends to be the worst. Back in December, I had him pick out his own copywork one day, and he had some of the neatest handwriting I've ever seen him do! :001_huh: Today, I'm giving him some copywork that 8FillTheHeart made up in another thread yesterday... It's Star Wars related. We'll see how he does. I won't be surprised if his handwriting is neater for that. And yes, bumping down the line size has helped immensely. Even on regular copywork that he isn't thrilled with, his handwriting has improved since I started making the lines 30pt GDI style in Startwrite (and I may bump them down even more soon). He (and I) found it hard to write neatly on those huge 1st grade lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
plain jane Posted January 12, 2012 Author Share Posted January 12, 2012 The handwriting instructions in Writing Road to Reading are phenomenal. There are scripts for how to form each letter. Instead of looking at a letter and inferring how to make it, the student is told EXACTLY how to make it. There are instructions for both printing and cursive. I use the WRTR and have for years. She knows how to form the letters properly (I sit and watch her) but she has a way of making everything so messy. :confused: A lot of it comes down to sloppiness and allowing the letters to run too close together. Yet, when she wants, she can have really nice printing. I just don't know how to get the nice printing more consistently. It can also be downright awful at times. :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
didadeewiththree Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 The handwriting instructions in Writing Road to Reading are phenomenal. There are scripts for how to form each letter. Instead of looking at a letter and inferring how to make it, the student is told EXACTLY how to make it. There are instructions for both printing and cursive. :iagree: I love this program! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
go_go_gadget Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 I find writing in large lines to be fairly difficult--might that be a contributing factor? When mine finished their first penmanship book (GDI A), I switched them from the big first-grade size lined notebooks to these, which provide guidance on size and spacing. The lines are regularly sized (but non college-ruled) lines, and there are vertical hash marks to help with spacing horizontally. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lbakos Posted January 12, 2012 Share Posted January 12, 2012 (edited) My dd (8) came out of PS a few months ago with terrible handwriting. I started her out with HWT 2 so she could work on it before starting cursive. She's about half way through the workbook and her handwriting has completely changed. She puts forth the effort is now really proud of the fact that she can write so neatly. :) Also, I think the 2 lined paper that HWT uses helped a lot. Edited January 12, 2012 by lbakos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hs4ze Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 In our case, decreasing the size of the line really helped as well as having a nice, sharp pencil that writes smoothly. So far, regular #2 pencil lead seems to be the best, with mechanical pencils (too thin) and cheaper pencil leads not performing as well. We're also very happy with the penmanship paper from Rod & Staff. Three line works well for younger, and just moved into 5-line (after a year of 3-line) to address details of length of "tails," etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bluegoat Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 I agree about the smaller lines. I also found that using a good quality pen helped - dd said it was easier than the pencil. But, I still find her writing can be quite bad, especially for copywork. I've been considering purchasing some Spencerian penmanship books, but I'm hesitant in case it just causes more trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MeganW Posted January 13, 2012 Share Posted January 13, 2012 The very first thing I'd do is focus on hand strengthening. It's something that can benefit EVERY kid's handwriting, so definitely worth a try. Manipulating playdoh is one of the easiest ways to work it into school - just hand it out while you are reading. Other ideas - squirting out of bottles or water guns, legos, cutting with scissors, tearing, glueing, picking up things with clothespins, hole punching, popping bubble wrap, playing with stress balls, moving things with tongs or tweezers, etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.