Ideas? (fine motor delays)

[LearnLaughLove]

My youngest DD has fine motor delays due to hypermobility of her hands. She is in OT once a week, but there is no focus on writing. She is almost 4 and wants to write SO badly, especially since she is reading. Any tips on getting her started without getting her frustrated?

[klmama]

You could have her try the pre-writing (shapes) worksheets at donnayoung.org. If you put them into sheet protectors and give her a thick dry erase marker, she can practice them again and again (with your supervision to make sure she is holding it right, etc.) Once she can do all of them well, you could move her on to the actual letter writing worksheets. Again, be sure you supervise carefully so she doesn't develop bad habits.

[MomatHWTK]

Try the triangle shaped crayons or ball shaped markers that are out on the market now. HWOT sells the crayons, the ball markers are in the art section at Target. Give her big pieces of paper so she can write big and gain confidence.

[Laura Corin]

Calvin had delayed fine motor skills. We only worked on handwriting (HWT) for five or ten minutes a day, starting at about age five. Apart from that, we did hand-strengthening exercises (play-do etc.) and tried not to be obsessive about writing. We did most school work orally, only introducing written exercises slowly. Things started to come together seriously when Calvin was about eleven. Now, at fifteen, he writes fine, just a bit slowly.

 

I wouldn't worry for now: keep the practice going, but don't make a big deal of it.

 

Laura

[freeindeed]

I've used these ideas with my dd4:

http://www.sensory-processing-disorder.com/fine-motor-skills-activities-for-children.html