Discouraged - please share your wisdom & success stories

[plain jane]

I know this isn't really a curriculum question but I thought I may get more response here since it is directly school related. :)

 

I'm getting really discouraged with ds' inability to form letters properly. He's doing really well with reading and oral spelling but struggles with writing letters. I've taken a step back and have gone with more cutting, playdough, lego, other things to work on hand strength but it is such a long process.

 

We're not progressing with any of his phonics books because they all require writing. He tries so hard and is so good about sitting and doing his work. I'm full of praise and encouragement but inside I'm discouraged with how this is all going. He has a hard time just writing his name- how is he going to be writing sentences by the end of the year??

 

My older kids were writing short paragraphs by the end of K. I don't compare the kids but it's hard not to be aware of how little he can write.

 

The most of his struggles seem to come with the letters a, c, s, g, and with proper sizing when together in a word. We're doing HWT but I don't find there's enough practice in the book for him and it's keeping me on my toes to have extra sheets for him.

 

His main phonics program (Saxon) has writing tied in to the reading and he'd be flying through it were it not for all the issues with writing the letters. Because the letters take him so long to form, we're not able to go ahead through the lessons as quickly as he is capable of.

 

Anybody BTDT and have a good turn out for grade 1? Wanna share your success stories and how you got there? I'm worried he's not going to be capable of a gr1 workload.

[boscopup]

I would take the writing component out of reading. You can scribe for him if necessary.

 

My son had odd formation in K. Somehow, he was able to copy a short sentence at the end of the year. Definitely no paragraphs! He doesn't even do that now in 2nd grade.

 

I remediated his formation in January of first grade. I had to watch him like a hawk for every letter he wrote, and towards the end of the year, something clicked and it got easier. He was almost 7 when that happened.

 

One thing that helped was getting him a school desk so he was at proper height. If you're using a kitchen table, you'll need a chair that is high enough and has a footrest. I got one of those first, but it's my 2 year old's dining room chair now. :)

 

ETA: SWB's writing methods are perfect for this type of child. They don't get thrown into writing vast quantities when they're still working on letter formation.

Edited January 17, 2012 by boscopup

[8filltheheart]

I have had Kers that could barely read at the end of 1st grade, so their writing consisted of simple 3 letter words, their name, etc. I am also not picky about how Kers handwriting actually looks as long as the they are forming the letters via proper stroking technique. Maturity can do a lot for coordination. (and my boys were the writing phobic ones, so theirs were far worse. A couple of my little girls could write for hrs b/c that is what they liked to do. No comparison b/c they can't be compared. Their brothers were building some killer stealth bombers out of Legos that there is no way they could have duplicated. ;) )

 

Unless you think there is a bigger underlying issue, I wouldn't worry.

[jer2911mom]

I agree with taking the writing out of the phonics/reading component. We used The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading for that reason. There was no writing involved. It sounds like your son would benefit from keeping writing separate for awhile.

 

Kathy

[PentecostalMom]

Boys fine motor skills develop later than girls as well, so that may be another reason. I agree with pp's. Don't worry so much. My dd is doing penmanship and very little actual writing in 1st this year. She does some copywork, but not much. Writing is a lot like reading. Practice, practice, practice. Relax mom, it will be fine!

 

My older ds could not write or read well at the end of 1st grade in a highly sought after research school and this was our main reason for starting to homeschool. It was (and still is) a math and science intensive school ran by a major university. He went on to graduate from high school a year early with 32 credits awarded to him by our private and Christian umbrella school, quite a few of those credits awarded from online classes.

 

His writing is still pretty atrocious, but he is a great student! :)

[PentecostalMom]

Boys fine motor skills develop later than girls as well, so that may be another reason. I agree with pp's. Don't worry so much. My dd is doing penmanship and very little actual writing in 1st this year. She does some copywork, but not much. Writing is a lot like reading. Practice, practice, practice. Relax mom, it will be fine!

 

My older ds could not write or read well at the end of 1st grade in a highly sought after research school and this was our main reason for starting to homeschool. It was (and still is) a math and science intensive school ran by a major university. He went on to graduate from high school a year early with 32 credits awarded to him by our private and Christian umbrella school, quite a few of those credits awarded from online classes.

 

His writing is still pretty atrocious, but he is a great student! :)

[MerryAtHope]

I also would try to take the writing component out of his reading.

 

The play dough etc... are really good pre-writing activities. Other things you can do:

 

Let him write with his finger in rice, cornmeal or other tactile experiences.

 

Let him write with a whiteboard marker on a white board with no lines.

 

Let him write on paper with no lines, and without worrying about size right now.

 

Another good pre-writing activity is to air-write, using the whole arm and shoulder as he draws the letter in the air with his pointer finger. Stand beside him and show him how to make the movements just as if he was writing, and have him practice. You could use a variety of methods, tactile and kinesthetic such as this one, plus some handwriting, to work on one letter at a time until each is mastered.

 

Sentences and paragraphs by the end of K really isn't needed, and lots of kids won't be there. Just focus on letter formation through a variety of exercises and activities. He'll get there.

 

Merry :-)

[Hunter]

One of my boys was delayed with fine motor skills, but was very advanced in the maths and sciences and even reading comprehension. I had to do some adapting and couldn't just work through a curriculum in any subject.

 

Have you read the handwriting instructions in Writing Road to Reading? I surely do wish I'd known about them when my boy was little.

[Lang Syne Boardie]

I also would try to take the writing component out of his reading.

 

The play dough etc... are really good pre-writing activities. Other things you can do:

 

Let him write with his finger in rice, cornmeal or other tactile experiences.

 

Let him write with a whiteboard marker on a white board with no lines.

 

Let him write on paper with no lines, and without worrying about size right now.

 

Another good pre-writing activity is to air-write, using the whole arm and shoulder as he draws the letter in the air with his pointer finger. Stand beside him and show him how to make the movements just as if he was writing, and have him practice. You could use a variety of methods, tactile and kinesthetic such as this one, plus some handwriting, to work on one letter at a time until each is mastered.

 

Sentences and paragraphs by the end of K really isn't needed, and lots of kids won't be there. Just focus on letter formation through a variety of exercises and activities. He'll get there.

 

Merry :-)

 

What a great post! We spent lots of time writing in rice and sand.

 

Jane, I've seen the entire spectrum among my four boys. My second-eldest couldn't even write his own name until the end of first grade. My fourth son is in first grade now, writing beautiful cursive (and beginning calligraphy) left-handed!

 

I believe both are within the range of normal.

[Mallorie]

Dry erase boards are great for practice. I have several lap ones that are blank on one side and elementary lined for writing on the other. We sit in comfy chairs in the sunroom and I will write with dd. I know proper posture is important for writing neatly, but there is only so much writing practice the littles can take. Copy sentences out of their favorite book, draw pictures to go with it, use different colors. I also capitalize on my dd's competitive streak and let her see if she can do hers neater than mine. :)

[Jess4879]

I know this isn't really a curriculum question but I thought I may get more response here since it is directly school related. :)

 

I'm getting really discouraged with ds' inability to form letters properly. He's doing really well with reading and oral spelling but struggles with writing letters. I've taken a step back and have gone with more cutting, playdough, lego, other things to work on hand strength but it is such a long process.

 

We're not progressing with any of his phonics books because they all require writing. He tries so hard and is so good about sitting and doing his work. I'm full of praise and encouragement but inside I'm discouraged with how this is all going. He has a hard time just writing his name- how is he going to be writing sentences by the end of the year??

 

My older kids were writing short paragraphs by the end of K. I don't compare the kids but it's hard not to be aware of how little he can write.

 

The most of his struggles seem to come with the letters a, c, s, g, and with proper sizing when together in a word. We're doing HWT but I don't find there's enough practice in the book for him and it's keeping me on my toes to have extra sheets for him.

 

His main phonics program (Saxon) has writing tied in to the reading and he'd be flying through it were it not for all the issues with writing the letters. Because the letters take him so long to form, we're not able to go ahead through the lessons as quickly as he is capable of.

 

Anybody BTDT and have a good turn out for grade 1? Wanna share your success stories and how you got there? I'm worried he's not going to be capable of a gr1 workload.

 

I don't think this is uncommon. He is still very young and his eye-hand co-ordination is still developing. You could start something like HWT (we love this program!) but I'd put the focus on his attempts, not on the actual letter. My DD is 5 (almost 6) and working through the HWT K book. Her letters are so-so. Still "sloppy", but we are just focusing on getting her to follow the correct form. I personally feel that the neatness comes with time.

 

In regards to the Grade 1 workload, it doesn't have to involve a lot of writing. There are lots of options to get around programs that involve writing. Putting pen to paper is only one way of expressing what he's learned. :)

[Critterfixer]

In K I had both boys doing a lot of tracing. I would scribe for them, and then have them take a colored pencil (watercolor because of the bright color with a standard pressure) or crayon and trace the words. Often I would use cursive script because they really liked to trace that over the standard block letters.

One of my children struggled with all his motor skills as he is autistic. For him I worked on strengthening his hand muscles with the tracing (he never really liked the play-dough or clay--sticks to his hands!) and I worked on coordination by having him paint. He disliked coloring or drawing, but really enjoyed painting. His handwriting today is better than his brother's--although I don't say that to him! Or his brother, for that matter.

I also was very careful to make a big deal out of taking the time to write well. We still use the directions "Slow as a slug!" when we are learning a new letter in transition cursive.

[Angela Beshears]

Do you use the small chalkboard/sponge activity that you can get with HWT? That's another good activity (you draw the letter, he follows along with small wet sponge, erasing yours and leaving a wet mark, then takes chalk and traces that outline to recreate letter.

 

We used The Reading Lesson which doesn't include writing, and the software that would have the child find the letters on the keyboard to type a few words at the end of each lesson. My daughter learned to read at a first-second grade level with that and was just learning to trace some capital letters at the time.

 

Could you have him use letter tiles or magnetic letters on a cookie sheet to spell out the words he is supposed to be writing until he is ready to write?

 

I also like Kumon books for tracing and mazes for pre-writing skills. Also, many montessori activities are good for those little hand muscles. (using tongs to move small items from one bowl to another, for example)

[pitterpatter]

Is there a lot of writing with his phonics program or just a little? You could use letter stamps or stickers, if it's not too terribly much. Otherwise, he could use Scrabble tiles or magnetic letters on a cookie sheet or anything like that.

 

We do most of our practicing on the chalkboards with HWT. Do you have a copy machine? You could copy each HWT lesson so you have as many sheets of practice as you need.

[SweetMissMagnolia]

my 3rd grader still has problems with writing-he has awful handwriting and hates to practice it.....

[Alison in KY]

We did most of our school orally in K. The only writing my son ever completed was his HWT page or less a day. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

Alison

[Carrie12345]

My 4.5yo refuses to write (he mostly refuses to even color!), so I figure "real" handwriting is probably a LONG way off for him.

 

Enter AAS. Or even just the tiles if you want to use them with your regular phonics program. Ds is mostly just playing with them right now, but we're getting some CVC words in there. I don't want his writing (or lack of) to hold him back when we go "official".

[abrightmom]

 

My older kids were writing short paragraphs by the end of K. I don't compare the kids but it's hard not to be aware of how little he can ...

 

Anybody BTDT and have a good turn out for grade 1? Wanna share your success stories and how you got there? I'm worried he's not going to be capable of a gr1 workload.

 

My oldest child had very weak FM skills. I wish I could show you his first grade work! :D. We had to move slowly. He had little endurance and his letters were so wobbly, misshapen, etc. I was so worried because he was my first student. My middlers are how you describe, easily writing short paragraphs at the end of K. My oldest? A short sentence was impossible.

 

My guy was a late bloomer in writing but an early reader and a cheerful student. :001_smile: He has come so far and all my agony was in vain!

 

:001_smile: IF he's not capable of the work load you think he should be doing by first grade then you teach him where he is at, at the right pace for him! And don't worry. :001_smile: