Young 6 year boy and handwriting

[cjgrubbs]

sigh... I just don't know what to think or do.

 

My oldest who is 12 has horrible handwriting. He attended public school through 4th and I think he has some mild dysgraphia that no one ever caught or told me about it. By the time I realized we might have a problem, it was really hard to change his method of writing. We did some Diane Craft stuff and it helped a little but he is still messy and this is a whole 'nother post I should do.

 

So I guess maybe I'm a little overly sensitive to this problem and I'm concerned about my 6 year old. He is on target in all areas - reading a little, grasps math well, but his handwriting - oh dear. He struggles to hold his pencil and even with the grippers has a hard time. He can build with legos and do other fine motor type things but he just can't put letters on a page on the lines correctly.

 

What, if anything should I do? Just keep practicing? We do a line or two of handwriting practice several days each week, with me sitting with him and guiding/encouraging him along.

[alisoncooks]

Unless you think there is a *reason* (other than age) for his handwriting, I say just keep practicing.

 

My DD (6 in June) was struggling with handwriting and she has very little stamina for writing (definitely not up to copying sentences!) She is just now consistently gripping a pencil correctly.

 

I am not doing a formal handwriting program, but what I decided to do was start each day -- while she is still "fresh" -- with practice.

 

She writes the same thing, 1x neatly, each day of a week. (Each week is something different; Wk 1 was her first & last name, Wk 2 was her middle name, Wk 3 her initials, etc.) I keep it short, so she's not overwhelmed.

 

I use 6-lined handwriting paper. I write the word/phrase on line 1.

Monday - she copies it on line 2.

Tuesday - line 3

etc.

On Friday, she chooses the line with the neatest writing and puts a sticker next to it. I sit right beside and correct (by modeling on my own paper) whenever I see she is forming something wrong.